Play Management, led by Colin Comer and John Pettei, is now in its third year operating Daylight Beach Club and Light Nightclub at Mandalay Bay, and the company has maintained a nimble and flexible approach to programming and promotions since day one. The team behind both clubs has been willing to experiment with different artists, music and party themes and when it finds something that works, it presses down hard on the accelerator.
The hip-hop-oriented Lit Sundays party at Daylight is one of the results of that clubbing philosophy. The recurring pool bash returns this weekend with a performance by trap icon Jeezy, with mega-artists like Ludacris and Rick Ross lined up for the coming months.
“Last year was our first season doing Lit Sundays as a weekly party, and this year we’re coming back and putting some great talent in there,” Comer says. “We had Jeezy at Light last month, and it was an amazing performance with a really good crowd response.”
Play has enlisted resident DJ J-Nice, a longtime force in Atlanta’s radio scene, to help curate the Lit Sundays lineup. “He’s very dialed into the scene, and we’re excited to have that extra set of eyes on what we’re booking,” Comer says.
Although Daylight continues pumping out plenty of other pop and dance music genres—EDM stalwarts like Cedric Gervais, Ookay, Duke Dumont, Bassjackers and Morgan Page are all back this season—the evolution of Lit Sundays is part of a deeper transition toward open-format programming. Comer notes Light toyed with a much more mixed format during the first year but has found a comfortable fit with the pop and hip-hop sounds of open format.
Light just debuted a new industry night on Wednesdays, along with a monthly party in collaboration with New York City-based music magazine and culture brand The Fader.
“The Fader is really well-respected in the music world as a lifestyle source of what’s hip and cool in music, fashion and art, and they do this party every year at South by Southwest that is one of the most must-see parties,” Comer says. “We’re taking some of that experience and building it into the night at Light, something really fun to give people a chance to switch it up with a more relaxed vibe and some cutting-edge, cool music.”
That programming is also designed to attract locals, similar to the new Thursday events at Daylight which include a partnership with TruFusion for the Detox to Retox yoga party and Rosé All Day promo. “The locals are always the most in tune with whether you’re doing things wrong or right in [clubs], so we’re always going to embrace them in a big way,” Comer says.
LIT SUNDAYS WITH JEEZY April 22, 11 a.m., $20-$30. Daylight, Mandalay Bay, 702-632-4700.
