Atlantic City is embracing summer 2021 with exciting new music and entertainment venues.
Spring-boarding into its second summer is Bourre in the Orange Loop section of town, right off the Boardwalk. The restaurant’s expanded entertainment area now includes a shipping container compilation that accommodates an outdoor bar and the High Noon stage, which is hosting weekly live country-music performances on Sundays through August (from 4:30 pm, $10). High Noon stage is adjacent to the Cajun food eatery opened in 2019, which has a manmade beach with a volleyball court and plenty of space for off-Boardwalk lounging and dining.
Pat Fasano, who owns Bourre and is a major developer in the New York Avenue area, also hosted his first concert featuring the Summerland Tour on July 3 at the Orange Loop Arena. This second stage, inspired by Asbury Park’s Stone Pony, plans to bring other national acts to AC this summer (at deadline, a lineup could not be confirmed). The 53-by-34 foot stage was assembled in a 70,000 square foot parking lot. Next year, a rooftop bar and restaurant will be added.
In other music, the free AC Jams series offers concerts on the Boardwalk Thursday nights through the end of August at 6 pm at Showboat Hotel and Resort’s Garden Pier. Performances include a Talking Heads tribute band on July 29 and funk group Soul Monde on August 5.
Along with its musical lineup, Showboat has amped up the fun for adults and children this summer. Check out the new Lucky Snake Arcade, a 65,000-square-foot venue filled with classic and virtual-reality video games. The bright space has a casino-inspired look with colorful carpets, oversized Boardwalk-style games like Pac-Man, mega TV screens, a theater and multiple venues for cocktails and dining.
Along with the retro vibe of an arcade, this summer the Showboat is bringing the circus to town—two of them, in fact. Located in a tent adjacent to the hotel, the family-friendly Super American Circus forgoes animal acts and instead includes live superheroes, clowns, tightrope walkers and a host of circus acts seen on America’s Got Talent. The two-hour shows are at 4:30 pm, Thursdays through Sundays, until Labor Day.
Come evening, the circus tent flips the switch, and Cirque Risque takes the stage with adult-only performances that take a page from the famed Cirque du Soleil book. From flaming hula hoops to scantily clad aerialists, the frisky two-hour shows run Thursdays through Sundays, beginning at 8 pm.
And for grub, why not pay a visit to a mainstay that’s still going strong after 30 years? Girasole, located at 3108 Pacific Avenue, has weathered many a storm (literally and figuratively) but remains a family-owned eatery with a cooked-to-order menu of pastas, fish and steak.