Las Vegas saloon braces for closing with Operation Save Hogs

Hogs & Heifers Saloon is helping its employees through the bar’s closing, one T-shirt at a time.

Operation Save Hogs campaign has been launched. This is an effort to sell items and a distribute donations to non-management employees who are staying on through the saloon’s closing the night of July 5.

The support platform is linked to hogsandheiferslasvegas.com. The effort is to help the staff survive the saloon’s downtime as it plans for a new home. The business employs 45 team members.

According to owner Michelle Dell, the famous/infamous bar on 3rd Street is due to shut down in July as its 20-year lease expires. Dell has confirmed CIM Group, which owns that parcel and also Downtown Grand across the street, is selling the property to Penske Media.

The incoming ownership group, which also owns Rolling Stone magazine, has no plans to extend Hogs & Heifers’ lease.

Dell says the club will rise anew, and in downtown.

“At the moment we are still scheduled for a temporary closure on July 5, but we have not given up hope that there is still a chance to activate a holdover on our lease for a few more months,” Dell said in a text. “We are confident we will be up running at a new location by December”

The first item being released is a T-shirt, with more merch to follow.

Dell says the funds will be evenly distributed among non-management staffers when the club closes, and hopefully continue in the weeks after the doors are locked.

“If the temporary closure date is extended, then funds raised will be distributed at the time of temporary closure to the staff members who remain through the last day,” Dell says, adding that 100 percent of the donations and 80 percent of the merch sales (taking out 20 percent to cover the cost of the items) goes to the staff.

Visit to Mars

Bruno Mars played to entertainment royalty at Dolby Live on Wednesday night. Jackson family patriarch Katherine Jackson was in the crowd, which erupted when Mars introduced her from the stage. Mars performed “I’ll Be There” as a tribute, and plugged Janet Jackson’s production just up the Strip at Resorts World Theatre.

Chesney’s guest stars

Kenny Chesney has followed through with his promise that fellow entertainers would join him onstage at Sphere. Kelsea Ballerini (May 22), Grace Potter (May 24 and last Saturday) and Megan Moroney (Wednesday) have appeared in the show.

And Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports told Page Six in an IG Reels post he learned from a backstage conversation with Chesney the headliner is adjusting to the fact that no one is looking at him on stage. The crowd views him and the band on the screens, along with the rest of the imagery.

This account brought to mind Bono spreading his arms at the start of U2’s opener, as if to draw the attention to the stage. The human figures might look small, but Sphere plays the production huge.

Eyeballs, AMAs, and you …

From Dick Clark Productions and multiple media reports, AMAs were the No. 1 broadcast of the night on Monday. The show drew 4.86 million viewers, according to Nielsen, up 38 percent from its last live broadcast in 2022 (hosted by Wayne Brady on ABC) and highest ratings since ‘19.

The show was staged at BleauLive Theater, after reportedly, originally planning for MGM Grand Garden Arena. The former is less expansive and expensive than the latter. Monday’s show was the first AMAs staged outside of L.A., airing in the spring, with the run time lopped from three to two hours.

Cool Hang Alert

Saturday night is the last chance to catch “Lady Like” at 24 Oxford at Virgin Hotels. The funny, sexy satirical examination of 1950s and ’60s female stereotypes opened October 28, 2023.

“As host and singer Maren Wade posted, “After 18 months in Lady Like Charm School, it’s time to toss our caps … And maybe apply to graduate school.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.