Trip Reports?

[zarjoe]

OK, LaLate does great weekend reviews (as do DJMasterweb, Twisted8, Darkvixen and many others)... but each time I go to Vegas I see HUNDREDS of fun party people out at the clubs (most NOT Vegas locals)....yet there are very few trip reports posted here from those of us benefiting from the knowledge on this forum (Greenie... you are the exception of course).

I just spent the day lurking on Vegas Trip Report boards and can hardly find ANY anywhere from people OUR age who live a nocturnal party life when we are in Vegas.

Suggestion: Let's start posting trip reports here people. We are going to be there 7/7 - 7/10.... trip report 2B posted upon return!

Whatdya think? Help a brotha out? Holla...

[lalate]

Trip Report? I did that - food, hotel, accomodations (no air, cuz we drove) - check the sticky.

[zarjoe]

Yeah, I know, that's why I gave you props in the opening sentence! Keep em coming!

[xlr8ted]

Just go and shut up zarjoe.

[zarjoe]

Double nice.

[xlr8ted]

Well your fuckin complaining there isn't enuff info when there is clearly the most info this forum has seen in years.. So just take the info thats hear, stop yapping and go on your god damn trip

[lalate]

Yeah, I know, that's why I gave you props in the opening sentence! Keep em coming!

My bad.

[ukjay43]

Here is my report from Thursday to Last Night....(what an amazing weekend and it may be still going)

Thursday Late Afternoon Arrival. Check into Flamingo Hotel(it sucks but it has a good pool and is very centrally located)

First Stop is Mix at The Hotel. Completely dead. I went in with my girl her best friend and one my good guy friends. Place was completely dead. Weird.

We then went over to the all newly renovated Voodoo Lounge at the top of the Rio. This place is phat. My boy Joey Mazzola was spinnin inside some crazy house beats. Outside on the new padio DJ Vibe was makin it happen with some mashup and hip hop. If this place goes to House on the patio, it's going to rival Pure at least in relation to the outdoor element. Much potential as long as they manage it right.

Went in very early. 2:30 AM to prepare for the rest of the weekend to follow.

Friday....Woke at 11AM and went to the pool at Flamingo. Most of the day chilled there. It's pretty kick ass because they play House/Dance Music by the pool all day. Not the best of crowds but chill none the less.

Pure....This place is completely a madhouse. So packed and the door is a total mob scene. Doesn't matter who you really are or whether you have bottle service either. You better get there early or you will be subject to the bullshit. We had more than 3 VIP Hosts on the payroll and we still waited about 45 minutes to get in. Party of 9 girls and two guys. All girls were 8 or better. The moral of the story is don't be late. ;-)

The patio was awesome. Excellent sound and very quality talent Men and Girls. Inside the hip-hop room was also filled with very attractive people. Because of the high cost of this joint, it weeds out the people who are perpetrating.

Drais's at 3AM....Finally met Darkvixen. She was so cool. Came over to our table and chilled for about 10 minutes. I met her boyfriend too. Very cool guy. Didn't know who he was until I saw him and realized he was a bartender there. They are very quality people and I suggest you look them up in Vegas. DJ's Chris Garcia and Chris Aurelius are just top notch. No better on the West Coast IMO. They completely rock a room like no other.

Left about 8AM....My boy wanted to go to the Rhino. We did and it was pathetic. Horrifying dancers at this time period. Really was suprised. Went to the Crazy Horse right after and still bad. Really bad. Bed at 9:45AM.

Saturday....Slept most of the day. Went to the pool for some late afternoon sun.

Saturday....Pure again. But this time we did it right with a Cabana rental on the roof. This makes such a night and day difference. Of course it cost over $3500 after all was said and done but it was worth it if that can actually be justifed. ;-) The misters chill the women and you really can attract top notch talent over to the cabana if you put some dudes/chicks who can dance/shake it to the groove.

At one point we had 11 women in the cabana and only 4 guys.

We left at 4AM and went to Drai's again.

Drais was again off the hook. Music was incredible. They actually comped me and my woman for the second straight night. We had 11 people in our party and they only charged about half price for table service and 3 bottles. Kudos to the staff and doormen. I love those guys/gals.

We shut the place down and left at 10AM. Went back to the room to shower and then off to....

