Patrick “Pulsar” Trout, the veteran Las Vegas promoter behind Pulsar Presents, has kept a finger on the pulse of the local music scene for the past 20 years, booking countless shows along the way. Lately, he’s been adjusting to the latest trend in live music: Gen Z crowds are not drinking alcohol at shows nearly as much as older generations did.
“It’s something I’ve observed since the shutdown ended, but especially in the last year,” Trout tells the Weekly. “I’ve seen a dramatic increase in people not drinking at shows or drinking non-alcoholic stuff, but then simultaneously also wanting to smoke more. We are really seeing a generational, cultural shift.”
He’s not wrong in that respect. In 2023, Billboard reported music venues and clubs across the U.S. were seeing alcohol sales dry up at shows with Gen Z audiences. Researchers suspect it’s a combination of a few things. Pre-gaming still exists, and these days drinks are expensive. But Gen Z is also significantly more health-conscious.
According to Billboard, some venue owners have considered adding more non-alcoholic options on tap to remedy the situation. The mocktail has hit the mainstream, and research company Global Market Insights estimates the non-alcoholic industry will exceed $30 billion by 2025.
But cannabis, as it turns out, is king. A survey conducted by cannabis research and data analyst firm New Frontier Data found that 69% of adults ages 18 to 24 prefer weed over alcohol.
“Everyone has the pot brownie story that was horrible. But everyone also has a lot more of ‘Oh my god, that one night with tequila,’” says Christopher LaPorte, managing partner of Reset, the cannabis consulting and hospitality management group. “People are more educated now because we are out of the closet. More people know about cannabis. More cool people are very open about their cannabis-smoking habits.”
With state-regulated consumption lounges finally rolling out across the Valley, the cannabis industry has a unique opportunity to create its own version of afterhours entertainment. Several cannabis lounges have already begun introducing their own music programming, and that shift might be exactly what this generation needs.
As LaPorte worked with Thrive to design its new consumption lounge Smoke and Mirrors, he thought about vinyl-spinning Japanese listening cafes. In Brooklyn, he visited a non-alcoholic venue called Listen Bar and that experience also got him thinking.
“There was this buzz, I would say three years ago, about this new culture of non-alcoholic spirits, and we saw that there were bars actually dedicated to that. It wasn’t just an Alcoholics Anonymous kind of center. We [thought] this might be something,” he says. “We saw a lot of products like Lyre’s and Seedlip … they were starting to percolate. And, again, it was like, how can we tie this into a cannabis lounge?’”
At Smoke and Mirrors, non-alcoholic cannabis cocktails infused with THC and drink mixer Sobreo are the main event, serving as a slow and steady introduction for the “canna-curious.” LaPorte sees it as an opportunity to educate and “attract another market into the cannabis space.” And he’s also fine-tuning that with the lounge’s music.
LaPorte founded popular former Downtown video game bar Insert Coin(s) and has since brought a number of DJs from that venture to Smoke and Mirrors. On any given night, you can hear the sounds of DJ Phoreyz from Omnia, or DJ Crykit, a household name around town, and many more.
LaPorte isn’t the only nightlife pioneer doing cannabusiness, either. Frankie Anobile, a DJ and pioneer whose True Nightlife group played a major role in the evolution of Las Vegas nightlife, is a booking consultant for the Planet 13 entertainment complex.
“I can’t walk into a 7-Eleven without turning it into a nightclub. DJ booth here, stage there,” Anobile says as we explore Planet 13’s new Dazed lounge.
Anobile says he’s open-minded to the trend of Gen Z smoking more and drinking less. Coming from a nightclub background, he can’t exactly see bong service ever replacing bottle service. His take: why not have both?
Anobile says Planet 13 is in early talks for developing an alcohol-exclusive nightclub concept, where guests who wish to consume cannabis would leave the club and walk across the hall to the Dazed lounge. (Cannabis consumption lounges are not allowed to sell alcohol, per Nevada regulations.)
It’s an experience that caters to every kind of consumer, not just Gen Z partygoers shunning alcohol.
“You can stay all night drinking for hours; you can’t stay all night smoking. It’s a totally different culture, from what they want musically to what their stay time is,” Anobile says, suggesting that cannabis consumers need a different kind of hospitality. “A lot of these people don’t usually like to leave their house. They’re not the ones who want to spend an hour getting ready to go out there and be seen like they’re doing an Instagram post.”
Anobile says the Dazed lounge will offer “a variety of eclectic entertainment,” ranging from DJs to contortionists. He’s consulted with former XS resident DJ Warren Peace and veteran DJ and producer Chris Cox to brainstorm future programming, too.
Nuwu Cannabis Marketplace’s Sky High Lounge has rotated live bands into its programming as well. Trout sees the prospect of bringing some of his own shows into these lounges as “a great opportunity for the bands and the scene.”
“One thing I’m really interested to see with the pot lounges that decide to utilize live music is seeing what the spread is, what genres they go after,” says Trout. “There’s some sub genres of metal like doom and stoner rock and desert rock where I think it would absolutely appeal to them to have a place like that where you can smoke and watch music.”
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