The Weekend in One Line
Most Las Vegas weekends front-load everything onto Saturday and then go quiet. This one doesn't. From Friday to Sunday there are four events that happen once and never again, two of them in a swimming pool, and the Sunday lineup is deeper than the Friday one. Here it is night by night, plus two daytime options that take late-July heat seriously.
Friday, July 24
Backstreet Boys at Sphere is the biggest thing happening this weekend, playing Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. inside the highest-resolution screen ever built. The group has leaned hard into what the room can do rather than treating it as a normal arena date. If you've been putting this one off, note that the residency dates are finite and the venue doesn't do walk-ups well. More on the season in our summer at Sphere guide.
Backstreet Boys at Sphere | Fri & Sat, 8:00 p.m.
Kelly Clarkson brings Studio Sessions to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., a 90-minute set built around the voice rather than the spectacle. The residency framing is deliberate: it's a stripped, studio-style show rather than a stadium production. Recommended for ages 6 and up, and every patron needs a ticket. We went deeper in our Kelly Clarkson residency post.
Kelly Clarkson | Fri & Sat, 8:00 p.m. | 90 minutes
Marc Anthony launches Vegas... My Way! at the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau on Friday and Saturday, a bilingual, high-voltage Latin pop show from one of the best-selling tropical salsa artists of all time. BleauLive is one of the newest theaters on the Strip and it's smaller than the room an artist of his scale would normally play.
Marc Anthony | Fri & Sat evening
Ella Mai plays Resorts World Theatre at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, and this is the first of the three one-night-only shows that theater is running this weekend. The Grammy-winning R&B singer brings a 90-minute set of hits and newer material. One night, no second chance. She also features in our July limited music nights roundup.
Ella Mai | Fri only, 8:00 p.m. | 90 minutes
Saturday, July 25
Totally Tubular Festival is the single densest bill of the weekend: seven original 80s acts on one poolside stage at The Pool at SAHARA, including A Flock of Seagulls, Thomas Dolby, Bow Wow Wow, Animotion, The Escape Club, The Producers and Tommy Tutone. These are the actual artists, not tribute bands. Doors at 7:30 p.m., music at 9:00, 21 and over, and the ticket tells you to bring a swimsuit because the pool stays open. One night only.
Totally Tubular Festival | Sat only | doors 7:30 p.m. | 21+
The All-American Rejects take Resorts World Theatre on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. for the second of the theater's three one-nighters, a 90-minute run at the pop-rock singalongs that soundtracked the mid-2000s. It's the loudest, most crowd-on-its-feet option of the night if a poolside 80s party isn't your speed.
The All-American Rejects | Sat only, 8:00 p.m. | 90 minutes
Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson and Marc Anthony all play their second night on Saturday too, so if Friday is spoken for, none of the three is lost.
Sunday, July 26
Howard Jones: Things Can Only Get Better closes out the Resorts World hat-trick at 6:30 p.m., and it isn't a solo show. The bill also carries Wang Chung, The English Beat and Modern English, hosted by Richard Blade, which makes it the weekend's second full 80s lineup in as many nights. This is the pick if you missed Saturday's pool party and still want the decade.
Howard Jones and friends | Sun only, 6:30 p.m. | 90 minutes
Wastin' Away: The Poolside Jimmy Buffett Show runs 65 minutes at the Siren Poolside at Alexis Park, also at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. It's the mellow counterweight to Saturday's 80s party: live Buffett hits, tropical drinks, and a sunset that does the staging for you. Note the clash with Howard Jones, because they start at the same minute.
Wastin' Away | Sun, 6:30 p.m. | 65 minutes
Luenell takes Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy Club at the LINQ Promenade at 10:00 p.m., 18 and over, for a fearless, taboo-hunting stand-up set that runs 75 to 90 minutes. The late slot is the useful part: it starts well after either 6:30 show finishes, so Sunday can genuinely hold two events.
Luenell | Sun, 10:00 p.m. | 18+
What to Do Before the Sun Goes Down
It's late July, so the daytime plan is really a heat plan. The Red Rock Canyon Hiking Tour by Love Hikes runs guided hikes inside the canyon's 13-mile Scenic Drive with transport from the Strip included, and the 6:30 a.m. departure exists for a reason: it gets you onto the trail and back off it before the day turns hostile. Ages 8 and up.
Red Rock Canyon Hiking Tour | daily, 6:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. | 8+
The opposite approach: Minus5 Ice Bar at the LINQ Promenade is a room carved from ice and held below freezing, parkas provided at the door, in the middle of a desert summer. It's open all three days, takes about an hour, and welcomes ages 7 and up before 9 p.m. We compared all three Vegas locations in our ice bar guide.
Minus5 Ice Bar LINQ | all weekend | 7+ before 9 p.m.
Planning Notes
Two scheduling details worth catching before you book. Sunday is the trap and the opportunity: Howard Jones and Wastin' Away both start at 6:30 p.m., so you have to choose, but Luenell's 10:00 p.m. slot means whichever you pick can still be followed by a comedy show. And the four one-night events this weekend, three at Resorts World plus the SAHARA pool party, don't come back around, which is a different kind of urgency from the residencies. Check the booking section below for current availability across everything here.