Rehab at Hard Rock Pool. What a horribly pathetic experience. That place is really getting terrible. Why is it that fat people think they have a right to wear skimpy bikini's/thongs? It was so over-run with fat slob ghetto tourists that we had to leave. I paid 200 for my group of 4 girls and two guys(my girls are hot) and we left after about 2 hours. It was disgusting. The music is poorly transitioned. From rock/rap/house/dance.

I will never ever go there again on a long Holiday weekend. I'll give it another shot as I think it's being marketed to the wrong sects at this point. In talking to more locals as the weekend wore on, I realized that I should have gone to GVR/Nirvana.

Too tired to go out Sunday night. Missed Corsten at Ice. My boyz had a table and they said he went off. Too bad but was donesky from the long 48 hours previously.

Monday...Pool at Flamingo all Day.

Monday Night went to the Mike Tyson Mansion Party. It was completely off the shizzle. Props to my boy Bo for putting the party together and making it come off with so out so much as a hitch. Chris Garcia and Joey Mazzola both went off. Kinda weird with the transitions to hip-hop and all but it catered to all elements of crowd there.

That's all I've got. Still here and possibly going to Pure again tonight for locals night. Will report back when I get back to LA tomorrow afternoon.

[zarjoe]

UKJay: Thanks for the great trip report and keep going, long weekends in Vegas never seem to end (and who wants them to!). Have fun!

[greenie]

Great report, right on. Although I'll admit I had a good chuckle at your staying at the Flamingo for price while at the same time dropping well over $4K at Pure over the weekend.

Glad to hear Mazzola has some good gigs, too. If you have some contact info for him, please PM me. Last time I saw him rock the floor was in January at ICE and I've been trying to track him down for a while.

Any idea what the new VooDoo is asking for cover?

Interesting to hear about the crowd at Rehab. And a shame. June 19th had a few people baring excessive flab but the overall crowd was still good -- and by that I mean plenty of softbodied party people that knew how to shake it on the beach while knowing the meaning of the word "modesty." Any idea who spun the day you were there? Sounds like the music has dropped off... going by what you liked during other parts of the weekend (Mazzola, Garcia, Aurelius) you would have been happy with the mix we were treated to on the 19th.

[MysticRain]

Hey Jay.....so good to finally meetup with you. Thanks for the good words. You and your girl are cool as well and congrats again on the wedding. I shoulda stayed and partied with ya Saturday since I was down there not working but had to get back to my lil group. Hope to meetup again soon.

[djsubconscious]

Went to Vegas for my first time with my fiance' and 3 other couples. Arrived 5/5 at T.I. after 6 hr. flight from N.Y. Slept a little while - woke up to the awesome night view from our window.

Went to MIST for one drink - don't waste your time!!!

Went down to TANGERINE at about Midnight. Place was excellent for more of a chill spot. The burlesque dancers were gorgeous and broke up the night. I fell in love with the patio. They had the guy in the 15 foot bongo - playin drums along to house beats. Loved it. A little tight and you have to buy a bottle to sit on your ass. Anyway - got in a fight with my chick over nuthin - went back at 1:30 crashed.

Friday -toured a bunch of hotels - met up with my best friend and his wife. Went to RAIN despite warning from friends. OOPS!!! I'm a dance music fan - so this was not the place for me. Cheesy - not much eye candy except the dancers. And since we're not big partyers I don't think we even went on the dance floor. $500 later for 4 people - damn we should've got a table & a bottle!!! 3:30 am Back to TANGERINE - the freaks are out!!! Some chick grabs our girls and pulls them on the floor - they all fall - time to go!!!

SATURDAY - met up with other people, pool by the MIRAGE - AMAZING!!!! I'd go to Vegas again just to hang out there. Saturday Night - Cirque De Solei - INCREDIBLE!!! Back to Tangerine for a drink and another burlesque show!!!Met some real cool people. Late night - score some cali bud - blaze up our hotel room & pass out.

SUNDAY - More tourist stuff. Thinking about getting married - backed out - I SUCK!!! PERMANENT COLD FEET!!!

Monday - Planned on chillin all day by the pool - too windy. HARRAHS - THE FLARE BARTENDERS - CRAZY - DEF WORTH CHECKING OUT - LOTS OF INTERESTING DRUNKS AROUND!!! Had to drag my boy out of the place - sped to the airport just in time to catch our overnight flights to NY.

