The Jeff Does Vegas Podcast

There's no question that Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world, and all through the city's history, it's played host to some of the most legendary acts of all time. Some names come to mind instantly, like The Rat Pack...Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Jr.  There's Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton who's been headlining in Vegas since the mid-1960's.  An...

Did you know that approximately 2% of the world's population uses a wheelchair AND that nearly 20% of people have a disability that limits one or more activities of daily living? If you applied that math to Las Vegas, that means that roughly 840,000 wheelchair users and almost 8.5 million people with different levels of accessibility requirements travel to Vegas every single year. In the vario...

In mid-December 2022, I was offered the opportunity to talk with the one and only Chris Hansen, formerly of Dateline NBC and perhaps best known for the famous To Catch A Predator series of investigative reports. If you're not familiar with To Catch A Predator, allow me to explain: A group of decoys playing the part of underage teen boys & girls enter online chatrooms and wait for adults to...

Get ready for another World Famous Jeff Does Vegas Trip Report!  This time, we're recapping mine & my wife's most recent trip to Vegas from December 11th-16th, 2022. This episode includes reviews of our stay at Paris Las Vegas as well as meals at Roy Choi's Best Friend in Park MGM ,  Yellowtail Restaurant & Lounge at the Bellagio ,  The Steakhouse at Circus Circus , and others....

The Las Vegas Strip attracts all types of people. Vacationers, gamblers, foodies, partiers...and daredevils.  And there's one specific spot on the strip that's been particularly appealing to those who make their living defying death: The Fountains at Caesars Palace Since Caesars Palace opened back in 1966, the usually serene spot along Las Vegas Boulevard has played host to multiple brave...

As 2022 comes to an end, I've decided to take you all on a little trip back in time to re-visit some of my favorite conversations from the last 12 months of the podcast. For the third & final instalment of 2022 In Review, I've decided to cover what is easily one of my favorite things to talk about - and based on your reactions to these episodes, I'm betting it's yours as well:...

As 2022 comes to an end, I've decided to take you all on a little trip back in time to re-visit some of my favorite conversations from the last 12 months of the podcast. This time on 2022 In Review, I'm jumping into the archives and re-sharing conversations with some of the excellent content creators I've had the pleasure of speaking with over the last year including authors, vloggers,...

As 2022 comes to an end, I've decided to take you all on a little trip back in time to re-visit some of my favorite conversations from the last 12 months of the podcast. For the first episode of 2022 In Review, I wanted to pay tribute to the amazing entertainers who took time out of their busy lives to jump on the show for a chat. Singers, musicians, showgirls, comedians and even an exotic dan...

When you really want to know what's going on in the Las Vegas entertainment scene, there's only one guy you need to turn to...and he's my guest for this episode of the podcast! John Katsilometes is the writer of "Kats!", a daily column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that covers everything & anything to do with entertainment in Vegas, both on and off the Vegas Strip. John w...

Back a few weeks ago, I decided it might be fun to step outside of my comfort zone and host an official Jeff Does Vegas Ask Me Anything session. I put it out to you, the amazing listeners of this podcast, to ask me questions about anything you wanted to know - whether it was about Las Vegas, podcasting, my radio career, my personal life...literally ANYTHING. And you guys didn't disappoint!  Yo...

On November 21, 1980, the Las Vegas Strip was the site of what would become the third-worst hotel fire in modern U.S. history and what to this day remains the biggest disaster in the history of the state of Nevada. Early that morning, a small fire broke out in a restaurant on the ground floor of what was - at the time - the MGM Grand Hotel.  The fire quickly spread, engulfing the casino level and...

October 21, 1977 saw the release of what would eventually become one of the best selling albums of all time:  Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell The idea for the album came from a musical that writer/composer Jim Steinman had conceived back in 1974.  Meat Loaf & Jim spent most of 1975 re-writing & recording the album, then close to 2 years auditioning the record - and getting rejected by ever...

