Nightlife

With artists like the Weeknd, Vegas is having its big pop music moment

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Earned it: Fresh off a duet with Alicia Keys at the BET Awards, The Weeknd returns to Drai’s.
Patrick Gray/Kabik Photo Group

If you still listened to pop radio—you’re probably too locked into streaming your own custom playlist, right?—you would notice Las Vegas is having a moment right now.

This is not about local artists like Imagine Dragons and Shamir who are blowing up. The sound of Vegas right now—the electronic music making thousands bounce and dance in Strip nightclubs and dayclubs every week—has undeniably captivated the country and infiltrated the mainstream. The pop charts are littered with names like David Guetta, Calvin Harris, DJ Snake, Skrillex, Diplo (and Major Lazer), Zedd and Avicii. More than half the hits on this week’s Billboard dance chart were created by Vegas nightclub resident artists, individuals who are performing here more than they’re showing up anywhere else.

Nightclubs have consistently determined what’s cool in American music, but not here. Las Vegas has always provided populist entertainment, but the city’s dominant sound—face it, that’s what this music is right now—has rarely aligned with the stuff the kids were favoring. We were Rat Packing for rock ’n’ roll and lounge singing for hip-hop. Suddenly, Vegas is right on the money, musically speaking.

For further proof that the Strip is the epicenter of what’s hot in music, just look up—to the rooftop club Drai’s at the Cromwell, which boasts one of the hottest artists in the country as a resident. And he’s no DJ.

Since bursting onto the scene in 2011 with an exotic trilogy of mixtapes transcending modern R&B and hip-hop, The Weeknd has seen his career skyrocket. In just the past few months, the intentionally enigmatic artist has closed out Coachella with two acclaimed performances (bringing Kanye West onstage for the latter); performed on Saturday Night Live with Ariana Grande; helped launch the Apple Music streaming service with fellow Canadian Drake; and dropped new single “Can’t Feel My Face,” a slab of future-funk that instantly joins the race for song of the summer. Just this week, The Weeknd performed at the BET Awards in LA and dueted with Alicia Keys on “Earned It,” his hit track from the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack. If that’s not a royal appointment at the (piano-playing) hands of a proven pop queen, what is?

As The Weeknd continues to get huge, he’s been performing mostly at festivals. Drai’s is the only place to catch the rising star in such an intimate, unique environment, complete with swimming pools and Strip views. His ongoing residency is a big score for the club and for Vegas, and Drai’s continues to expand its live performance schedule with other relevant hip-hop and R&B acts, including the just-added Miguel concert on August 28.

Electronic dance music and edgy R&B may not be everyone’s preference, but the kids love it right now. And Vegas is where those kids, and those artists, want to be.

The Weeknd July 3, 10:30 p.m., $50-$100. Drai's Nightclub.

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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of editor-at-large at Las Vegas Weekly magazine. ...

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