Two of hard rock's biggest late-1980s hitmakers are rolling into Mesquite for Labor Day weekend, as FireHouse and White Lion take over the poolside stage at CasaBlanca Resort & Casino on September 5. The show, part of the resort's outdoor concert series, promises a night of power ballads and arena rock against the backdrop of the property's lagoon-style pool.
The event, dubbed Labor Day Live, is a ticketed, 21-and-over affair priced at $44.25, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. for a live DJ set, according to KNPR. Main stage performances from the two bands run from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., followed by an After Dark DJ set continuing until 1 a.m. in the CasaBlanca Showroom. As KSNV reports, tickets and further details are available through casablanca.playmesquite.com.
FireHouse takes the stage under a new chapter for the band. Lead singer Nate Peck, a former American Idol contestant, officially joined the group in 2024 following the death of founding vocalist C.J. Snare that April. Snare had reportedly handpicked Peck to temporarily front the band during his illness before he died. The band's signature power ballad, Love of a Lifetime, co-written by Snare and guitarist Bill Leverty, reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1991 and helped push FireHouse's self-titled 1990 debut album to double-platinum status.
White Lion's Mike Tramp Keeps the Catalog Alive
White Lion arrives with founder and original lead singer Mike Tramp still at the helm, performing the band's classic songs alongside guitarist Marcus Nand, who plays original guitarist Vito Bratta's solos. The band's 1987 double-platinum album Pride produced two Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits: the acoustic ballad When the Children Cry, which peaked at No. 3 in 1989, and Wait, which reached No. 8 in 1988. The original White Lion lineup disbanded in 1992, but Tramp has since revived the material for live tours and, this year, wrapped a trilogy of re-recorded band classics titled Songs of White Lion, concluding with Vol. III.
CasaBlanca has leaned into the 1980s rock theme with themed cocktail specials built around the headliners' hits. The lineup includes the Love of a Lifetime Cran made with Tito's Cranberry, the Radar Love Punch made with Bacardi Punch, the Reach for the Lemon Sky made with Jack Daniel's Lemonade, and the Little Fighter-ita made with Cazadores Margarita — a nod to White Lion's own charting single.
A Resort Built for the Holiday Crowd
CasaBlanca Resort & Casino, operated by Mesquite Gaming, features 472 hotel rooms, a 27,000-square-foot casino floor, a full-service spa, and the lagoon-style pool area that anchors its outdoor Casapoolooza concert series. The resort originally opened in June 1995 as Players Island before being acquired and renamed CasaBlanca in 1997. Mesquite Gaming has continued investing in the property, launching a $6 million capital improvement project in May 2024 to double the size of its Center Bar, add a new sports bar, and expand the gaming floor, which also operates the nearby Virgin River Hotel & Casino.
Mesquite sits in Clark County along Interstate 15, roughly 80 miles — about an 80-minute drive — northeast of Las Vegas near the Arizona border, making it a familiar drive-in destination for gaming and golf trips from Southern Nevada and Southern Utah. For guests staying at CasaBlanca's sister property, Virgin River Lodge, Salt Lake Express will run a shuttle every 15 to 20 minutes between 6 p.m. and midnight to ferry concertgoers between the two properties, which sit about three miles apart along Mesquite Boulevard.