In 1991, Warren Beatty jumped onto the big screen to portray one the most feared and most famous mobsters of all time... Bugsy . The film, directed by Barry Levinson and co-starring Annette Bening (as Bugsy's longtime girlfriend, Virginia Hill) tells the story of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and his role in the creation of The Flamingo and the building of Las Vegas as an "oasis in the d...

For this Podcast Flashback, I've decided to take a deep dive into the archives and, being that it's Halloween, I thought it might be fun to re-share something spooky.  And it all starts with a simple question: Do you believe in ghosts? With Vegas's somewhat shady past & tales of tragedy, it should come as no surprise that Sin City has more than its fair share of creepiness floating...

Picture it...it's the late 1970's.  You're a singer-songwriter working the bar scene in New York City.  One night, after having enough of dealing with crowds that don't pay attention to you, you decide to mess around with the lyrics of a popular song and perform that on stage...and you manage to turn that into a career spanning almost 40 years. That's exactly what  Dennis Blair...

I love having fellow Vegas content creators on the podcast and I've been fortunate to talk to several.  From bloggers to YouTubers to podcasters, I love learning about what got them interested in the city and what contributes to their drive to share their passion - and my guest for this episode is easily one of the most passionate Vegas podcasters I've ever chatted with. Julian Romero is t...

If you're a lover of that vintage Vegas vibe, but also a huge fan of the contemporary rock sound, you're going to LOVE my guest for this episode of the podcast Joining me this time around is Michael Shapiro, front man for Reckless In Vegas who, after spending the last several years hustling their asses off around Las Vegas at various lounges and showrooms, recently landed their first ever...

Heads Up: This episode of Jeff Does Vegas contains descriptions of an event that some people may find disturbing or triggering.  Listener discretion is advised. October 1, 2017.  It's a date burned into the memories of both Las Vegas residents and visitors.  On that day, the Vegas Strip - a place normally associated with fun & frivolity - became a site of terror for thousands of people att...

Over the last several years, there's been a push in the travel industry for people to practice what's called "Responsible Travel".  This is travel that's all about making choices to minimize the negative impacts of your travel in favor of ones that are neutral or contribute positively. My guests for this episode are Erin Hynes & Kattie Laur, the hosts of Alpaca My Bags, a C...

Dark Tourism - otherwise known as Thana Tourism, Black Tourism, or Morbid Tourism - is the term used to describe travel to places that are historically associated with death and tragedy. Dark Tourism destinations exist all over the world; from Nazi concentration camps in Poland , to the site of the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine , to Ground Zero in New York City .  There are Jack the Ripper tours i...

There are some AWESOME Vegas movies out there.  Classics like "Casino", "Oceans Eleven" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".  There are also some TERRIBLE Vegas movies out there...like "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone", "3000 Miles To Graceland" and "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2". I think it's fair to say that the film we're discussing in this epi...

I've talked about a lot of Las Vegas history on this podcast and I absolutely love doing it.  And, based on the reaction to the various Vegas history episodes I've released, it's pretty clear that you do too. This time around, I'm covering a part of Las Vegas history that doesn't get the attention it deserves and if I'm being honest, it's a part of Las Vegas history tha...

Imagine being able to attend a concert featuring some of the greatest rock songs in history from artists like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, the Rolling Stones, the Who, AC/DC and Van Halen. Now, imagine those songs being played by musicians from some of the biggest bands in the world like Whitesnake, Starship, the Cult and Heart. Stop imagining it because it's reality.  It's in Las Vegas and...

Time for another World Famous Jeff Does Vegas Trip Report!  This time, we're going over my most recent trip to Vegas from July 25th-27th, 2022. This episode includes reviews of my stay at  The Mirage as well as meals at  Village Cafe  at Ellis Island,  Ri-Ra Irish Pub in Mandalay Bay,  Home Plate Bar & Grill off the strip,  Otoro Robata Sushi & Grill at The Mirage and my not-so-awesome...

"In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I'm watching the casino manager....