For a second year festival, Life is Beautiful is on its way to a bright future following three days of non-stop partying among 90,000 attendees with A-list acts like the Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Outkast, Panic! at the Disco, Lionel Ritchie, Arctic Monkeys, Fitz and the Tantrums, Skrillex, and Phantogram.
More than 15 city blocks of Downtown Las Vegas were closed down for the festival held Oct. 24-26 just a stone’s throw away from the end of Fremont Street’s main drag.
Festival founder Rehan Choudhry said his team expanded this year in every way possible, but among the most meaningful was the heightened integration of three of its four core pillars: food, art and learning.
“Music is always a big draw – and this year’s acts knocked it out of the park – but to see guests coming to the site specifically to taste food from our award-winning chefs, hear speeches from world-class lecturers, and soak in the beauty of our murals and installations means a lot,” Choudhry said. “It proves that we’ve taken a big step towards our goal of showcasing many types of artistic endeavors in one single space. This event is designed for those who see or who seek the beauty in life, and I believe they left our footprint inspired and stimulated.”
Here’s a look at each day’s highlights.
Day One
Kanye West headlined to an uproarious crowd on Friday night, which included his wife Kim Kardashian, her mother Kris Jenner and sister Khloe. Love him or hate him, the music super star belted out all his hits in front of a welcoming crowd who didn’t want his set to end.
The Weeknd performed at his first festival in more than two years and serenaded the crowd with a sexy rendition of Beyonce’s hit single, “Drunk in Love.”
An energetic crowd danced to the masterful musical mashups of Girl Talk, who ended his set with an explosion of confetti.
Hometown artists Jenny Lewis and Panic! At The Disco returned to Las Vegas for performances on the Western and the Ambassador stages, respectively.
Punk rock political activists Pussy Riot spoke to an overflowing audience inside The Western Hotel, where they discussed finding laughter in even the most dire of situations.
Duff Goldman added some spark to his banana fosters demo during Chefs on Stage, adding Grand Marnier, Vegas Rum, and Everclear to light the pan on fire under the Vegas desert sky.
Artists and festival guests indulged in a 130-lb. tuna hand sliced by Blue Ribbon Sushi Chef Toshi Ueki and enjoyed by Chefs Bruce and Eric Bromberg, Jonathan Waxman, Marc Forgione and José Andrés, who fed each other the delicacy.
During his Chefs on Stage demonstration, Jet Tila used his smartphone to record a special message with his audience for his Cutthroat Kitchen co-star, “Hi Alton Brown, we love you. From, Life is Beautiful.”
Day Two
Hip hop duo and Saturday night headliner Outkast blew away crowds, getting a massive roar of approval and much audience singing to its hit songs “Hey Ya”, “Miss Jackson”, and “Roses”.
Lionel Richie connected generations with a high energy performance that kept the packed crowd dancing “all night long.” Richie treated the audience to an encore of Michael Jackson’s “We Are the World” and engaged the audience in a duet of “Endless Love.”
Festival goers also lined up every half hour to party on foot for Lionel Richie’s Conga express, dancing to his classics throughout the footprint.
Earlier in the day, The Roots, Misterwives and Fitz and the Tantrums all paid tribute to the 80’s with covers of Guns N Roses’ “Sweet child of mine”, Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls just want to have fun” and “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurhythmics.
Local artists Tim Bavington and Sush Machida accepted a proclamation from Congresswoman Dina Titus, on behalf of Life is Beautiful, in honor of the festival’s contribution to the downtown beatification efforts through its various art curations and programs.
Chef Rick Moonen took the stage at Container Park with singer Kimbra, where he demonstrated his preparation of True North Salmon with pickled cucumbers and horseradish crème fraiche.
Capping off Saturday’s learning sessions, motivational speaker Lizzie Velasquez joined festival founder Rehan Choudhry in the “You are Beautiful” speaker session to inspire and remind attendees of one of the central themes of the three-day event.
Life is Beautiful was written into one couple’s love story when a marriage proposal occurred on stage during The Flaming Lips’ performance of “Do You Realize?” She said yes.
Day Three
The Foo Fighters couldn’t be stopped on Sunday night, blowing past their allotted set time giving the audience an unforgettable performance.
During his performance, Dave Grohl thanked Life is Beautiful for bringing him out to Las Vegas and making it possible for him to perform on the same stage as other rock stars like Arctic Monkeys.
During the intoxicating Skrillex set, festival guests bounced around hundreds of LED balls which changed color to the nonstop electro beats.
Life is Beautiful bands continued a weekend trend of performing cover songs mixed with originals. Nahko & Medicine for the People covered Blackstreet’s, “No Diggity” and Mayer Hawthorne covered both Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” and Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”
Life is Beautiful also paid homage to the “Fab Four” with a special performance from The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil and members of The Las Vegas Philharmonic. A crowd favorite, and first-ever collaboration for the two, the performance used uniquely re-mastered music arranged by Giles Martin, son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin.
During his Chefs on Stage demonstration, Scott Conant revealed Wolfgang Puck and Daniel Boulud as his culinary inspirations. He then treated his guests to samples of his spice-crusted ribeye.
Food Network’s first featured female Chef Cat Cora also cooked up a masterpiece on stage when she showed attendees how to make one of her signature dishes, basque-rubbed grilled lamb chops with a feta chimichurri.
The festival’s 2014 learning series ended on a high note with NBA hopeful Isaiah Austin speaking to a packed room about overcoming it all and how he came out the other side.
