The hottest spot in town is suddenly an intimate, multi-room hideaway for discerning crate diggers. On the Record, Park MGM’s new addition, boasts a two-story record store, a Vinyl Parlor with cocktails inspired by classic songs, three karaoke rooms and a DJ spinning in a chopped-up Rolls-Royce, among other ’gram-worthy features. If all that isn’t enough to lure you away from your big-room bottle service booth, the club’s carefully curated music program should.
Less than a month since its opening, On the Record has already hosted a Lady Gaga afterparty, a Questlove DJ set and a throwback performance from Naughty by Nature, with local jazz-infused hip-hop outfit The Lique serving as the house band. But with all due respect to Mother Monster, the best is yet to come.
On Saturday night, raspy rapper, crooner and drummer Anderson .Paak takes over the main room. And by “takes over,” we mean he’s going to absolutely dominate the space in every way possible. The SoCal representative is a wonder to see live. He’ll glide across the floor with fancy footwork, then hop on the drums and sing without the slightest stutter in his delivery or break in his toothy smile. With his blend of old school aesthetics and new school flair, .Paak might just be the most fitting talent for On the Record.
Dig into the Grammy-nominated artist’s catalog and you’ll come up with something from just about every genre. Deep cuts find him rapping alongside LA’s battle-tested emcees and adding soulful seasoning to covers of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” Then there’s the turn-up: “Drugs” serves as a bass-heavy tale of unrequited love, with “Bubblin” a celebratory brag (“I might just roll out to Vegas, head back to my old ways,” he raps). In between are house-inspired jams and sample-heavy slick talk, along with the recent Kendrick Lamar-assisted California cruiser, “Tints.”
If his fanbase matched his immense talent, .Paak would be blowing out T-Mobile Arena. It’s a bloody crime that he isn’t, but at least that gives Las Vegans a chance to see him up close at On the Record before he inevitably does.
Anderson .Paak January 26, 10 p.m., $30-$40. On the Record, 702-730-6773.
