Skrillex with Bare, Flinch, Sluggo and Presto One

Perhaps the most anticipated parties to kick off the summer right was Skrillex at Crown Nightclub. It could be said that Skrillex is enjoying the best year ever, experiencing a huge surge in popularity and demand, after being signed to mau5trap and touring with Deadmau5 in 2010. Thanks to crews like Frequnecy, Las Vegas' underground electro scene is starting to regrow and beginning to pull in some of the best electronic artists worldwide. This event which also included Bare, Flinch, Sluggo, Presto One, and Scotty Boy, did not disappoint as it nearly sold out the venue.
Scotty Boy and Presto One warmed up the crowd before midnight, mixing it up between pop and dubstep beats. Setting the vibe, the party didn't start to get wild until Sluggo began hitting the bass cannon for minutes at a time. As the crowd moved away from the bars onto the floor, the energy in the room swelled as the killer beats just kept coming one after another. As a tease of things to come, Skrillex came out onstage to announce Flinch, doing a quick little mix with him before exiting.

Flinch only continued to build on the energy Sluggo had started, making an effort to only hit those bass beats harder. Songs bleed from one into another, as minutes faded away seemingly unnoticed by the tranced out crowd. Within no time, Skrillex came out treating the audience to a new song he had written earlier that day in his hotel room. Within just a few minutes of introducing himself with My Name is Skrillex, the dancefloor was solid and moved as one. Inflatable monkeys, palm trees, and other pool toys danced their way across the sea of hands in the air.

His popularity with fans shined through when he played Kill Everybody, dropping the beat perfectly for the audience to sing along with. Loving every second of his set, Skrillex was jamming and slamming on his equipment, creating super hard dirty beats. While playing Scary Monster and Nice Sprites, he held a loud tone and announced, "I'm gonna make some monster sounds for you guys, cause I like making monster sounds!" lifted up his midi controller and continued to dump screeching sounds.

Not only was he a genius with live beats, Skrillex knew how to hype the party; taking time away from his booth, walking out into the crowd to take pictures, asking guys to put their ladies on their shoulders, even jumping out to crowdsurf, it was perfect. Everything about his show, from the sickest beats to unforgettable moments, everyone in the house was left danced out and mind-blown. Skrillex humbly left the stage giving the audience a heartfelt speech, "I'm here because of you guys man, seriously. Without you there isn't me, I swear to god. I'm just a normal boy making music, because I love music!"

After a last minute cancellation of his performance at Skream, to wrap up the evening last up was Bare. Not holding back or simply playing ambient/trance, Bare did a great job keeping the energy high following Skrillex. Mixing his heavy bass dubstep, Bare kept the floor packed until nearly 4 am, many fans only leaving due to pure exhaustion.

I have nothing but great things to say about this show. It has truly restored my faith in the Las Vegas underground electronic scene. If fans keep turning out in high numbers to these parties, we will only see the international and breakout artists continue to make a stop here. This summer alone, Las Vegas has the privilege of hosting Electronic Daisy Carnival, The Matinee Festival, and The Love Festival. The little raver in me that I thought died in the early 2000s with liquid dancing is coming back with force and I love it!

The Dan Band with 51FIFTY

As part of their Monday Night Rocks concert series, Crown Nightclub inside the Rio welcomed The Dan Band, giving away most tickets free of charge. I caught their last Las Vegas show at The House of Blues in August 2010 and was quickly reminded of how fun their live performance is. I gathered a group of friends, we all printed free tickets and headed out to spend the evening rockin' out with The Dan Band.

When we arrived, there was a DJ spinning retro pop songs that continued for nearly an hour. While it was fun to dance to everything from Jackson 5 to Tone Loc, this continued for nearly an hour. Everyone awkwardly stood, at times dancing, but mostly just staring at the drum-kit raised in the middle of an otherwise empty stage. As there was no opening act listed on the ticket, the crowd was surprised when local artists 51FIFTY took the stage.
51FIFTY is a DJ/drummer combo group made up of DJ Presto One and drummer Dustin J, accompanied by a female go-go dancer. While Presto spins a mix of top 40, hip-hop, electro, and rock, Dustin J rocks out on his drums, keeping the beat strong through every song. This live banging drums to a DJ mixed beat was highly dynamic, felt and sounded great live. I found the majority of the audience intensely focused on the drummer's high energy and mad skills, such a sight it was hard to look away.

Even though 51Fifty played an hour set, it felt like twenty minutes compared to another long wait full of retro pop mash-ups. As the restless began to rampantly spread through the crowd, the intro videos for The Dan Band began playing just before midnight. Following the same show format as what I saw on Still Hungover Tour, Dan and his sidekicks ran through several dance routines to many classic songs. Adding their own comedic touch to each song, Dan continuously joked with the audience, never leaving a dull moment.

