Friends and progressive dance music fans Christian Jones and Ryan Barth were traveling to Southern California every other weekend to see their favorite trance, techno and house DJs and artists when they realized they weren’t alone. There were others who wanted more sonic variety in the local scene, which is dominated by more mainstream megaclubs inside Las Vegas Strip casino resorts.
“There was a massive void to fill here,” says Jones, who worked at Wynn Nightlife venues Encore Beach Club and XS.
Together, the pair launched Elation Events in late 2018, booking artists primarily from Europe whose sets stretch beyond the party music in the big clubs. Tech-trance DJ Adam Ellis’ three-hour set at the Thunderbird Lounge was one of the company’s first big promotions, and Elation quickly expanded into hardstyle and other techno genres.
“We are really playing what Europe is playing. They are still a decade ahead of us in these genres,” Jones says.
Elation produced some two dozen events in and around Las Vegas in 2019 and was looking to double that output in 2020 before gatherings were shut down by COVID. But, Jones says, the company “hit the ground running” when restrictions were lifted and is on track for about 85 events in 2022. “We just had that feeling that everybody couldn’t wait to get back and everyone wanted that music they hadn’t heard.”
Fremont East’s Commonwealth has been a primary party spot for Elation, particularly with the Thursday-night Terminal 51 event that will feature Spanish DJ Coyu on September 15 and Belgian techno producer Marco Bailey on September 22. Corner Bar Management’s plethora of Fremont Street nightlife venues have been digging deeper into dance genres and bringing first-time artists to Las Vegas in recent months, and Elation has played a major role in that evolution. Next up: Recess featuring Dosem and Simon Doty at We All Scream on October 1.
But Elation’s biggest recent splash has taken place at Area15, the arts and entertainment complex that has quickly grown into a home for music festivals and dance events. The immersive Portal space has hosted several parties starring artists that Jones and Barth could only dream about booking a few years ago, and seminal American electronic artist BT takes the stage there on September 17.
“He was very vigilant during COVID and put things off for a while, but we were finally able to make it work,” Jones says of the 50-year-old musician often credited with popularizing the trance genre. “It feels like every year we’ve hit so many bucket-list artists for ourselves, and next year is panning out to be even bigger.”
Elation will next bring Markus Schulz to the Portal for a marathon event on September 30, and then on November 5, its Extinction event at the Trypto Event Center (formerly Sahara Event Center) on Karen Avenue will find Dutch hardstyle phenom Brennan Heart sharing the bill with DJ Isaac, Geo, Darksiderz and more.
Future plans could involve a New Year’s Eve party at Area15 and a boutique festival under the Elation banner. With a strong foothold in Las Vegas and a sharp focus on their chosen genres, anything seems possible.
BT With Christian Jones, Erika K, Vangar. September 17, 9 p.m., $20. Area15 Portal, elationlv.com.
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