Rockers perform for Mirage’s 20th

Here's my question: Have you ever seen a rock star take her purse on stage and put it by her feet for an entire performance?

Friday night, Courtney Love showed up as planned for the Mirage's 20th anniversary pool concert. She was spirited, singing Hole's "Celebrity Skin" and covering Cheap Trick's "Surrender," with Slash and Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen on guitars.

Then she bowed to the crowd at Bare pool, picked up her purse from near the microphone stand, slung it on her shoulder like she was going to 7-Eleven, and bounced away.

The pool concert was a "Slash and Friends" affair. Kiefer Sutherland was supposed to emcee but canceled; no one would tell me why. So Slash's firecracker of a wife, Perla Ferrar, took over some emceeing.

Slash played guitar all night, while various friends (Love, Duff McKagan and other rockers) rotated singing, drumming and other duties.

Everyone said the showstopper was: singer Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, covering Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." She owned it.

Courtney came on after Nicole and said, "How can I follow that?"

Backstage, Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley quietly enjoyed hanging with friends, now that he and Avril Lavigne are divorcing. Others kept whispering he had come with "his new girlfriend," whom People magazine identified as model Hanna Beth Merjos. Whibley and Merjos kept their distance. I saw them interact only a few times.

Check out my blog for more great photos, including singer Mya posing at Slash's afterparty at club Jet.

VEGAS SIGHTINGS

Renee Zellweger was in a good mood Friday, going with a girlfriend to tour Luxor's "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition." She asked questions of an artifact specialist and asked a staffer to use her phone to video her and the friend pretending to be the doomed couple from "Titanic." She complied with autograph requests. ... Hard Rock: Staind singer Aaron Lewis went to Hart & Huntington Thursday and got an American flag tattooed on the inside of his left arm, and "Don't Tread On Me" ON HIS THROAT; and creature of habit Howard Stern and wife Beth ate at Nobu.

Contact Doug Elfman at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.