Thursday, August 9, 3:00 a.m.
Distrukto Mizuno.” The pretty punk girl with three different haircuts converging on her head shows me the spelling on her cell phone. “We’re a digital hardcore garage punk band. And all girls.” I nod and take a deep drag on my cocktail to refrain from sounding entirely uninformed. I used to proudly sport my “Emo Sucks” T-shirt, but now I’ve come to like the emo-mod-hipster crowd and even to tolerate the feigned boredom and disaffectedness of that subset who will pooh-pooh Vegas for its alleged lack of culture even while in the midst of First Friday.
Yes, their precious counterculture is quickly turning pop-culture, and now even I like it. So I’m a hipstercrite, okay? Emo rocks, irreverence and all. No longer must I kick myself when I’m caught staring at a waify scenester: “Did you see the ass on that guy in the skinny jeans? The pale one with the blasé look on his face and the black electrical tape on his shoes? Yeah, he’s dreamy.”
I still remember trying to get rid of my dated skinny jeans when I moved here. I took them to the Buffalo Exchange, but no dice. I finally had to give them to Goodwill. Looking around Tao Lounge now at the fantastic specimens of counter-couture, I can’t help but wonder if one of them might find my old New York ID in one of his ball-crushingly tight front pockets.
In the booth, DJ Aurajin of the Bargain DJ Collective is spinning Vinyl’s soundtrack. “Upbeat trip-hop and down-tempo from Massive Attack to Bjork, funk and soul from James Brown to Otis Redding, ’80s from Soft Cell to Talking Heads and a little indie rock from the new Rapture to Radiohead.” Aurajin, who listens to jazz outside of work, met M.A.D.a.M. (Music Artist Development and Management) co-owner Ducky Slaughter 13 years ago when Slaughter was promoting for Island Records. “It’s very intimate, warm and inviting,” he says of Tao Lounge, “especially on this night when they relax the dress code and drop the drink cost for locals.” He’s right—even the VIP hosts are taking the occasion to ditch the stuffy suits and are sporting nice tees and designer jeans.
M.A.D.a.M.’s Matthew W. shows me to his table in the front of the restaurant, where the coolest-of-the-cool are hiding out, away from the crush of stripe-clad bodies at the bar and in the lounge, where he’s just finished handing out vinyl records. Stacy, another black-haired punk girl, points out the other bands: Destruction of a Rose, Bridgewalk, Six Shooters to the Sky, Conflict of Interest—all have come to show support for local culture. This week, Tao’s nightclub entrance—a gift shop by day—has been turned into a gallery for photographer Sebastien Coin, a performer in Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere. “The art has been the biggest surprise,” says Rachelle Bresgi, Vinyl’s curator. “It’s built up its own momentum, and now people are approaching us. This is a big event for the art community.”
It may have seemed odd a few months ago, seeing this Downtown crowd so far from Beauty Bar and the Griffin, but thanks to M.A.D.a.M., Tao’s been at the forefront, already bringing in The Rapture and Gym Class Heroes and the Plain White T’s to perform, following that up with a Swizz Beatz album release on August 22 and DJ Clue on August 29. In addition to Vinyl, event creators Matthew and Ducky will collaborate with Johnny Rox and Ozzie (of Beauty Bar’s Rawkerz Saturdays fame) to create Flux Fridays at Polly Esther’s, starting August 31. M.A.D.a.M. is also consulting with Rainbow Bar & Grill for Rebel Chill, a Thursday ladies’ night beginning this week, as well as with Bugsy’s on Fridays and Saturdays in collaboration with Mark Hornsby (“the mayor of local music”).
But back to those people who pooh-pooh and wish to pigeonhole culture as a proprietarily Downtown attribute. “They just didn’t know how we were going to mesh the Vegas nightlife crowd and the scenester crowd together,” Matthew says.
But we did it. And they all just started dancing!” In this, Vinyl’s third week, they’ve attracted close to 800 people and, I might add, a girl-to-guy ratio of 3:1. “We’re introducing this vibe to a larger crowd and to larger venues,” he adds, pointing out that other cities have enjoyed indie culture for years. “Vegas is just now catching up. We’re bringing it along gently and are crediting rather than exploiting the artists. You just can’t keep a good thing down.”