ATLANTIC CITY — Are you an average Joe? Do you enjoy hot cars, cool boats and fast motorcycles? Do you like hunting, fishing, camping, the outdoors, BBQ, MMA, rock ‘n’ roll, video games and sports? If the answer to these questions is yes, you might just be an average Joe! And if you’re an average Joe, it’s mandatory that you git yer fun-lovin’ keister to the Average Joe Expo!

Organized by those crazy cats at Good Time Tricycle — the same ones who bring Atlantic City the Celebration of the Suds and A.C. Seafood Festival each year — the Average Joe Expo will be held May 18 and 19 at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

The Average Joe Expo is like no other show on earth. This inaugural event vows to “bring real guys together and create an opportunity to discover what makes us tick, getting to the heart of male commerce, interests and desires — both the obtainable and the aspirational, the Average Joe Expo has it all!”

The event will populate over 200,000 square feet of exhibition space at the Convention Center. It will introduce products, places and things to the masses, holding nothing back and showcasing unique product demos, seminars and other related experiences.  The Average Joe Expo promises to be a great weekend out to explore some awesome experiences you may not have otherwise! Tickets are $20 in advance through Ticketmaster or $25 at the door. Hours are Saturday, May 18: 11am-8pm; Sunday, May 19: 11am – 6pm.

The Average Joe Expo will also play host to a variety of celebrities and personalities — people who guys just want to meet and hang out with.  With a huge emphasis on the male lifestyle, the expo will cover motocross, gaming, action sports, all things outdoors and everything in between . This expo will offer men a true weekend of discovery! Visit averagejoeexpo.com/atlantic-city.aspx or click the video below to learn more.

Revel CEO Jeff Hartmann (center) cuts the ribbon during the grand opening of the Pearl Lounge May 10.

ATLANTIC CITY — On Friday, May 10, Revel launched its new 3,000-square-foot, $3 million private VIP area for premier slot players called the Pearl Lounge, located just off the main gaming floor and designed to complement casino’s Ultra Lounge, a private space for high-end table players.

In a media event May 10, Revel management noted that slots business was particularly slow for the casino, and was a significant part of the reason it underperformed in its first year of gaming. The Pearl Lounge will have about 70 new slot machines that will range in betting denominations from $5 to $100 (capable of accepting bets of up to $300).

All Revel guests are welcome to play the slot machines inside Pearl Lounge, but only “Beach” level players will be permitted to access a private players’ lounge Mondays through Thursdays. The lounge will have a bar (which includes four bar-top video poker machines), a dining area with leather upholstered walls, granite counters, three LED flat-screen TVs, and a bottle-storage system. The highest-tier players, known as “Pearl” level, will have the lounge all to themselves Fridays through Sundays. All food and drink will be complimentary for club members and card holders inside the lounge.

The Pearl Lounge also features its own private cage with a cashier, an ATM machine, and private bathrooms.

“The Pearl Lounge is really the first in a series of steps were taking to re-launch the property,” said Revel chief executive officer Jeffrey Hartmann in the media event.

Other Revel changes include the addition of designated smoking areas for gamblers, a 24-hour moderately priced value-priced restaurant called Relish, a noodle bar by chef Jose Garces, and the HQ Beach Club beach bar. All are schedule to be open by Memorial Day weekend.

See a video of the ribbon-cutting ceremony below.

Courtesy of borgatanightlife.com

On Tuesday, May 14, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa announced that its popular dance club mur.mur has gotten “a fresh new look.”

The redesign will be unveiled on Saturday, May 18, as Borgata’s resident DJ, DJ Vice, mans the turntables for the celebration.

“Mur.mur was a game-changer when it debuted in 2006, bringing with it a Las Vegas-style alternative for our nightlife customer and truly shaping the landscape within the market,” said Joe Lupo, Borgata’s senior VP of Operations, in a release to the media.

“As Borgata celebrates its 10-year anniversary in July, we felt now was the ideal time to refresh and update one of our most successful and acclaimed spaces on property.”

Aside from boasting a brand new color scheme, the club now features “pristine carpeting, drapery and lighting.”

The release from Borgata continues:

Partygoers escape the moment they enter the club, as they descend into the sensual atmosphere where the dance floor meets the personalized table service complementing mur.mur’s pulse-pounding beats from artists the likes of Steve Aoki, Samantha Ronson, D-Nice, Ruckus, and Martin Solveig.

Mur.mur’s re-opening follows an extremely successful 2010 transformation of Borgata’s other signature nightlife option, MIXX, which saw the inception of state-of-the-art, built-in DJ booths along with an eye-catching LED lighting display. Both clubs boast an impressive roster of celebrity guests and clientele including Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Paris Hilton, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Joe Jonas and Cee-Lo Green and have garnered national attention as premier celebrity hotspots.

The club will be open Friday, Saturdays and Mondays throughout the summer (10pm-party ends).

Click here for more on South Jersey Nightlife.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. —  Local singer/songwriter Gina Roche, known for adding a Brazilian flavor to her unique blend of jazz, blues and original compositions, will perform a Mother’s Day Weekend Celebration Concert at 7:30pm Saturday, May 11, in the beautiful concert space at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore.

Gina Roche

The congregation is located at 75 S. Pomona Rd. in Galloway (behind Stockton College).

A composer, jazz vocalist and guitarist, Roche will be joined by Andy Lalasis on acoustic bass and Keith Hollis on drums. This will prove to be an extraordinary evening of music.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $17.50 at the door. For advance ticket sales, call (609) 965-9400 and leave a message. For more information,visit ginaroche.com.

ATLANTIC CITY — Are you an average Joe? Do you enjoy hot cars, cool boats and fast motorcycles? Do you like hunting, fishing, camping, the outdoors, BBQ, MMA, rock ‘n’ roll, video games and all things sports? If the answer to these questions is yes, you have to git yer keister to the Average Joe Expo!

