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Why DJ Snake is one of the Strip’s biggest club stars

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DJ Snake plays EBC on September 21 and XS the next night.
Photo: Seth Roth / AP

We might not think about the superstar DJs of Strip nightclubs as “residents” or “headliners” in the traditional Vegas sense, but there are more similarities than differences. In the case of DJ Snake—the French producer behind hits like “Let Me Love You” with Justin Bieber and “Lean On” with Major Lazer and MØ—Wynn Nightlife venues like XS and Encore Beach Club have been practically the only places in the U.S. where you can catch his live set, other than a massive dance music festival. He’ll play three times this weekend— at EBC, XS and the Life Is Beautiful festival. Snake is like Mariah Carey or Celine Dion; unless you’re going abroad to see them, you have to come to Vegas for the show.

Illuminating this comparison is the recent announcement that DJ Snake will play two rare U.S. club shows this fall, at New York City’s Avant Gardner on October 26 and at the Shrine Expo Hall in LA on Halloween. It’s expected that he’ll focus on his more underground-leaning music for the only two North American headlining shows of the year.

While his music is popular across the planet—his hits have resulted in 8.3 billion streams—Snake is known for his dedication to his homeland. Last year he became the first artist of any kind to perform on top of the Arc De Triomphe in Paris, and his support of France’s World Cup victory this year is already legendary. He watched his team beat Croatia in the final in Moscow with Usain Bolt and Armin van Buuren and was later spotted dancing on top of a table with French footballer Paul Pogba. And this was before President Emmanuel Macron personally invited the DJ to join the victory parade in Paris.

He’s done a lot of big things, but the next one is always the biggest. Snake is finishing his second studio album now, taking inspiration from his travels and global experiences now that he’s moved beyond his original goals. “Paris influenced me a lot back then, but now the world has a big influence on me,” he told Billboard earlier this year. “There’s no way I’m going to sleep on the new things that I’m hearing in Brazil and India.”

DJ SNAKE September 21, 11 a.m., $25-$45; Encore Beach Club, 702-770-7300. September 22, 11 p.m., $25-$45; XS, 702-770-7300.

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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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