The Cranberries are doing it again

The reunited Cranberries play the Palms on Thursday, after a long hiatus. Singer Dolores O'Riordan tells me the band always worked well together but never hung out socially.

"We weren't like, 'Oh let's go for dinner on the weekends,' because we were like, 'I'm sick of lookin' at you. I just lived on a bus with you for 13 years.' It was freaky."

Context: O'Riordan is in a funny mood and half-joking in her Irish accent (though now she lives in Ontario, Canada).

The band split from 2003 to 2009 because "we all got really miserable."

"But we all kept doing it, because we didn't know anything else.

"We had no identity outside of being The Cranberries. We lost touch with our friends."

One year, O'Riordan missed a grandparent's funeral while the band toured Australia.

"And," she says, "on Christmas, you'd think, 'Why don't I have a gig?' You totally lose grip with who you were."

She took off with her husband to raise kids.

"I didn't want to end up on my death bed with nobody around, and a big load of money, and lonely, ya know?

"You ever see these entertainers that end up with an awful lot of ticks? They leave it 'til they're 38 to start hatchin' their breed.

"I'm 38, and the two boys are way too old to carry. They can both pick me up. I like that."

She's one of the richest women in the U.K., if you believe business journals. But she's gotten rid of house help, partly after nanny issues, but mostly because she wants a family nucleus akin to the working-class home in which she grew up.

"When there's somebody (working) in your house, there's always someone there," she says. "You can't have a proper fight with your husband. Come on, that sucks!

"My kids are pretty good. They bring out the laundry. They set the table. They help me set the dishwasher. We're a pretty normal family.

"You wouldn't believe how much time you'd spend drivin' around in cars! There's piano lessons, and there's horseback ridin', and there's different drop-offs" for the kids.

You can see The Cranberries again partly because of her brood, she says.

"Our kids wanted us to get back together because -- our kids have never seen us!"

The band plays at 8 p.m. Thursday in The Pearl at the Palms ($35; 942-7777).

FLASH MOB

I was walking through Planet Hollywood on Saturday when a "flash mob" broke out on the casino floor, where 100 or so people suddenly sang and danced. It was meant to look spontaneous but was planned for weeks. I shot video, and you can see it on my Vegasland blog.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS

Some "Real Housewives of Orange County" partied this weekend at Palazzo's club Lavo. Gretchen Rossi dirty-danced with cast mate Slade Smiley, and Alexis Bellino danced while hubby Jim looked on with supposed jealousy, though I don't believe such reality show drama unless I've read the script first. Also at Lavo: Ryan Kwanten, "Jason" from HBO's "True Blood," celebrated his 33rd birthday; a woman ran up and pointed at the flier photo of him and said, "This is you!" Ryan pointed to a friend of his and said, "Nope, it's him." In groupie lingo, that's what you call "catch and release." ... And Christian Serratos, who plays Angela in "Twilight" flicks, got two eyes full seeing "Peepshow" on Saturday.

OUT AND ABOUT

Check out the opening of CityCenter's Vdara tonight; Thursday's red carpet of Eva Longoria Parker at Crystals; and Friday's opening of Mandarin Oriental.

Doug Elfman's column appears Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. E-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.