Bruno Mars works the whole room at The Pinky Ring. He’s usually in the VIP enclave to the right of the entrance. If you’re lucky, he’ll take the stage.
And if you’re really lucky, he’ll break out the tambourine, along with the bongos.
Mars returned to his thumping Bellagio nightspot over the weekend, celebrating the one-year anniversary with his backing band, the Hooligans.
We caught the 15-time Grammy winner in the venue on Saturday, which was TPR’s biggest night ever aside from New Year’s Eve. Not coincidentally, Mars was in the venue on both at-capacity nights. (TPR’s actual anniversary is Feb. 10, from first-hand knowledge, but nobody in the club was checking their calendars, mostly because the use of cellphones is prohibited.)
Mars’ arrival on stage Saturday elicited a roar through the club. As is his wont, the superstar slammed the bongos, shook the tambourine and called out, “Let’s turn this place into a strip club!”
He means this euphemistically. But some revelers seemed ready to go full Sapphire as he and the Hooligans flew into Ginuine’s “My Pony.”
Maintaining order in the club (a mighty task) were MGM Resorts Vice President of Operations Alex Enes, and Bellagio Director of Customer Development and Host Manager Richie Summers. For the first time in a long time, I ran into Mark and Jonnie Houston of On The Record at Park MGM.
The reliably hatted twins said they are excited about their L.A. ventures — they opened Andy’s with Anderson .Paak (Bruno’s sidekick in Silk Sonic) in September. And Houston Hospitality still runs the club they founded at Park MGM, just across Dolby Live, where Mars returns for seven dates May 21-June 2.
Those are good dates to see him at The Pinky Ring, where (as the superstar says), “Sometimes there’s a line, but there’s always a party.” This is why they take reservations.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
