EDM News : Volume Rises in Las Vegas Arms Race

Neil Moffitt at Hakkasan Las Vegas, a new nightclub partly managed by his company.

Over the last few years the center of the electronic dance world in the United States has shifted to Las Vegas, where top D.J.’s now earn some of their biggest paychecks from casino megaclubs.

The latest arrival to this scene is Hakkasan Las Vegas, part of an international chain of high-end Cantonese restaurants, which has its grand opening this week.

Developed at the MGM Grand at a reported cost of $100 million, the club is 80,000 square feet of Vegas-style chinoiserie, and is the city’s biggest nightclub, according to Neil Moffitt, chief executive of the Angel Management Group, which will manage the club with the Hakkasan company. Along with another new space, Light, it represents the next stage in Las Vegas’s evolution as a luxury mecca for electronic dance music, or E.D.M.

Mr. Moffitt, 46, a veteran of the British dance business, has been the driving force behind the club. He spoke recently about Hakkasan, dance music’s role in the Las Vegas hospitality industry and the comparative economics of dance and rock. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Q. How did the nightclubs of Las Vegas reach their current level of competition for the big names in dance music?

A. My first foray into the electronic-music market in Las Vegas was Paul Oakenfold at Ice in 2004. At that time there was the odd stand-alone room that might have a D.J. on Wednesday night. D.J.’s going from L.A. or Chicago would stop off here, get a suntan, a nice dinner and a check. It was never a serious market.

Then in 2007 there was the decline in the gaming market, and all of a sudden casinos are scrambling for revenue. Pure became the market leader. There were rumors about $1 million nights, Paris Hilton here, another celebrity there. And they all looked at it and said, “Wow, this business can generate a lot of money.”

So nightclub after nightclub started to get built, and over the last six years Las Vegas has invested in bringing a new demographic to this market, which is primarily food and beverage and hospitality driven.

Q. How does Hakkasan fit into this?

A. It’s sort of the first of its kind, and it has been built with change in mind. The nearer you are to the restaurant, the more of the DNA of the restaurant is in it. Farther away, whilst it will contain some of the restaurant, it will take on a feel of its own. It doesn’t ooze rave; it oozes class.

Downstairs we have the Ling Ling Club, a 10,000-square-foot experience, and a separate, more intimate and V.I.P. environment known as the Ling Ling Lounge, which offers a more relaxed atmosphere with top-notch mixology. Upstairs is the main room, which I could call a gladiatorial, high-energy room with a very intense sound-and-light show. To the right, the Pavilion can act as part of the main room, or independently.

Q. Gladiatorial?

A. If someone were to shoot “Fight Club 2,” they could film it in that room. A very intense experience. It reminds me of when we had Tiësto at Godskitchen, my nightclub in Birmingham. I remember getting in the D.J. booth, and the energy in that room.

Q. These days people talk about an “arms race” in the E.D.M. business, and no place seems to symbolize that better than Las Vegas and these elaborate new clubs.

A. It’s an evolution. For years people have been charged a ton of money to go into mediocre buildings with poor facilities and can’t believe they paid that much money to sit next to the toilet. And they leave disenchanted.

Las Vegas itself has evolved. We’ve been through the financial crisis, and people are selective about where they spend their money. They don’t want to go to poor venues and eat poor food. Customers expect a certain level of service and environment. Maybe we still haven’t reached the peak.

Hakkasan Las Vegas is a Michelin-star restaurant that has evolved into a nightclub. That’s where we are. If some people see that as an arms race, maybe it’s just sour grapes.

Q. How do the economics of running these clubs and putting on big dance events compare to the other side of the live-music business?

A. E.D.M. today is what hip-hop was to the MTV generation. We have D.J.’s capable of producing enough ticket sales to compete with Grammy-winning live artists.

If you think about a rock ’n’ roll concert, you’re lucky if these guys will come onstage and do an hour and 20 minutes. We are getting three to four hours of value out of our D.J.’s. We can get 6,000 or 7,000 people through the doors who are willing to pay to see them, probably at an average ticket price higher than I could get for a live act. And it’s a show!

Tiësto was booked to play for me on New Year’s Eve at a casino in Atlantic City, in a room that held 5,000 people. I had absolutely no problem selling that out, and no problem making money. Six weeks prior to that I had a date with a live artist who had terrible problems selling out, and no problem losing money. And yet people think this guy is a superstar.

Q. Another big concern is that this is an economic bubble, with D.J. fees rising and $100 million deals being done. Do you agree with that?

A. A lot of people out there are saying that D.J.’s are getting paid too much. It’s correct that the fees are escalating. But that’s because of demand — demand from competitors and also demand from consumers. These guys are very sophisticated, with sophisticated management.

No, I don’t think the bubble is going to burst in the foreseeable future. But I do think that for people who jump into this world with limited understanding, whether you’re promoting a rock act or an E.D.M. act, there will be casualties. 

Credit : NY Times