Not many people can boast about opening a nightclub before they turn 21. Dustin Drai isn’t most people.
Leading up to the launch of Drai’s Nightclub and Beachclub in 2014, Drai had a hand in nearly everything pertaining to his father’s next mega-project at the Cromwell on the Las Vegas Strip. After the success of Drai’s After Hours and XS Nightclub at Wynn, all eyes were firmly affixed on nightlife legend Victor Drai.
“It was like, ‘What’s Victor Drai’s next project going to be? Is it going to be better than XS?’ There always was that comparison between the two clubs, especially when we first opened,” says Dustin Drai, president of Drai’s Management Group.
Dustin and Victor Drai
“There was definitely a sense of him wanting to make something bigger, better, more extravagant, more luxurious, and kind of competing with himself,” he continues. “It’s a testament to his skill in the nightlife world, the fact that he’s designed XS, Drai’s and both of them are still there over 10 years later.”
Swedish house heavyweight Eric Prydz christened the 65,000-square-foot rooftop oasis during its Memorial Day weekend grand opening, and the pursuit of high-profile talent only continued from there. Over the next decade, Drai’s would become a hip-hop and R&B concert destination, bucking against EDM trends to create a platform for artists like Chris Brown, Migos, 50 Cent, Gucci Mane and Big Sean to shine.
“We’ve established ourselves into the fabric of the Las Vegas community,” Drai says. “A big factor in our longevity is that people have become so attached to the brand over the past 30 years that it almost would be hard to see it go away.”
Drai’s will soon expand its portfolio once again with Drai’s Dallas, a modern supper club that Drai describes as a return to “the roots of what the Drai’s brand started as.”
“Drai’s Vegas will always be the crown jewel of what we do, but my vision for the next 10 years is to create something that’s a little bit smaller, more intimate,” he says.
Drai’s celebrates the holiday and birthday weekend in a big way, with Sean Paul, Wiz Khalifa, Trey Songz, Cardi B and Moneybagg Yo on the day-and-night lineup May 24-26.
DRAI’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION May 28, 10 p.m., $20-$30+. Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.
Memorable moments: Dustin Drai looks back at some standouts from the first 10 years
Hosting basketball champs “We’re able to celebrate a lot of championship parties at Drai’s for all of these different sporting events, starting with the Golden State Warriors. They came and had a huge championship celebratory party a couple years ago. We [also] got to celebrate the Las Vegas Aces’ back-to-back years. It’s really awesome to see what the Aces have been doing over the past couple of years, and for them to call Drai’s home.”
The Weeknd’s residency “He was doing full hour-long performances on our stage consistently. He was already a superstar and we could all see it, but he had not gotten to that level yet. To say he was a Drai’s resident at one point in his career, and now he’s selling out massive, 100,000-person arenas ... that’s definitely a big memory.”
Ed Sheeran’s surprise “We had a night where Ed Sheeran, another megastar, popped up on stage and just started singing and dancing. He was there visiting somebody and next thing you know, he’s backstage being like, ‘I want to jump on.’”
Kevin Hart’s comedy hour “He was having a good time, and he jumps on stage, grabs a mic, stops the music, tells everyone basically to shut up and starts cracking jokes about the artists. Everyone looks at each other like, ‘Is Kevin Hart really doing a full stand-up comedy show in the middle of a nightclub at 2:30 in the morning?’”
Unlikely collabs “It was a Meek Mill performance and the club was packed. Next thing you know, we end up with about five or six of our artists all on stage. Meek Mill, Jeezy, I think Chris [Brown] was there, and James Harden jumped on stage. Imagine a house party with this level of celebrity, talent and so forth, and you also have 3,000 of your other best friends in the club.”
Future’s post-COVID performance “When he performed ‘Mask Off,’ I swear the building was shaking. It was in June. We had just come back from [COVID] restrictions. The symbolism of the song and the symbolism of the night, the fact that we’d reopened, the fact that we had Future performing—he was also one of our original superstars back in the day—it was this checklist of wow.”
F1 on deck “Last year, when they brought a McLaren [Formula 1] car and lifted it up off the Strip and put it onto our pool deck ... If that’s not the most Vegas thing you could think of.” –Amber Sampson
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