Summerlin South to light up Las Vegas again at Raiders opener
Are you ready for some … Little League baseball?
Mark Davis is, at this Monday night party. The Raiders owner is honoring Summerlin South at the “Monday Night Football” home opener against the Chargers. U.S. champions Little League squad will light the Al Davis Memorial Torch to kick off the season.
Prior to every Raiders home game, a dignitary is invited to pay tribute to the team’s legendary owner and Professional Football Hall of Fame inductee. The team recognizes the Raiders’ fabled “Commitment to Excellence slogan, introducing the honorees with, “The fire that burns brightest in the Raiders’ organization is the will to win.”
The tradition was launched in 2011 at the Oakland Coliseum, with John Madden performing the honors. Summerlin South is the third team to light the torch at Allegiant Stadium, following the Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights and two-time WNBA champion Aces.
Hall of Famer Eric Allen, Ice Cube, Mike Tyson, Carlos Santana and the the family of late Raiders legend Jim Otto are among those who have fired up the torch. This is not an actual flame, but a towering LED image. It gets the point across.
Batiste at church
Jon Batiste opened his show at Encore Theater on Saturday night by walking to the stage from the back of the theater, slamming a tambourine as his band played a New Orleans-style, jazz-parade backdrop.
Batiste could be the Jimi Hendrix, or B.B. King, of the tambourine, if he hadn’t also mastered about a half-dozen other instruments.
Supporting his captivating”Big Money” album, Batiste headlined two shows over the weekend. Scratch that. He hosted two worship events. The crowd praised their Higher Powers, the music pouring from the stage, unity and life itself. Even our cell phones were incorporated into the message, the lights on the devices “representing the light inside all of us,” as the artist said.
Reliably mixing musical styles, Batiste soloed on piano, drums and percussion, guitar, showing off his boundless gift of showmanship. He unleashed the title tune “Big Money,” “Freedom” and “I Need You,” “Johnny B. Goode” and “Forever And a Day,” goosing the crowd to get up and dance and loosen up those voices.
Swept up in the moment, several fans heeded his call, “I need to get some people in the aisle right now!” This shout-out defied venue rules, and a nod to the ushers in this show who deftly led these groovers back to their seats. But Batiste still turned the room into the “creative church” he spoke of in our preview chat.
Andra Day joined to close, performing a long stretch of improv riffing with her close friend. Her anxious expression showed this was an authentic, unscripted moment. She sang “Rise Up” to close her stay, and the audience followed the lyric.
Later, Batiste, Day and the full band hung and dined at Allegro, just outside the theater. Day happened upon Clint Holmes for a quick reunion; the two performed a charity event years ago in Aspen. We also chatted of Day’s terrific performance at the Raiders Foundation gala at the Wynn in 2024.
We left the restaurant at about 1:30 a.m., catching a last glance at Batiste, laughing and holding court. He looked like a man just getting started.
Cool Hang Alert
An architect of Cool Hang Alert, Dave Loeb leads the start of the UNLV Jazz and Commercial Music’s 2025-‘26 concert season at 3 p.m. Sunday at Ham Hall. This is a CD release for the new album, “Double or Nothing,” featuring selections from the album and a performance by guest jazz vocalist Laura Taylor.
Loeb and trombone great/brilliant composer Nathan Tanouye are the show’s conductors. The group’s previous album, “Let The Good Times Roll,” captured a host of Downbeat Student Music Awards and received Grammy consideration last year 2025.
In all, The UNLV Jazz Program musician has claimed 52 Downbeat Award. This is a coveted, prestigious honor for college musicians across the country. Cost for this is $14.95, a mere pittance (and proof that there is value out there for topnotch Vegas entertainment). Go to unlv.edu for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.