B-52s Extend Vegas Residency, Singer Fred Schneider Books Punk Rock Museum

On Monday, the B-52s announced the extension of their Vegas residency at the Venetian in Vegas.

The band, universally loved for its ’80s party-rock classics “Rock Lobster,” “Private Idaho,” and “Love Shack,” wraps up 10 dates at the Venetian Theater on September 3. It will now play five more on April 12, 13, 17, 19, and 20, 2024.

The Vegas residency was announced weeks after the band’s 11-city “Final Tour Ever of Planet Earth” wrapped in January.

“We decided we didn’t really want to tour anymore,” singer Fred Schneider told outtraveler.com. “It’s just a chore to get anywhere, so it’s nice to be in one place for a while. People are responding well! We don’t play that much so people don’t get sick of us. We just want to put on a kick-ass rock show.”

Double-Booked

Also announced on Monday, Schneider will co-host a meet-and-greet and book signing at the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas on August 27

The signing is for respected music photographer and author Michael Grecco, whose book, “Punk, Post Punk, New Wave: Onstage, Backstage, In Your Face, 1978-1991,” came out in 2020. Schneider, who authored the book’s forward, will autograph copies alongside the author.

The B-52s formed in October 1976 following drinks at an Athens, Ga. Chinese restaurant. Schneider, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson, and her brother, Ricky Wilson, named their band after Southern slang for exaggerated bouffant hairdos. Ricky died of AIDS-related illness in 1985.

The book signing takes place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27 at the Punk Rock Museum, 1422 Western Ave., Las Vegas. Guests who purchase a book from the museum’s retail store will receive free entry to the museum.

The Punk Rock Museum is the world’s most comprehensive attraction dedicated to the history of the music, culture, and absurdity of punk rock.