She seemed as surprised as the rest of us that she was taking a night off from her regular high-paying gig to play Hammond, which she joked about relentlessly, to relentless laughter. Midler’s 2,500-seat show sold out online in five minutes, possibly because she’s awesome possibly because it’s a rare non-Vegas performance for the Divine Miss M, who’s booked five nights a week at Caesar’s Palace for the next few years. Maybe I still have a thing for Beaches, but the fabulously spunky Bette Midler (she’s 62!) rocked the house in the casino’s music venue, called-wait for it- The Venue.Is this Chicago’s next nightlife destination? You be the judge. I checked out the spot Friday on opening night, along with about 6,000 other partygoers. What I loved and hated-and felt suspiciously neutral about-at the newly renovated, $500 million Horseshoe Casino, floating just off Hammond, Indiana. Josh Kelley stinks up the casino with his performance.
