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Photos: Birthday boys Kid Rock at Tao and J Cole at Lavo
By Don Chareunsy

Kid Rock, with Rande Gerber, right, celebrates his birthday during his after-concert party at Tao in the Venetian on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012.
Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage/DeniseTruscello.net
By Don Chareunsy
Rocker Kid Rock, fresh from performing his sold-out concert at House of Blues in Mandalay Bay on Saturday night (his show there Friday night also was sold out), hosted an after-concert party at Tao in the Venetian that also served as a birthday celebration.
The Detroit rock star took over a section of VIP tables and enjoyed Jim Beam and Miller Lite with a large group of friends that included fellow recording artist Uncle Kracker and nightlife mogul Rande Gerber (minus wife Cindy Crawford?).
Rock, who recently turned 41, was presented with a belated birthday cake shaped like a Badass beer can, a replica from his beer brand. DJ Vice wished him a very “Badass” birthday, shouting out Detroit and Rock throughout the night to a cheering crowd.
On his way out of Tao, Rock stopped and shook hands with a Marine, thanking him for his military service. Actor Chris Evans (“Captain America,” “Fantastic Four”) dined at Tao with a friend, enjoying sea bass and orange chicken.
J COLE PARTIES AT LAVO
At sister hotspot Lavo in the Palazzo, hot rapper and producer J Cole celebrated his 27th birthday. The birthday boy, surrounded by friends, graciously interrupted his dinner throughout the meal to pose for photographs with fans.
His entourage of nearly 30 took over several VIP tables at the upstairs boutique nightclub, where he was presented with cake in the shape of a keyboard that he pretended to play as partygoers went crazy. J Cole performed two of his hits and took more photographs with fans. Thanks to Brenton Ho of Powers Imagery for his photo gallery at Lavo.
Don Chareunsy is editor of VegasDeLuxe.com and arts and entertainment editor of LasVegasSun.com.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
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We saw the whole group but they were behind a partial glass wall, sitting in the top back of the club with a birds' eye view of the dance floor. They had the whole back area.
wish we could of met up at Tao rsms..was going to call you, but Ted left his phone in the Hotel room..
Thank God it was in the room, he thought he set it down somewhere and walked off..
did you or your hubby see Uncle Kracker at Tao??
My husband and I were at Tao, waiting to see if Kid would show up. Sure enough, I saw smoke coming from the upper level in the back and knew the American Badass was in the house. The place was packed. There were beautiful Asian dancers doing their thing at different spots all around the perimeter of the club and the dj had the crowd grinding on the dance floor. Saw a bunch of Marines celebrating. I made sure to thank them for their service to our great country. The club had multiple levels and rooms and navigating around was a bit tricky but it was a really cool nightclub.