Vegas clubs typically book their New Year’s Eve talent months in advance, but sometimes, earlier is better. DJ Ikon has been a lock for NYE 2017 at the Bank at Bellagio since springtime, and that means a lot for the longtime local club fixture.
Lake Tahoe native Aaron White has been spinning and living in Las Vegas since 2004. “I was living in Reno and came down here for the first time for a DJ battle at Tangerine [at Treasure Island],” Ikon says. “I won that and next thing you know they moved me down here to help open Pure.” The rest, as they say, is history. “I knew I wanted to be in Vegas. There were a few guys like DJ Hollywood and R.O.B. who had already made a career here, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do and what I wanted my life to be. I just fell into it.”
Ikon has played just about every room you can think of—some of his all-time faves are Pure, LAX and Wet Republic—and can currently be found at clubs like 1 OAK, Hyde, Intrigue and Heart of Omnia. At one time he was one of the area’s most active house-music producers, but in recent years he has refocused his efforts on touring and other ventures like the documentary he finished this year with the crew from DJ blog Club Killers and his Vegas sneaker boutique Feature, which expanded its Spring Mountain Road shop this year.
Musically, Ikon is riding the surging wave of open format. “My real passion is ’90s hip-hop, and it’s seen this huge resurgence this year,” he says. “People are going back to this golden era when everything that came out was really good and classic, and rediscovering it. I could listen to it all day, every day.” DJ Ikon at the Bank at Bellagio, December 31.
