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This is a guest post written by Chris Rauschnot, @24K on Twitter, of @24KMedia.

New and exciting performers, food and fun are happening at the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas. Recently, I had the opportunity to see a new live show Pop Evolution and enjoy a happy hour in their Level 107 Lounge atop the tower that overlooks the valley.

Figuring out what to do in Las Vegas can be a daunting task with so many options vying for every dollar from a visitor or local. Thankfully, The Stratosphere has made several new entertainment options available. I heard about Pop Evolution with David Perrico and knew it was something I wanted to see.

As far as live music goes on the Las Vegas Strip, most of it is performed behind the scenes or is a backdrop to the main act.

This is not the case with Pop Evolution. The live 18-piece band is made up of talented people from bands around Las Vegas. With ticket prices at $20, the show becomes an even better option for those that want to live it up in Vegas while saving some money, not a bad deal. During the show, David mentioned that half of all proceeds at the door are donated by Stratosphere to the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts.

So for $20, you can see a lively performance by some of the top musicians in Las Vegas and feel good about some of the money going to help teach the performing and visual arts.

To keep the party going after Pop Evolution, it was suggested that I grab a bite to eat and try a few mixed drinks at Level 107 Lounge’s happy hour. As I have said before in other reviews about Stratosphere’s Tower, it has the best views of the entire city. Couple that with discounted gourmet dishes and strong mixed cocktails, why wouldn’t this be a destination on a “must visit” list for Las Vegas?

I went with a group and we started off happy hour by grabbing a table with the view of SkyJump. We ordered the hummus with roasted garlic and basil, Black Angus sliders, wagyu beef tenderloin carpaccio and a combination cheese plate.

The consensus of the group was that the hummus was smooth with a kick of spice, the three sliders are definitely larger than usual mini burgers, the honeycomb on the cheese plate worked well with the multigrain walnut raisin toast and the wagyu beef carpaccio was definitely the winner. I could order two plates of the wagyu beef carpaccio and definitely be satisfied.

The group wanted to try out a few drinks next, so we checked out the cocktail menu. Our friendly waitress suggested we try the Mango Madness, which happens to be a top seller. The bar makes the Mango Madness cocktail with Absolut Mango Vodka and Malibu Mango Rum, orange juice and mango puree. We ordered a few of those, a Kentucky Sunrise and a pina colada. The Kentucky Sunrise is mixed with Jim Beam Red Stag, grenadine and orange juice.

All of the drinks ordered were sweet and delicious. Something to note during happy hour is that the cocktails are 2-for-1 and are delivered in pairs. That brings the price per drink to $8 or less. Their bottle service starts at $159, so check with Level 107 to find out pricing for your favorite brand of liquor.

The group was having a good time and thanks to DJ Dezie, the house music wasn’t overly loud like it is at most of the mainstream clubs in Las Vegas. We could actually hear each other and enjoy a conversation. During a chat about the view, we were lucky enough to see Chef Rick Giffen, who oversees all of the restaurants at The Stratosphere, before he left for a food competition. He asked us how we were doing and wanted to know if we were up to trying a few other items from the menu.

He sent bacon wrapped peppadew peppers filled with three cheeses that were covered in chili ponzu sauce. The filled peppers were smooth and then a challenger to the night’s best dish arrived. A large set of three roasted Kurobuta pork belly chunks with chimichurri sauce and orange gastrique were served atop arboino rice with some cilantro, aji amarillo and lime powder.

The last recommendation was the lemon cheesecake dessert. Once it was portioned, the single cheesecake was enough to satisfy four people. It was served at the right temperature with white chocolate shavings on the outside and it had a good lemon flavor.

We all decided that the pork belly, wagyu beef carpaccio and peppadew cheese filled peppers were the top three appetizers that we tried during happy hour. If you like dessert, the lemon cheesecake is a winner. Chef Rick’s recommendations are usually spot-on and this time was no different.

The value to fun ratio between Pop Evolution’s live 18-piece band and happy hour with an extreme view in the Level 107 Lounge is very high and recommended at the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower Las Vegas.

A big thanks to The Stratophere for the invite to see the show and experience happy hour with some delicious dishes. Photo credit: Bill Cody

Disclosure: I was a guest of The Stratosphere. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 at 1:58 am and is filed under Las Vegas News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.