The Weekend in One Line
Most weekends ask you to spread yourself across three nights. This one asks you to make a single decision and live with it. Three separate one-night-only shows land on Saturday, in three different rooms, and none of them plays a second date, so two of them are going to happen without you no matter how you plan it. Friday is the forgiving night, Sunday barely turns up, and the whole weekend tilts toward that one Saturday choice. Here it is night by night, plus two daytime options that take a late-August afternoon seriously.
Friday, August 28
Billy Idol plays the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., leather and sneer intact, working a catalog that has aged better than most of its decade. BleauLive is one of the newest theaters on the Strip and considerably smaller than the arenas he spent the eighties filling, which is the entire argument for going. We put him alongside the season's other rock bills in our hard rock and hair metal guide.
Billy Idol | Fri & Sat, 8:00 p.m.
Ralph Barbosa takes the Venetian Theatre on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. for 90 minutes of the dry, unhurried storytelling that got him from Dallas clubs to a Strip theater unusually fast. A good deal of the material still comes out of his years cutting hair, which tells you how ordinary the raw ingredients are and how well he uses them. Ages 16 and up. He's paired with Max Amini in our August comedy preview.
Ralph Barbosa | Fri & Sat, 8:00 p.m. | 90 minutes | 16+
Backstreet Boys at Sphere play Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. inside the highest-resolution screen ever built, with a set built around what the room can do rather than treating it as a normal arena date. The residency dates are finite. There's more on the season in our summer at Sphere guide.
Backstreet Boys at Sphere | Fri & Sat, 8:00 p.m.
Barry Manilow: The Hits Come Home is at the International Theater inside Westgate, and the times differ by night: 8:00 p.m. Friday, 7:00 p.m. Saturday. The show pulls from a catalog of more than fifty hits, and it's the only headliner this weekend open to ages 4 and up, which quietly makes it the family option in a lineup that otherwise isn't.
Barry Manilow | Fri 8:00 p.m., Sat 7:00 p.m. | 4+
Saturday, August 29
Tim Allen is at the MGM Grand Theater at 8:00 p.m., one night, 90 minutes, and it's the version of him that predates the sitcoms: unfiltered, fast, and not especially interested in being liked. Ages 16 and up, with under-18s accompanied by an adult. Of Saturday's three, this is the pick if you want the biggest name and the sharpest hour. More comedy in our August comedy roundup.
Tim Allen | Sat only, 8:00 p.m. | 90 minutes | 16+
5 Seconds of Summer take PH Live at Planet Hollywood on Saturday for a single date, a 90-minute run through a catalog that started as teen pop-rock and turned into something considerably heavier. It's the one on this list to bring a group to, and the only Saturday option that isn't stand-up. Every patron needs a ticket regardless of age.
5 Seconds of Summer | Sat only | 90 minutes
Nate Jackson brings the Super Funny World Tour to The Theater at Virgin Hotels at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, also for one night, also 90 minutes. He's the least famous of the three and the one whose ticket will be hardest to get a year from now, which is the usual trade with a comic climbing this quickly. Ages 4 and up, and the off-Strip room is smaller than either of the others.
Nate Jackson | Sat only, 8:00 p.m. | 90 minutes | 4+
All four of Friday's shows play their second night on Saturday as well, which is the escape hatch. If Billy Idol or Ralph Barbosa was the thing you actually wanted, take them Friday and leave Saturday clear for whichever one-off wins.
Sunday, August 30
Sunday steps back, which after that Saturday is probably correct. There's no major concert on the calendar, leaving Wastin' Away: The Poolside Jimmy Buffett Show to close things out at 6:30 p.m. at the Siren Poolside at Alexis Park, about 65 minutes of frozen drinks, island hits and a sunset doing the staging. If you want something with a scoreboard instead, the Aviators are also home in Summerlin, and our sports weekend guide has that side of things.
Wastin' Away | Sun, 6:30 p.m. | 65 minutes
What to Do Before the Sun Goes Down
The honest late-August daytime plan is air conditioning, and Flyover next to the Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip is the good version of it. You're suspended in front of a wraparound screen with the seats moving, wind and mist included, for about 35 minutes of soaring over famous landmarks without stepping outside. It runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and riders need to be at least 40 inches tall, so it clears most of the family in a way the evening lineup doesn't.
Flyover in Las Vegas | daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. | about 35 minutes | 40\" minimum
The opposite instinct: leave. The Hidden Valley RZR Tour runs about four hours through Hidden Valley and the McCullough Mountain range near Jean, driving an off-road RZR yourself rather than riding along, with water and a light snack provided and pickup from the main valet at South Point around 9:45 a.m. Drivers need to be 18 with a valid licence, international licences accepted, and anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian at pickup for the paperwork.
Hidden Valley RZR Tour | about 4 hours | South Point pickup | drivers 18+
Planning Notes
Two things before you book. Saturday's three one-offs all sit at or near 8:00 p.m. in rooms spread from the Strip to Virgin Hotels, so there's no version of the night where you catch two of them, and the age limits matter more than usual here: Tim Allen is 16 and over, while Nate Jackson takes ages 4 and up, which may make the decision for a family before taste does. And Friday is the pressure valve, since all four of its shows repeat on Saturday. Build the weekend backwards from whichever one-off you want most and slot Friday around it. Check the booking section below for current availability across everything here.
