As the heat peaked over the weekend, Joe Jonas swooped in to rescue us.

The front-brother for famously reunited boy band the Jonas Brothers made a one-time special guest appearance at Wet Republic Ultra Pool at MGM Grand Friday and delivered a dynamic DJ set, although it seemed more like his own personal pre-party for fans headed to Park MGM’s Dolby Live to see the Jonas Brothers on night four of their five-night engagement.

He spun music from his and Nick Jonas’ solo careers and the Jonas Brothers discography, along with music from other artists that the crowd ate up, mixing Doja Cat and Dua Lipa into energetic club beats. A few people cooled off in the pool with citrus-shaped loungers, but many others were on their feet dancing in front of the DJ booth—with a 4,000-square-foot-LED display above flashing everything from fun pineapple patterns to Joe’s face—and sipping on special Tanqueray cocktails created for the event.

Jonas is a longtime partner with the gin brand. There were three special summer cocktails: Summer Zest, Joe Collins and Citrus Sipper. I tried the latter, a refreshing blend of Tanqueray, lime juice and Fever-Tree sparkling grapefruit. 

As much as this event was a party for Tanqueray and the Jonas Brothers’ Vegas takeover, Wet Republic was equally, if not more celebrated. The vast, recently renovated dayclub has a simple layout, making it easy to move around with your crew. It has plenty of umbrellas for shade and daybeds for tanning. The bungalows, which are located on the perimeter of the venue, come with a personal plunge pool, daybeds, ceiling fan, flat screen TVs and more.

Many of these newer amenities were unveiled just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all partying in 2020. So as Las Vegas braved the first heat wave of the season, it was with gratitude and pleasure that locals and tourists met up at Wet Republic. This dayclub already had a knack for making big parties while the sun is beaming, but the upgrades have taken the venue to new levels of fabulous.