Las Vegas is often referred to as the entertainment capital of the world, Memorial Day is the first big party of the year and Tiësto is the top-ranked DJ on the planet. It’s only natural, then, that the three are about to converge.

It’s Memorial Day weekend and Tiësto is coming to town: Get ready to embrace DJ royalty.

Memorial Day in Vegas is becoming somewhat of a tradition for Tiësto: He performed at Rehab’s Memorial Day party in 2008 and is back again this year to do two big shows with the Light Group. The Dutch DJ will do double-duty this long weekend, playing Jet on Sunday night and the Bank on Monday night. The Grammy-nominated DJ-producer is looking forward to spending some time in Sin City. “I love Las Vegas,” he said. “It’s not just a gig, it’s everything around it.”

An avid partier by any measure, the European sensation says his Vegas to-do list has more “shows” on it than “sins.” He hopes to take in at least one Cirque du Soleil performance and wants to see “Le Rêve,” too.

And then there’s the food. “I like to go out or dinner (and) as you know, some of the best restaurants in the world are in Las Vegas,” Tiësto said, naming Stack, Little Buddha and Nove Italiano as three of his favorite eateries in town.

Of course, Tiësto won’t just be playing tourist this weekend. He’s here to spin, so we caught up with the king of the turntables to talk music, audiences and a little Las Vegas band called The Killers.

You have a new album coming out in September. What will it sound like?

I don’t know how to describe it yet. It’s a blend-mix of everything, like, all the influences I’ve had in the last couple of years. It’s indie, it’s rock, it’s dance, it’s electro, it’s house. All the influences are there. I [am currently trying] to produce songs instead of dance tracks, so they’re still dance tracks, but they’re song-written dance tracks. That’s the big difference for this album.

Electro-dance is definitely moving mainstream; is that a good thing or a bad thing for the genre?

You can finally see that dance music is coming through. … I think it’s amazing that it’s finally happened; it should have happened years ago. It used to be very underground, and now it’s more mainstream—but that’s not a bad thing … Even hip-hop artists and indie bands, they all use electronic sounds now. The Internet brought freedom to the people, and dance music is freedom. … I’m glad I can be a part of that and keep it going.

You recently collaborated with The Killers to remix “Spaceman.” What made you want to work with them?

[The Killers] have always been one of my favorite bands, since the first album. I think they have an amazing charisma around them, and the music and the lyrics are always very strong. [They are] a great band to be affiliated with.

How do your shows in Las Vegas differ from your shows in Europe?

The clubs I play in Vegas are, for me, really small compared to what I normally do. When I do the big shows [in Europe] I just play, like, outdoor, epic trance music … [In Vegas] I try to keep it more housey, more vocal.

Are Vegas audiences different from European ones?

The Vegas crowd is always a very beautiful crowd. There’s lots of hot girls everywhere, and guys are all pimps with lots of money [laughs] … It’s a different crowd to play for, and, for me, I like that a lot because it’s something different. People come to Vegas to party from all over the world, that’s what I like about it. It’s like a little Ibiza.

Find out where to party, dance and drink in our Memorial Day weekend guide.