Thursday, August 10, 10 p.m. "It's hot as balls out here," I say. "I'm sweating my balls off." Confused, my friend inquires, "You have balls, huh?"
Well, I've been told so. But seriously, it's H-O-T. There's a breeze kicking up under the blinding full moon and heat-lightning crackling the desert sky. The overall blow-dryer effect threatens to shrink my contact lenses. Chomping on the melting ice in my long-gone cocktail and dabbing at my temples with a napkin, I throw wistful glances at the people splashing away in the pool to the sounds of resident DJ Inferno and this week's guest DJ Mikey Swift—these two are everywhere!—and make a mental note to wear my swimsuit next week.
But I'd better get it while I can; this event is only slated for August.
Nightclubs often throw one-time or short-term events as a test before changing the orbits of their promotional planets to revolve around new marketing campaigns. Like a child, it's okay for a new party not to know what it's going to be when it grows up; it's just smart business. And T.I., it seems, has a savvy band of party pirates.
T.I.'s two-fold plan to increase foot-traffic in the casino and test-run Whisper, its new nighttime pool party for next year, happily coincides with the late-summer opening of Social House, Pure Management Group's first restaurant.
"T.I. was very open," says Whisper manager Mark Wiley. "I broke it down for them: Here's your Rehab-style party, here's your Suncoast-style party, and here's you right in the middle." That's a pretty fair description, too. Anyone who's been to both the Hard Rock's Rehab and the Suncoast's party can attest to how different a daytime pool-a-palooza is from a nighttime, radio station-driven event.
Whisper starts off quietly at 6 p.m. with hotel guests still cooking in their own juices by the pool. Slowly, the music changes and the go-go girls pop up, as do billowy sheets strung between trees and mobile bars. "It's not house and it's not '80s," Wiley says of the music. "It's a mix, DJ Inferno-style." Inspired by the Palms' old Skin pool parties, Whisper is laid-back, pairing good music with a good event space.
With a swashbuckler's swagger and a car salesman's grin, Wiley knows he doesn't have to molest money out of industry members' hands, and he has no intention of doing so. "Being in the industry and trying to sell bottles, we're all getting tired of being bent over a barrel on those bottle prices." His remedy? Give away the door, sell cabanas for mere two-bottle minimums, the couches for only one-bottle minimums, and sell the bottles themselves for a far-below-market $175 to $225. But won't people leave sooner because they haven't paid through the nose or spent half their night in a line? True, Wiley says, "people that pay or wait to get in are invested. We just have to make sure they think twice about leaving."
No stranger to the night, Wiley has a few secret weapons. As director of strategic planning and a partner with VegasHotSpots.com during the day, Wiley already knows the principal players and dancers at every gentleman's club in town. All the billboards and signage and e-mail blasts in the world can't help a party if it doesn't bring in females. Already penciled in for Week 3 is Jell-O wrestling. The second ace up Wiley's sleeve goes by the name of Courtney Lefkowitz, who's recently returned here from New York. This mistress of the velvet rope, Wiley simply states, knows "everybody."
If Whisper is a success, T.I. will launch a full series of pool parties next summer. For now, Whisper's days number four Thursdays in August. "I'm going to do my best to extend this as long as possible," Wiley adds, hopeful we may see a September full of Whispers.
"I invite anybody who is looking for that cool club experience without the hassle of waiting in line and paying $30 cover charges," says Wiley. "We've got great music, a great pool atmosphere and plenty of gorgeous women." And nothing keeps pirates coming back like booty.
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at
[email protected] and visit
www.TheCircuitLV.com to sign up for Xania's free weekly newsletter.