The Valley's Labor Day Weekend Runs on Indoor Rooms

Today, we cover:

  1. The casino circuit carries the weekend. Three Agua Caliente properties, plus Spotlight 29 and Fantasy Springs, account for most of the live programming between Friday and Monday.
  2. The Temptations at Rancho Mirage. Friday's largest booking, and the one with the longest history behind it.
  3. Four films at the Plaza Theatre. A Saturday-and-Sunday series that gives downtown Palm Springs something on the calendar that isn't a casino floor.

Labor Day lands on September 7 this year, which makes Friday through Monday the last long weekend before the season begins turning over. The programming reflects the month more than the holiday. Almost all of it is indoors, and the one outdoor booking on the schedule comes with a stated contingency.

That booking is at Agua Caliente Cathedral City, where the casino group's holiday lineup puts ABBA LA on the outdoor Terraza at 8 p.m. Saturday — or in the Tequila Bar if it is too hot. The rest of the group's weekend stays under a roof: an Eagles tribute Friday in Cathedral City, Midlife Crisis playing Cafe 111 during Sunday brunch, Crucial Culture at the Cascade Lounge in Palm Springs with free admission, and free slot tournaments running Saturday through Monday.

Friday is the weekend's crowded night, and it is crowded across three separate casino stages. The Temptations play The Show at Agua Caliente Rancho Mirage at 8 p.m., still led by founding member Otis Williams, with longtime member Terry Weeks framing the booking plainly: "We're happy that we can provide a family friendly show. No one has to stay home." The same night, Taylor Dayne is at Spotlight 29 and Nurse John is at Fantasy Springs, both at 8 p.m., with tickets starting at $28.50 and $52.50 respectively. Temptations tickets start at $55.20.

Downtown Palm Springs offers the weekend's one sustained daytime option. The Plaza Theatre runs Drag Me to the Movies across Saturday and Sunday — Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at 2 p.m. Saturday, The Birdcage at 7 p.m., To Wong Foo at 2 p.m. Sunday, and Cabaret at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 per screening or $60 for the set, which is the cheapest full afternoon on the schedule. A few blocks over, David Burnham plays Burnham Sings Bublé at the Purple Room both Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., starting at $50.85.

Read together, the weekend is less an events calendar than a room-availability calendar. Every anchor booking is a ticketed indoor stage, the daytime programming is a movie theater, and the single outdoor set has an escape clause written into its own listing.

In September, the schedule follows the air conditioning.