Somehow it’s not surprising. Las Vegas’ own house music legend, Jesse Saunders, is launching a new, true house music experience residency on Thursday, November 9 at Embassy Nightclub, the off-Strip venue that has made its name serving up diverse sounds not readily found at big-name clubs along Las Vegas Boulevard.
Saunders did some rare local gigs over the summer, popping up at Drai’s Beachclub for a midweek industry daytime party. Now he’s looking to expand on that experience at Embassy. “We’re going to obviously play basic house music, but there’s going to be costumes and atmosphere and the whole nine yards,” he says. “Almost like a Studio-54-in-2017 kind of thing.”
Saunders’ vision for his Embassy takeover is the same thing he’s been conceptualizing for Las Vegas for years now. He just hasn’t found the right place to put it, until now. “I need full creative control,” he says. “When I play Ibiza or Miami or Barcelona, it’s a different vibe, and that’s one of the things I love. It’s more festive. The problem I’ve always seen in this town is that when things get corporate, you lose a lot of creativity. I see a niche here.”
Veteran Vegas clubbers might get excited when Saunders says he wants to take this residency back to the days and vibes of Club Utopia, but younger dance music fans are discovering and digging house sounds, too.
“I hear people say these millennials don’t have a clue what real dance music is about, because they didn’t grow up with it,” Saunders says. “But when they do come to an event, they come up and say, ‘This is amazing! I haven’t heard any music like this before!’ I’ve played bigger festivals and seen kids come in at 16 and 17, and by the time they turn 21 and 22 they’re looking for something that actually has a pulse to it, some soul to it. It’s nice to see that evolution.” Ibiza with Jesse Saunders at Embassy Nightclub, November 9.