Organized by those crazy cats at Good Time Tricycle — the same ones who bring Atlantic City the Celebration of the Suds and A.C. Seafood Festival each year — the Average Joe Expo will be held May 18 and 19 at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

The Average Joe Expo is like no other show on earth. This inaugural event vows to “bring real guys together and create an opportunity to discover what makes us tick, getting to the heart of male commerce, interests and desires — both the obtainable and the aspirational, the Average Joe Expo has it all!”

The event will populate over 200,000 square feet of exhibition space at the Convention Center. It will introduce products, places and things to the masses, holding nothing back and showcasing unique product demos, seminars and other related experiences.  The Average Joe Expo promises to be a great weekend out to explore some awesome experiences you may not have otherwise! Tickets are $20 in advance through Ticketmaster or $25 at the door. Hours are Saturday, May 18: 11am-8pm; Sunday, May 19: 11am – 6pm.

The Average Joe Expo will also play host to a variety of celebrities and personalities — people who guys just want to meet and hang out with.  With a huge emphasis on the male lifestyle, the expo will cover motocross, gaming, action sports, all things outdoors and everything in between . This expo will offer men a true weekend of discovery! Visit averagejoeexpo.com/atlantic-city.aspx or click the video below to learn more.

REVEL BEACH, ATLANTIC CITY — Binglo at Revel is an all new way to enjoy a “black light lit” Bingo series at The Social, the mega-resort’s 700-seat showroom located adjacent to the casino floor.

Binglo, which started in early April, is billed as a “ladies night out,” with hot guys calling numbers and checking cards, but it is open to anyone 21 or older, as long as you have a Revel players’ card. The card, and admission to the Binglo games, are free, and prize money totaling at least $2,500 is up for grabs each week.

Doors open at 4pm, the first round is at 5pm and the second session is at 7pm every Monday.
See a video about Binglo and learn more about other programming at The Social below.

SOMERS POINT, N.J. — A gallery of international artwork will be made available in a silent auction in the banquet portion of Sandi Pointe Coastal Bistro (908 Shore Road, Somers Point) on Saturday, May 4, from 7:30-10:30pm.

Admission is free, and the auction will benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlantic and Cape May counties. There will be with music and drinks provided to all those in attendance, as well as a stellar collection of artwork to bid on. The silent auction starts promptly at 7:30pm. You do not need to be present to win, so come early or late.


Starting bids will be set low to encourage lots of participation. Browse and bid on beautiful artwork from all over the United States. Some of the artists will be in attendance at Sandi Pointe.

The event curators are Bill Dunleavy and Sarah Varacalli, both southern New Jersey natives. Varacalli’s artistic resume includes published work for American Photo, Artforum, Coca Cola, GQ, Esquire and international versions of Maxim, Allure and Vogue. Dunleavy is a photographer and founded Superchief, a magazine and art gallery based in New York City. E-mail  bill@superchief.tv or SarahVaracalli@gmail.com for more information.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlantic and Cape May Counties has spent the past forty-four years providing children with one-to-one mentoring relationships. These children come from all walks of life, and the majority are considered to be at-risk. Through Big Brothers Big Sisters’ professionally supported mentoring relationships children gain self-confidence and a better outlook for their future. Visit bbbsatlanticcape.org for more information.

ATLANTIC CITY — The 33rd annual Stockton College Foundation Benefit Gala was held Saturday night, April 27, at Revel’s Ovation Hall — an event that has helped raise more than $20 million for Stockton student scholarships since its inception. Saturday night’s event alone saw about 720 guests help raise more than $440,000.

This year's honorary chairman Dirk Schavemaker

For a photo slideshow of this year’s event, click here.

The evening began with a cocktail reception of passed hors d’oeuvres, buffet spreads and entertainment by the Stockton Faculty Band. Following dinner the event’s surprise special guest — who was kept under wraps from the early planning stages of this year’s gala — was singer/rock star Eddie Money, who had a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums during the 1970s and ‘80s. Guests were also encouraged to bid on dozens of items that were part of a premium silent auction.

The event concluded with dancing and entertainment by popular high-energy dance band Don’t Call Me Francis.

John Schultz

The Stockton Gala’s honorary chairman this year was Dirk Schavemaker, Revel’s senior vice president of operations.

Gary Hill

The co-chairmen were local philanthropists John Schultz and Gary Hill, co-founders of the non-profit Schultz-Hill Foundation that supports arts, history and education in southern New Jersey.

ATLANTIC CITY — Entertainment tryouts are being held on the 13th floor Screening Room of Resorts Casino today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday, April 18-19), as local entertainers vie for the opportunity to perform at the soon-to-be-opened Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and LandShark Bar & Grill, which is set to open in May.

The band Route 9 auditions at Resorts Thursday afternoon, April 18

The tryouts are by appointment only both days from 10am-6pm. Auditions are available to full bands, duos and trios, and solo acoustic guitar solo artists.

Musicians will compete for a spot on an entertainment roster that will feature seven-night-per-week performances at the new Margaritaville Café and at the LandShark Bar & Grill — the first-ever full-service bar and restaurant directly located on the famous Atlantic City beachfront at Resorts.

Talent scouts will be evaluating talent with a particular focus on fun, upbeat acts specializing in cover songs ranging from classic rock to Top 40.

Pop sensation Ke$ha, who is performing two concerts with popular Miami rapper Pitbull at The Grand in the Golden Nugget, will be on hand to host the opening of a new night spot at the casino, Haven, for the club’s opening Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26.

Australian born performer Havana Brown will be the guest DJ Friday, May 24 and Saturday May 25. Go here for the full story.