ON THE RISE Each year, Rise Festival invites people to gather at the Jean Dry Lake Bed about 20 minutes south of Las Vegas for a highly symbolic, three-day lantern ceremony centered around hope, humanity and art. The festival recently announced its next 10th anniversary edition will be celebrated on October 3-5 with one of the most stacked music lineups in the event’s history.
John Mayer, along with global dance icons Rüfüs Du Sol and Calvin Harris, will headline the three-day ceremony, followed by a curated mix of talent that includes the mesmerizing jam band Goose, future house maestro Oliver Heldens, powerhouse twins Coco & Breezy, English hitmaker Elderbrook and others. Now that’s how you throw an anniversary party! Tickets are on sale now at risefestival.com.
TWO TICKETS TO PARADICE Downtown Las Vegas will soon welcome the soothing sounds of soul, R&B, cumbia and funk with the all-new Paradice Festival, a one-day celebration packed with must-see performances by soul revivalist group Thee Sacred Souls, R&B songstress Ravyn Lenae, fast-rising Columbian psych outfit Balthvs and more on September 27. We the Beat, a local creative collective that’s been keeping the concert calendar at Swan Dive booked and busy with indie and electronic talent, will host the groove-focused festival in conjunction with Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.
Paradice, for many music fans, fills an important niche in the festival calendar after the loss of Day N Vegas and Lovers & Friends. Those R&B and hip-hop fests brought the likes of SZA, Summer Walker and Miguel to Vegas. And to a greater degree, Paradice expands on that with a rich tapestry of Latin and soul influences, showcasing tone-setters like Vegas’ Johnny Ruiz & the Escapers, Peruvian chica band LA LOM and singer-songwriter JMSN.
DREAM ON In 2023, we named Vegas-based singer-songwriter Tatum the Dreamer our Best R&B Act to Watch. So far, he’s lived up to those expectations. Following up on the confessionally charged Besties, For Life!, Tatum the Dreamer surpasses his own standard with Our Heavenly Bodies, an 11-track LP he produced with Nikø Stephen and Plantcham, and worked on with Vegas’ Grammy Award-winning engineer Dawsøn and platinum recording and mixing engineer Sauce Miyagi.
Fans of Frank Ocean will relish Tatum’s vocal range and fleecy falsetto, especially on the standout single “Groove Phase” and the angelic opener “Superstar.” On Our Heavenly Bodies, Tatum draws from a cavernous well of influence, including post-apocalyptic sci-fi, his own palpably painful stories of desire and even grief. On first listen, it all bleeds together through languid lines and rhythmic swells of R&B. Intimate and thorough in the way it explores the singer’s mindscape, Our Heavenly Bodies is just that: heavenly.
LISTEN HERE Vegas-bred singer-songwriter and rapper Quinn Ayers has released a strong summer hit contender with “Feel So,” a single harping on a toxic relationship that has him “mixing my tequila with some hardships.” Haven’t we all been there? … State Flower, the indie project of Samuel Walker Blasco (Sunroom and Narrowed), recently dropped the poignant but strangely uplifting track “Never.” … Mikelo Flores, vocalist and guitarist of the Latin psych band Viaje Nahual, has been cooking up some incredible solo work, too. His most recent single, “La Noche,” is a wavy, drum-blasting adventure we can’t take off repeat. … Eastside R&B singer and producer Onmywayve is also heating up the scene with “Can’t Wait,” a sexy, saxophone-tinged single sure to inspire a blush or two. … Also, this is your monthly reminder to listen to the corporate-cosplaying punk trio Pure Sport. The Vegas-based band had the pleasure of opening for Future Islands at Brooklyn Bowl on May 14, after the venue reached out. It’s always a win when one of our own in the local music community gets to play before a large touring act. Buy the corporate boys a beer if you see ’em. Just don’t tell HR.
ALSO … If you’re itching to see some live music outdoors, consider heading to the Fremont Street Experience’s Downtown Rocks free concert series, where bands like Hinder, Gym Class Heroes, Rome, AWOLNATION and others will perform all summer long. Virgin Hotels’ Live on the Lawn also has acts such as Sugar Ray, Pepper, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Suicidal Tendencies and more playing under the night sky throughout May and June.
Amber Sampson is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for Las Vegas Weekly. She got her start in journalism as an …
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