Wrapping up a long weekend in Vegas with friends. Lots of fun.
What follows is part of an email I sent to Bob Lefsetz, who has been writing a lot about EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and, to a lesser extent, the high revenue generator in Vegas these days involving clubbing with incredibly highly compensated DJ’s. Need to know more about EDM before you continue? Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWb5Qc-fBvk
My email to Bob: "Two nights ago we were invited to go clubbing at a very popular club here in Las Vegas, Hyde, at the Bellagio. My first experience. I’m about your age, by the way. Our friend, who is very close to the industry, summed it up like this, when asked to explain just who is paying all these crazy high prices to ‘rent’ a small space for a few hours: “a third is family money, the second third are professionals like money managers, sports/entertainment execs, and the final third are people who have no business paying so much but who are desperate for access”. Very different model than the whole EDM scene you write about at music festivals where everyone’s 'equal’.
The pressure to keep up with the Joneses is off the charts at these places. That vibe has been out there forever, of course it’s part of the human condition, but it’s just out of control now in places like Vegas. And no doubt Miami. And from what I heard, the guys paying the big bucks at these Vegas clubs, not to mention many of the attendees who wait in line forever to get in, don’t gamble as much, and that eventually there will be a shift in real estate from casinos to more high end clubs.
I am writing this poolside from our hotel in Las Vegas, enjoying the sights, but not the sounds. A few days ago one of those day then night outdoor dance clubs (Daylight/Light) opened a few hundred yards from the south wall of hundreds of rooms at the hotel. The pulsating bass beat that penetrates the walled enclosures around the pool and has a straight shot to the hundreds of rooms at 3 A.M. in the future mornings, I predict, are going to be a big problem for management. Sort of a clash of cultures. We moved our room to the other side the first day we got here as a preventative measure.
This is not a whole lot different than second hand smoke, but I digress.
Last night we saw Santana at The House of Blues. Carlos, of course, was incredible, but his band mates were also amazing.
I will challenge myself and try to understand the 'layers’ of EDM that you suggest exist in your Ibiza post, but man, right now all I can hear is the incessant bass beat emanating from Daylight! Enough fricking bass already! How this can be in the same universe of what I heard last night from the likes of Gregg Rolie (keyboards), Michael Shrieve and Michael Carabello (drums/percussion) and Benny Rietveld (bass), I need to spend some time and figure out.
I’m not holding my breath.“
