{"id":224113,"date":"2024-04-15T22:29:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T22:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/15\/plaza-set-to-host-life-is-beautiful-music-festival-probably\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:18:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:18:35","slug":"plaza-set-to-host-life-is-beautiful-music-festival-probably","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/15\/plaza-set-to-host-life-is-beautiful-music-festival-probably\/","title":{"rendered":"Plaza Set to Host Life is Beautiful Music Festival, Probably"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n By Scott Roeben<\/a>, on April 15 2024 <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

A longtime downtown Las Vegas event, the Life is Beautiful music festival, is set to move locations this year.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve confirmed a rumor first shared by the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/a>. Yes, we\u2019re as surprised to be writing those words as you are to be reading them. The usual procedure is we break the news, the Review-Journal confirms it and reports it without attribution. You don\u2019t really care about any of this, but it\u2019s just so rare the Review-Journal breaks news, we felt it was worth mentioning. We\u2019re just so condescendingly proud of them.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Life is Beautiful is likely to stay downtown. That\u2019s a big deal, and just do your best to ignore the word \u201clikely\u201d in that last sentence. It\u2019s awkward.<\/p>\n

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Yes, that\u2019s Plaza. And, yes, the Eiffel Tower is near the Plaza. Your insolence is noted by our A.I. overlords.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the part where we humbly remind the Las Vegas Review-Journal who\u2019s boss, as we were the first to share Life is Beautiful was looking for new digs.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s complicated and fairly bleak. Rolling Stone now owns the festival 100%, Life is Beautiful isn\u2019t going to happen in the same footprint again, if it happens at all. Decision pending, Rolling Stone has gone quiet with its downtown partners. https:\/\/t.co\/RTor0QtBtF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) January 20, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Life is Beautiful has a long and complicated history, so we\u2019re not going to get into it here, as that would involve research and exerting effort, which is definitely not happening.<\/p>\n

The festival got its start in 2013, and immediately started hemorrhaging money.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting to note that no human being has ever correctly spelled \u201chemorrhaging\u201d without looking it up.<\/p>\n

Life is Beautiful lost about $10 million in its first three years of operation alone. At some point, as less prominent (and less expensive) talent was booked, the festival found its footing and a controlling interest was sold to Rolling Stone in 2022.<\/p>\n

At the time<\/a>, we said, \u201cDetails of the acquisition weren\u2019t disclosed, so we\u2019re going to just say the deal probably involved brown M&M\u2019s and a mud shark.\u201d The four people who got that joke believe it is the funniest old-timey pop culture reference in the history of humor.<\/p>\n

Now, Rolling Stone owns Life is Beautiful outright, and the company made it clear the existing footprint wasn\u2019t working for them. The search for a new location included the Las Vegas Festival Grounds (at Circus Circus) and the former Alon site (an empty lot across from Wynn Las Vegas).<\/p>\n

Plaza prevailed, allowing the festival to stay downtown.<\/p>\n

If all goes to plan, that is.<\/p>\n

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When you see it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the contract is signed, there are many questions remaining about whether the festival will actually happen, according to sources close to the deal.<\/p>\n

If an event expecting to welcome 30,000 people to the Plaza is going to happen, there\u2019s a lot to be done. The site has to be prepped, permits have to be permitted, and myriad other details have to be hammered out, none of which have been addressed yet.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s for an event that could happen in September.<\/p>\n

The event will envelop the entirety of the Plaza, no doubt utilizing its adjoining former bus station, its parking structures, pool deck, restaurants and other spaces.<\/p>\n

Plaza\u2019s casino is going to take a hit, of course, as will its bars. Everyone\u2019s casinos and bars take a hit during music festivals (our fellow youths don\u2019t gamble, and don\u2019t drink because liquor can mix poorly with recreational drugs like Ecstasy, or as the kids call it, methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), but presumably the revenue is made up with room bookings.<\/p>\n

Plaza upped its music cred when U2 performed out front recently.<\/p>\n

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