A&E
Feature
Las Vegas Academy of the Arts Celebrates 20 Years
March 27th, 2013
The Las Vegas Academy of the Arts has been honored with 10 Grammys—a first for any school in the country. One of the institution’s guitar ensembles performed at the National Guitar Association, and jazz studies students have won the Reno Jazz Festival and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival. The school has an award-winning Mariachi ensemble, and has been invited to perform at the Thespian International Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. LVA student artwork hangs at the educational wing at the Congressional Building in Washington, D.C. Add a Distinguished Magnet School of America nod and a five-star rating in the district, and it’s fair to say, 20 years after the school was founded, that the LVA experiment has worked. Read more »
Stage
Sky Falls as Jersey Marks a Milestone
Say goodbye to one. Say thanks for staying to the other.
March 26th, 2013
Reading
Forgive Us for Not Recommending the Bland but Passable 'A Thousand Pardons'
March 26th, 2013
If you like your contemporary fiction nice and safe, look no further than Jonathan Dee’s A Thousand Pardons (Random House, $26). The plot is layered and reasonably paced, but the novel has no sharp edges. It is almost completely free of any stylistic flair, there’s nothing here that announces “This is a novel that must be read.” Read more »
Art
Art (Un)installation
Jennifer Kleven opens up about closing her Downtown gallery
March 26th, 2013
For the past two years and four months, Kleven Contemporary hosted many of the best contemporary art exhibits in Las Vegas. The micro gallery, housed in Emergency Arts, drew emerging artists who worked in a diversity of media and styles, from Andrew Sea James’ photography of quirky Valley landscapes to a paper installation by Andreana Donahue to Kyla Hansen’s appropriately titled sculpture show The End and Shit, a post-apocalyptic reliquary of the Southwest. Read more »
Music
Louisiana Rock, Psyche-Horror, ’50s Pop
March 26th, 2013
Excuse me while I indulge in a college flashback with New Orleans Southern punk trio Dash Rip Rock. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes over the years, but founding frontman Bill Davis remains steadfast. Read more »
Music
Guitarist Jesse Cook Finds Balance Between Discovery and Familiarity
March 26th, 2013
Every artist navigates a tense question: Is it more important to please or challenge an audience? New-flamenco shredder Jesse Cook confronted this issue when creating his latest album, The Blue Guitar Sessions. Expectations from his record label were clear: produce another instrumental album in his signature rumba style. But Cook hoped to achieve something different. Instead of the fiery performances for which he’s known, he sought to assemble a mostly original collection of soft ballads and lush pop. Read more »
Music
Tour Buzz: Tiger Army, Shania Twain and Tegan and Sara
March 25th, 2013
Psychobilly outfit Tiger Army plays the Read more »