VEGAS KICKED MY ASS!!!

& what's up w. every dj out there using final scratch?

[MysticRain]

Sorry to hear about your wicked trip....hopefuly it wasnt all bad. What's final scratch? I know I've heard it before but drawing a blank...not sure if our DJ's do it. Hope you next trip out is better.

[greenie]

What's final scratch? I know I've heard it before but drawing a blank...not sure if our DJ's do it.

I'll let the resident DJ experts go into more detail if so desired, but basically it's a combo hardware/software product bridges turntables and a laptop computer. It gives DJs the ability to use turntable-based methods and movements they're comfortable with (tempo, pitch, scratch etc) to control however many tracks they want, all stored on their laptop.

In short, it allows DJs to travel to gigs with as much music as they want simply by carrying their laptop and the Final Scratch controller -- as opposed to a crate or two of vinyl. Again, I leave it to the experts, but it's very similar to other products such as Serato Scratch.

Given the ease of transit with the product, I think you can see why it's so popular. And for whatever it's worth, of the clubs and lounges I've been to this year I've see a lot more DJs in Vegas using Serato.

[MysticRain]

Aaahhh....yes. Thank you.

[djmasterweb]

Nice explanation greenie.

Everyone is converting over to serato. Plus the new version will include support for mp4s (which include video).

[pete825]

Damn you guys are good (and fast) when it comes to passing info along...

[djsubconscious]

I was almost sold on final scratch or whatever - but - I'm not a traveling dj(yet). Plus I spin dance music - most of which comes on vinyl. Also with the hiphop mp3s it's hard to find the instrumentals & acapellas. Personally I usually carry 4-5 crates of hiphop & 2 crates of dance. Basically would be impossible to travel with - so if I ever start travelin maybe I'll switch over. Untill then - I don't buy it.

As for my trip - it wasn't all bad - just the club thing was not the highlight.

p.s. - me and my boy do a wicked 4 turntable set!!! I'll outscratch any dj I heard out there!!!

[jjl1719]

Two words: Donald Glaude

Can you paost a sample of you and ur boy playing a set??

[djsubconscious]

I'm a little old school. 3 turntables & a mic yo!!! My sorry ass doesn't even have dsl.

I don't think I'd burn the house djs out there. I didn't mean to sound like an ass - but def some rookies djin out there amongst the big dawgs. Not hatin though it's not my town.

Some background:

I have a four & 1/2 year residence spinnin for 1,000+ people 3 nights a week - but I'm stuck in standstill. Gotta get on the radio & hopefully will start gettin booked out of state.

Sorry to block up the post & get off the subject - so anyone else go to TANGERINE?

[jjl1719]

Yeah I've been to tangerine a few times, it just gets too packed. It's nice to go and grab a few drinks before the night gets goin.

I didn't think you were hatin, I've heard some trainwrecks out here out here too at times. so I know where you are coming from.

[lalate]

I'm a little old school. 3 turntables & a mic yo!!! My sorry ass doesn't even have dsl.

I don't think I'd burn the house djs out there. I didn't mean to sound like an ass - but def some rookies djin out there amongst the big dawgs. Not hatin though it's not my town.

Some background:

I have a four & 1/2 year residence spinnin for 1,000+ people 3 nights a week - but I'm stuck in standstill. Gotta get on the radio & hopefully will start gettin booked out of state.

Sorry to block up the post & get off the subject - so anyone else go to TANGERINE?

Yeah I like it. And get lots of requests for it too all diff nights.

[MysticRain]

Tangerine is all hype.......it's ok but gets waaaaaaay too packed. And the design of the place is boring. Good place to check out....not a good place to party.

[greenie]

Majority of my visits to Tangerine have been on Wednesdays and during the winter/spring months, so it's been packed but not unbearable in the way that I've been hearing about on weekends since Memorial Day. I've also done a lot of bottles there with friends, so that certainly minimizes the effect that the crowd has had on me.

I'll agree with DarkVixen, it's a good place to check out but I don't think it's an amazing place. Typically I've gone because of the local crowd on Wednesdays, and again, because friends have invited me in on their tables.

[m17who]

Went to Tank, and thought it was "just" as DV says, way to crowded ... Doing Vegas again in November and can't wait!