Husband Downie was extremely excited when he came up with the Destination to follow Bally’s. Yet again, he’d got a classic 2econd Friday Connection. MGM Grand follows Bally’s because, Bally’s originally opened as MGM Grand (in 1973), before Kirk Kerkorian (boss of MGM) sold it to Bally Manufacturing (in 1986).
Oof, read on for something pretty fascinating, that I’ve just learnt this very afternoon.
In 1989, he bought the Marina, which was on the site of the current MGM Grand. It was renamed the MGM-Marina Hotel, and then closed at the end of 1990. Ground was broken for the new MGM Grand on October 7th, 1991. 1991 is my musical epicentre, so I can surely pause, to make merry with some tunes from then. Okay, ground-breaking for the MGM Grand happened just a couple of weeks before the release of these fantastic songs – “Go” by Moby, “Rhythm Is A Mystery” by K-Class, “Is There Anybody Out There” by Bassheads, “It’s Grim Up North” by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, “Activ 8 (Come With Me)” by Altern 8, “Playing With Knives” by Bizarre Inc, the song that introduced Seal to the world, thanks to Adamski’s “Killer”, and the song that would’ve given The KLF the Christmas No. 1 had Freddie Mercury not died, “Justified & Ancient” featuring Tammy Wynette. What a year of years, indeed.
Back to MGM Grand, and the Marina. Instead of just imploding the Marina, it was actually built around. The west tower of the MGM Grand (the lower bit, nearest The Strip) is the old Marina. Wowser, that’s interesting, isn’t it.
After all the excitement of choosing MGM Grand, Husband Downie was less excited when he remembered a 2econd Friday dining rule. It was decided that, whenever MGM Grand was chosen, the dining would have to be at Joel Robuchon. Oof, that’s a hefty price for a meal. Does the price mean it tops any dining league table. Well, I’ve just asked Zoe, and she’s given me her top three dining experiences ever; Le Cinq at George V, Paris is at no. 1, Joel Robuchon gets the no. 2 spot, and that’s followed by Roux at The Landau, London. Ooh, get us, we multi-citied league-tablers.
Zoe had just returned from the UK, and complained of jet-lag, after dinner, so she went off to bed, missing the activity. She didn’t really miss much. The activity was to go to Level Up. It was pretty quiet. I’m keen to go back, though, as there’s now some Virtual Reality thing.
After all the talk of (in my opinion) fantastic releases from 1991, I’m actually pretty darned happy to choose something from 1993. Rupert introduced me to this track, and it’s one of my all-time favourites. “Just dropping it onto my tongue”. Yeeha, take it away Beth, give William a nudge and he’ll get his synth cranked up.
Opening Date: December 18th, 1993
Tune: “Water From A Vine Leaf” by William Orbit featuring Beth Orton
Dress Code: Business Formal