Editor's Note: This story originally said Bizarre Bar would have a March 19 sneak peek. The story has been updated after owner Tim Kam announced the sneak peek show has been canceled.
DOWNTOWN GETS BIZARRE
The Arts District’s new Bizarre Bar, which replaced Swan Dive at the two-story Colorado building on Main Street, is nearing completion. Owner Tim Kam has been teasing goth dance parties, darkwave pioneers like Lebanon Hanover (April 29) and heavy sludge metal band Crowbar (March 26) ahead of Bizarre Bar’s grand opening, slated for March 28. Across the pond at Swan Dive, now located at 1412 S. Main St., shows are slowly being announced, and they’re worth the wait. The dreamy shoegazers of DIIV will perform on April 30, marking the band's first Vegas performance since 2019 at the Bunkhouse Saloon.
SONGWRITERS RALLY
Musicians, mark your calendars: The Las Vegas Songwriters Festival returns to Mandalay Bay on August 20-22. After a breakout first year, the festival will reunite hitmakers for three days to tell stories, perform music and share how the best songs came together. Songwriters attending the fest this year include: Dean Dillon, known for co-writing more than 60 George Strait songs; Liz Rose, the Grammy Award-winning songwriter behind Taylor Swift’s “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “You Belong With Me”; Nashville’s Billy Montana, who penned Garth Brooks’ hit “More Than a Memory”; Marti Frederiksen, a multi-platinum songwriter and producer known for working with Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne and others; and Bob DiPiero, the Nashville hitmaker behind countless tracks for Tim McGraw, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire and more. Tickets go on sale March 13 at 10 a.m. at axs.com.
LOCAL HAPPENINGS
Quinn Ayers and Craig Lone have been on a tear since the release of RunItBack. Now the duo is back with “3 Way,” featuring the swaggered rhymes of local emcee Zotiyac, and it’s a banger.
The corporate punks of Pure Sport have returned with “1-800-Get-Some,” a speeding bullet train of riffs and collective hollers that belong at an eastside house party. Don’t miss the boys on March 13 when they join WorseforWear, Drowning Spree (formerly Elevated Undergrounds) and Appleseed at Fergusons Downtown for a benefit concert for the Fifth Sun Project. The all-ages show will aid the community-led initiative’s undocumented relief fund. Tickets are now on sale here.
Pop-punk band High Sierra Club has released “Early Sundown," an emotionally charged track featuring immaculate vocals, clean riffs and poignant lyrics that tear at heartstrings. Listen to the song on Spotify or Apple Music.
ON SALE
The Jonas Brothers have checked back into Dolby Live at Park MGM for a four-night run on May 20, 22, 23 and 24. The brothers’ Greetings From Your Hometown tour will be their largest yet with each night honoring a different era of their hit career. Tickets go on sale March 13 at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.com.
Mexican cumbia band Los Ángeles Azules has announced it's coming to PH Live on September 12 as part of its Cumbia Sin Fronteras Tour across the U.S. Active since the mid-’70s, Los Ángeles Azules was the first cumbia band to perform at Coachella and remains one of the most influential Latin acts in its scene. Tickets go on sale March 13 at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.com.
Latin Grammy Award-winning Texas band Grupo Frontera will perform at Michelob Ultra Arena on August 1. The breakout band’s music blends everything from dance-driven cumbia and bachata to polka-infused norteño. Grupo Frontera even enlisted Bad Bunny on 2023’s “un x100to,” now its third most-played song on Spotify. Tickets go on sale March 13 at 10 a.m. at axs.com.
Singer-songwriter, poet and R&B icon Jill Scott will bring a “residency-style performance” to the Pearl Concert Theater on August 15 as part of her To Whom This May Concern world tour. A live band will back Scott, whose warm and resonant vocals will send the room to another plane. Hits like “Golden” and “A Long Walk” will undoubtedly have the audience on their feet, grooving to the icon affectionately known as “Jilly from Philly.” Tickets are on sale now at axs.com.
