SpyClub717

THIRDED! This should really become a sticky, and be updated as nights and venues shift. Contrary to what some will say, there ARE plenty of us who will go out of our way to AVOID the all-hip-hop "OMG PARTY BAR" venues. This list is a great start!

You have no idea how ecstatic I am to see this! It's going to be great heading to a venue whose idea of a "house night" isn't 45 minutes of hip hop followed by Sandstorm.

This is terriffic - thanks! I'm glad to see the format making a resurgence. It's always seemed to me to be a question of pure economics when it came time to choose a format. Like it or hate it, hip hop will draw the crowd, while house will draw the devout. The simple matter of profitability, rather than superiority of one format over another, is what ultimately settles the score. Why play house to a crowd of 200, when hip hop will hit capacity and fill the line? Sad, but true. Our trio will be coming out this coming week (8/15 - 8/21) and aside from one stop at 54, it's all house, all week. I'm looking forward to Wed @ BE after a five-hour late-night flight. It would be nice if someone would come up with a "boycott hip hop" club hop. Where would you go for a week of solid house (or, for that matter, ANY electronic format)? There are those of us who will spend good money AND go out of our way to not hear Jay-Z hits from 2002 37 times a night. We just need to know where to go.

Isn't that Pacha NYC?

Thanks for the details. Looking forward to reading the rest. It sounds like you pretty much did the same thing I did the last time I was out there, only I called and got added instead of buying passes. Glad to see it still works. It seems like most people get hung up when they expect to skip a line with their eBay pass at 1:30. Then these same people turn around and proclaim that "that doesn't work". Like every other club on the planet, it's a profit center; they're going to make money over doing favors any day. With a few hundred people in line, unless you're truly A-list or willing to fork over some serious cash, nobody's going to let you skip.

Which is why I'm on here three months ahead of time asking for advice and listening to opinions. No offense taken. As for 54, it's "mandatory" because they want to see it. That pretty much settles it. It was cheesy and mainstream four years ago when I was there, it was cheesy and mainstream the few times I went before, and I anticipate it will still be cheesy and mainstream when I go now. What matters is whether or not we have a good time. Since I'm 3/3 on having had a good time there, it's already set. I'm willing to sacrifice a few hours out of my week for the cause. As for Jet, it's definitely on my list. One gigantic pet peeve of mine is untalented LJs. Be it Avalon NY or Spundae LA or Crobar Chicago, I've seen top-tier superclubs embarass themselves by having kickass lighting rigs driven by limp, no-talent LJs. But because it's a well-regarded venue otherwise, or because they're using a Hog instead of LightJockey, or because it's an all-High End show, people just jizz all over themselves about how awesome and amazing the lightshow is. When in reality, it's 150 fixtures running macros all night. I can tell you that my show at a rural small-city nightclub can wipe the floor with a lot of the shows I've seen at bigger, more prestigious clubs. Sorry for the rant, but point being, I'm very interested in seeing how Jet performs. I like what I've seen and read so far. It's likely to be my first Saturday stop -- maybe my only Saturday stop. Body English doesn't really seem like my kind of place, based on everything I've seen and read. I remember I gave Baby's three tries before giving up on it; maybe the location and I just have a bad vibe going. I'm more interested in the five of us having a good time than I am in being seen on the scene. I can get plenty of scene in LA; I come to Vegas for kicks. Like I said in another thread, give me a good lightshow, talent, and no hip hop, and I'm set!

Oh yeah - I should clarify that we're not looking for VIP treatment. We'll do our part, duck in before 10 and keep a healthy tab. But we're really looking for line skips and guest lists, not booths and bottles. If we start going the booth / bottle route, I expect to fork over some cash.

You nailed it guy ... always ease the noobs into the format or you'll turn them off forever and they'll never look back. We're doing that here in Harrisburg -- our dance format (and by that I mean pretty much any genre other than hip hop) nights are slowly and finally growing because you start the night off with easy-to-recognize tracks, then crank it up a bit once the drinks start taking hold.

Rock on, bro, and thanks. I've always found that the best venues are the places where people are there to enjoy the scene and have a good time, regardless of format. And far be it for me to complain about T&A, but I'm still searching for that mythical club consisting entirely of (1) T, (2) A, (3) perfect playlist, and (4) amazing High End lightshow. Someday I'll find it ... someday ...

Oh yes, if you don't thoroughly enjoy snow and 0-degree weather, Pennsylvania is not the place to be! Although it *is* fun trying to watch the overly-liquified just-turned-21 crowd attempt to navigate their way back to the car / cab / limo / afterhours / etc on ice and slush ...

Looking forward to it. Seems a lot of people (not necessarily on here, just in general) bust on 54, presumably because it's so touristy and therefore "worthless". Not saying that's the case with you, but I've always had a decent time there. I always saw far less drama and attitude there than I have in some other places, Vegas or otherwise. And since I'm coming with four first-timers, 54 is pretty much mandatory. But I'm definitely very open to opinions and suggestions.

Hey, welcome!

I've been lurking around here for a while, now I'm finally getting around to signing up for an account. So - hi all! I'm the LJ for Dragonfly nightclub & Spy Club here in Harrisburg, PA. Mostly into EDM, house, trance, that sort of thing. If anyone ever finds him or herself stranded out this way, or needs a refresher stopover en route to NYC from points west, just say the word. Harrisburg's a fun little town -- it's only the people who come here and compare us to Vegas or NYC who are sorely disappointed.

Hey all, I've been browsing through the threads and picking up lots of good tidbits (and even some rather amusing drama). Just wanted to say thanks for all the info. Someone should really compile this all into a Vegas wiki. Anyway, I'm the LJ from a club here in PA. Been to Vegas about a half dozen times now, but this August (8/15 - 8/21) I'll be bringing four first-timers along. Our total group will be three guys, two girls. We'll be doing the obvious places like 54, and I'm definitely going to make a point of dropping us through some of the places that come up more frequently on here (and, of course, whoever has a stellar lightshow!). The last time I was out, I did pretty well by just calling some of the venues and getting added to the guest list myself. No troubles using the A-line, no cover, and $20 per person (for my girl and I) to the Man With The Clipboard for his trouble. Unfortunately, this was four years ago -- an eternity in the industry. Is this still pretty much the same deal? Nobody in our party is a supermodel, we're not prepared to throw down a few grand, and our 3-guy-2-girl ratio is less than ideal. But it's always been my experience that as long as you don't try anything ridiculous (like expecting yourself to still skip through the guest list for free at 2am), you'll have no trouble getting the basics for free. Sound about right? Or are we SOL? For what it's worth, we're going to be more into the house / EDM places and less into the all-hip-hop "OMG PARTY BAR" venues.