Turning Las Vegas Inside…Out

This is what the Strip will look like outside the Cosmopolitan Hotel on December 15th as Brandon Flowers in concert will be gracing the marquee. Hope they set up a few beer stands nearby...

We’ve always wondered why the rest of the Strip (and even off-Strip) hotels don’t do this. Maybe they will now.

The Cosmopolitan seems to understand the concept that what is going on inside the resort in real time–in the clubs, in the concert venues, around the pool–is a lot more exciting than static pictures or play-repeat-play-repeat footage on a resort’s outside marquee.

The Cosmo hasn’t even opened yet and already appears to have a game-changing attitude, particularly when it comes to their giant 65-foot digital video marquee positioned along the Strip. From the sounds of it, the Cosmopolitan is using their resort as a huge, interconnected television studio where many of the entertainment venues are almost like sound & video stages found in TV production companies.

For example, besides having a cutting edge and stellar lineup of entertainment planned for the grand opening and New Year’s Eve events, the hotel will be broadcasting the concerts in real-time to passers-by on the Strip on that sexy vid marquee of theirs.

So, during the grand opening concert-by-the-pool on December 15th you may not be able to grab any of the hard-to-come-by tickets for Killer’s front-man Brandon Flowers but you’ll be able to watch him perform songs from his recent solo album while hangin’ in front of the hotel. Talk about a street party!

During New Year’s Eve you’ll be able to see both Cold Play and Jay-Z perform in the resort’s ballroom without having to brave the crowds inside which means you’ll still be part of the festive atmosphere. And this Inside/Out concept isn’t just for the big performers as the Cosmo will be doing the same thing for other bands and entertainment acts as they appear on various hotel stages.

We may be off on this whole idea but to us this is the ultimate buzz-generator–showing the party that’s going on inside the hotel has got to be inviting, doesn’t it?

It would seem like Mandalay could easily do this for their concerts-by-the-pool, House of Blues happenings and the big-time concerts in the Mandalay Events Center. Mandalay might not have enough foot/car traffic on their end of the Strip but MGM Resorts owns so many prime properties in the middle of the action that a huge vid board showing real-time content from various MGM properties would surely be an attention grabber. I know we wouldn’t mind it at all if Harrah’s displayed their real-time entertainment goods on the screens in front of Bally’s. It would sure make the Flamingo traffic light a lot more friendlier and interesting.

And why stop at concerts? Bits and pieces of top boxing and UFC matches would certainly be welcome and possibly some look-ins on headliner shows like Cher, Viva Elvis and, Donny & Marie (maybe if I saw a sample I might actually go to it).

Or, taking it a step further, let the club-goers be the stars. Throw some cameras into Pure, Tao and Haze and show us that there really is fun going on, not just all marketing hype. Of course, the VIP’s might not want their space invaded–and that’s fine, leave the cams out of those areas–but all those sexy babes in their club-goin’ slutwear who go crazy when a Napkin Nights camera comes close will put on some excellent shows if they know they will be a 5-second star on the fabulous Las Vegas Strip (note to video engineer–you might want a 7-second delay on that feed just in case they get a little too frisky).

Granted, the Cosmopolitan is a self-contained entity and appears to have pre-wired the resort with the hotel-as-a-TV-studio concept in mind but it seems like such a good idea that I would bet we’ll see it spring up on the Strip in other places before too long.

Let’s get rid of this outdated notion that what happens here stays here–it hasn’t been like that for years–and change it to what happens here gets broadcast here, on state-of-the-art marquees up and down Las Vegas Boulevard. And why stop there? Hell, what better worldwide marketing would there be for Las Vegas than to put the feed on the internet and open up the party to everyone? We’re gonna bet that the Cosmopolitan is at least considering it…