At the close of their set, Dan jokingly announced, due to a "contractual obligation" we are coming back out for an encore, then back out again! True to their word, they returned after their on-point Single Ladies cover (completely choreographed with the Beyonce video behind them) for a double encore.

The Dan Band put on an entertaining show, full of memorable moments and comical improv conversations with the audience. It was unfortunate that the show ran so late on a Monday evening, as I am sure most were not able to stay through the final encore. Otherwise, this was another top notch performance by The Dan Band.

If you are not aware of, or are interested in seeing The Dan Band the next time they stop in Las Vegas, please visit their website.

Setlist included: Free Your Mind (En Vogue), Fernando (ABBA) Ring My Bell (Anita Ward), Hold On(Wilson Phillips), Nasty (Janet Jackson), Lady (Styx), Shoop (Salt N' Pepper), Tyrone (Erykah Badu), Whenever Wherever/Hips Don't Lie (Shakira Mix), Genie In A Bottle/No Scrubs/Slave 4 U (Christina, TLC, Britney), Don't Cha/My Humps/Milkshake (Pussycat Dolls, Black Eyed Peas, Kelis), Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler), Single Ladies (Beyonce).

PubStep with SKREAM

To make one of the best party nights of the year even better, this St. Patrick's Day Frequency and Crown Nightclub treated guests to Pubstep featuring Skream. If you are unfamiliar, Skream is a producer hailing from the UK that has created thousands of beats and is credited for helping not only define, but also expand the dubstep genre.

The pure excitement for this event was described best by Frequency "This March we're bringing all the debauchery back, at a bigger club with an even bigger headliner....we've wanted to bring him out for years, and finally we have an opportunity. Proudly making his first Vegas appearance... SKREAM!"
Prior to Skream taking the stage, Hot Pink Delorean, Terravita, Metaphase, Rize and Quiet warmed up the crowd. This party was a slow burner, as the dancefloor remained sparse until Terravita started blasting the bass. Hot Pink Delorean continued to bump the hard beats, both doing their job getting the crowd to their boiling point right as Skream took to stage.

Skream handled the dancefloor like a master, melting from one song into another through his expansive collection. As the dance frenzy reached it's peak, the stage was again swarmed with people and several emcees were on the mic. Just like all the producers before, the emcees cheapened the beats and killed the flow for me.

Although the DJs made great beats all evening, the emcees constantly crowded the stage and muddied the beats with their rhymes. Now don't get me wrong, I have seen many emcees freestyle over a hard dubstep beat and rock the crowd harder than the music alone could; however, that was not the case this evening.

Overall this booze soaked party was a great time that continued all night. This perhaps being the only chance I may get to see Skream, I continuously danced along in rhythm with a smile on my face. I do hope the emcees start to drop off as a trend, as I would not like to see a similar situation at many of the upcoming parties.

A Celebration of Life: Benefit for Debbie Flores-Narvaez

Crown Nightclub in association with The Artisan and Shade Tree held a benefit Wednesday, January 26th to celebrate the life of slain Fantasy dancer Debbie Flores-Narvaez. This somber event was put together not only to remember Debbie, but to also raise awareness of domestic violence and raise money for her family and others affected by these types of violent crimes. Las Vegas came out in full force to honor one of their own dancers, showing their support by each dedicating a short performance for the benefit.
Donating their entire facility free of charge for this event, Crown tried to keep the mood positive with upbeat music and go-go dancers, while displaying pictures of Debbie on the big screens around the club. While family and friends socialized, pre-show entertainment included a artistic body painting, acrobatics dancers hanging from from the ceiling, dancers and ballerinas. At nearly 1:30am, a heartfelt message from Debbie’s sister was read aloud, amazed by the tremendous support and thanking everyone for their generosity.
The rest of the event was then packed with dance groups, singers, acrobatics, impersonators, musicians, and several Las Vegas show acts. [Serious Effect, Flying Dreams, Saleemah Knight, Airmis, Sideswipe, Crazy Horse, Thunder from Down Under, Matt Guerrero, Lorena & Ray John, Cassie & Sonya, Jenny Romas, Rene & Tessa, Vegas the Show, Heartbreakrz Krew, J.J. Villar, and her fellow cast of Fantasy] The amount of time and love that was put into so many acts truly shined through, only ruined by an often inappropriate MC.
Las Vegas, the performers and crew that make each night happen, those just like Debbie, united to make this benefit happen and remember a dear friend. Although brought out under unfortunate circumstances, it just goes to show how much one life can affect so many people, and how Las Vegas is more than the city of sin, but a family to so many.

If you would like to donate or learn more about those who made this benefit possible, please visit: http://www.debbiebenefit.com/index.html

Originally published on Stardust Fallout 10 February 2011