A Vegas Music Experience preview
Many have tried, many have failed to bring a credible music conference to Las Vegas, something to rival Miami’s Winter Music Conference. Vegas Alliance’s Gino Lopinto was sufficiently frustrated by that fact to get off his duff and fuse his idea for Vegas Music Experience to the 14th annual Billboard Dance Music Summit. With Billboard sharing the billing, VME might just inaugurate music-conference success for Vegas and, more importantly, establish an annual event. VME kicks off on Thursday, October 4, with parties at (get ready): Voodoo Beach, Voodoo Lounge, Blush, Empire Ballroom and Seamless. Before the event week wraps up on Wednesday, October 10, VME and Billboard will have broadcast live on Sirius Radio from Empire Ballroom, presented performances by DJs Aero with Tommy Lee (10/7, Rain) and Skribble with Dave Navarro (10/9, Empire Ballroom) and teamed up with notable nightlife brands such as Spundae, Beatport, XM Satellite Radio, Wet Grooves and Jeffrey Sanker’s White Party. And let’s not forget the educational portion of the conference. Billboard has arranged panel discussions, workshops and networking events for the business-minded and the still-standing Tuesday and Wednesday.
If you’re thinking VME is solely for “house heads” prepare to be pleasantly surprised: “I consider what I play to be ‘dance’ music, in that people are always dancing!” says DJ Skribble, best known for his hip-hop, MTV and mash-up work. “Good dance music incorporates a lot of varied genres of music.” That said, we still asked XM DJ Theo why dance music is so important as to have not one but two conferences dedicated to it in one week. “Electronic music is universal,” Theo says. “Just take a look at how big the dance-music scene is in parts of the world outside the U.S. ... Electronic music is in movies, on TV commercials, video games, ring-tones. And mainstream pop, rock and hip-hop artists often hire accomplished dance-music producers to remix their tracks and make them into hits. There have been many times where the dance remixes have gone on to become more popular than the original tracks.” For a complete schedule of events visit www.VegasMusicExperience.com.
Re-Revolution: three new parties!
This fall brings with it a barrel full of changes for many of our nightclubs, and it looks like the Beatles Revolution Lounge is no exception. The chic, interactive lounge will revamp not physically but entertainment-wise thanks to a new executive director of nightclub operations, Dave Pappas, formerly MGM Mirage corporate vice president of west coast operations.
Tuesday nights, Live @ Revolution (soft-launched September 25; official launch in 2008) will pair up indie, rock and under-the-radar acts for a double-header, with the opener going on at 10 p.m. and the headliner at 12:30 a.m. Expect a divergence from Revolution’s housey or Beatles-heavy lounge sounds, and when there isn’t an event booked, DJ Shane Thomas will hold down the fort.
Also soft-launching this week is the new Friday ladies night, Chick! Door hosts will be empowered to “reward” beauty and style with gifts as groups of It girls will be selected to enjoy complimentary bottle service. Thursdays with DJ Robert Oleysyck remain intact, though now under the name This Is Not Commercial, and with the music format switching up to include indie, dance and rock. Expect to see other nights getting the treatment in the near future as well. Goo goo ga joob!
Icon tidbits: Victor Drai
Going over the transcripts of the Icon interviews for last month’s nightlife issue, we discovered that in most cases, once all the questions about the competitors, history, bottle service and the future were safely out of the way, the discussion tended to return to the Icon’s own empire. Some even gave away juicy little details about upcoming projects. Victor Drai, for example, was rather keen to discuss his next club (his “last,” he says, tragically), scheduled to open at the end of 2008 at Encore. “The club itself will be the size of Tryst,” says Drai. Including its plunge pool and surrounding VIP areas, Tryst is 12,000 square feet. “The difference with the new club is the outside space I can use. I believe very strongly that in Vegas, you have to use the outside. We don’t use the outside enough.” The new club, which will also feature a pool (though this time it will be a functional one) will amount to a total of 25,000 square feet. The as-yet-unnamed club’s conceptualization is complete, and, Drai assures, it will have an entirely different look and feel. In his own words: “It’s going to be the most beautiful club ever.”
Prom redux
Did high school prom fall short of your expectations? You, along with the rest of Vegas’ nightlife industry, can relive—and vastly improve upon—those memories at the third annual Vegas Prom, Wednesday, October 3 at the Joint at the Hard Rock. With presale tickets available to ladies for $20, gents for $50 or couples for $60, it’s probably more affordable than your real prom. Hotel rooms are just $129 plus tax, and all sorts of tux, dinner and floral discounts are available at www.VegasProm.com. While there, you can vote for the Weekly’s own Xania Woodman for Prom Queen! Who knows? Maybe the third time will be a charm ...