(Sham)rock ’n’ roll: A flurry of Celtic music fit for St. Patrick’s

Granted, Flogging Molly will only be in one place and one night, which is Saturday on The Cosmopolitan’s outdoor pool deck.

But a Monday St. Patrick’s Day creates an unofficial three-day weekend, with plenty of alcohol and Irish rock for all.

Some years, you’ve had to buy a ticket to see the Young Dubliners. But on Sunday, the Celtic rockers play at a free party at The Cannery. The Young Dubs have a new album, their ninth, as you might surmise from the title, “Nine-9-Naoi.”

The Dubs crowdfunded the album, which offers a typically strong mix of anthemic rock in the U2 vein with at least one foot-stomping instrumental to show off the fiddle and Uilean pipes and whistle. Brother opens the free show that starts at 6 p.m.

Flogging Molly usually works Las Vegas into its “Green 17” burst of nonstop dates circling St. Patrick’s Day, but the fiery Irish-punk band is threatening to make this year the end of that 10-year tradition.

St. Paddy’s is an all-inclusive party. But just to make sure there’s something for everyone, Latin-funk jam band Ozomatli is the opening act for Sunday’s show on The Cosmopolitan pool deck. Tickets are $48.85 for the 8 p.m. show; call 800-745-3000.

The green weekend usually brings a Fremont Street visit from Tempest, which has made a 25-year career of fusing Celtic and folk-rock with a tinge of progressive rock in the Jethro Tull vein.

Tempest plays at 7 p.m. Friday and Sunday, 10 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Monday as part of the downtown street party, which also mixes Las Vegas favorites Finnegan’s Wake and the Wild Celts into the two-stage rotation.

Other parties around town don’t put one band in center focus, but the beer taps will be open. They include:

■ The annual Sons & Daughters of Erin St. Patrick’s Day Parade at 10 a.m. Saturday is the centerpiece of a carnival and festival on Water Street in downtown Henderson, Thursday through Sunday.

■ New York-New York hosts a three-day party Saturday through Monday, with live entertainment including the Limey Bar Stewards and U2 tribute band Rattle & Hum inside the Nine Fine Irishmen pub and outdoors on the Brooklyn Bridge. Saturday also brings a 1:45 p.m. ribbon cutting and balloon release to unveil a new outdoor plaza with shops.

■ O’Shea’s has a three-day “block party” Saturday through Monday, with Monday’s spilling outside into the new outdoor complex The Linq, starting at noon between the Flamingo and Quad hotels.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.