HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME

When the air in downtown Las Vegas is filled with the blended aromas of Red Bull, vodka and Hawaiian Tropic, you know summer has arrived. And with it, so have all sorts of activities designed to take advantage of the hot days and nearly-ashot nights that this urban desert oasis provides. Whether you’re looking to dine, drink, or dance, downtown has you covered while you’re uncovered.

Fremont Street rocks

What’s cooler than watching concerts outdoors beneath Fremont Street Experience’s massive LED canopy? Seeing them for free, of course. For its Downtown Rocks summer concert series, Fremont Street Experience isn’t messing around, delivering a lineup that includes a variety of chart-topping rock artists, including the Rock’n Road Trip Tour featuring Fuel, Tonic, Marcy Playground and Dishwalla on June 10, Ann Wilson of Heart on July 3, Good Charlotte on July 22, Rick Springfield on Aug. 12, and Seether on Aug. 26.

Fresh-squeezed fun

The new Citrus Summer Series at Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino’s Citrus Grand Pool Deck offers up themed parties Thursday through Sunday evenings throughout the summer, all for the low cover price of nothing. On-stage entertainment during the Summer Series ranges from cover bands playing old-school R&B to deejays spinning live classic rock albums. And if that’s not enough to keep you amused, the sprawling rooftop pool complex also offers games like corn hole, foosball and table tennis.

Nuclear-powered dining

The latest addition to the downtown dining scene is the Kitchen at Atomic, an expansion of the iconic Atomic Liquors brand. Located in the space formerly occupied by Doc’s Automotive, which played the role of All-American Gas in the movie “Casino,” the Kitchen shares a Fremont Street-adjacent patio with its booze-slinging neighbor, which also happens to be Las Vegas’ oldest freestanding bar. Its menu features inspired twists on traditional bar fare, such as the BBBLT, which combines pork, turkey and duck bacon on focaccia with sprouts, onion mayo and avocado, and even includes vegetarian-friendly options like a veggie burger served on a brioche bun.

PJ Perez is a longtime Las Vegas resident who has been writing about his adopted hometown for a variety of travel guides, websites and magazines since the 1990s, which isn’t possible, because he’s not that old.