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Rave Culture Evolves To Las Vegas Nightclubs

Rave scene
Dominic Simpson/Flickr

The rave scene of the 90s has morphed into the mega-nightclubs in Las Vegas.

The bass-blaring, DJ-spinning, massive crowd raves that were once a culture of the underground have permeated the mainstream. This is in large part, thanks to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is home to swanky nightclubs that have capitalized on the rave culture. It has, in essence, sold out as many things are apt to do in the city of sin. Big names in the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scene such as Krewella, Afrojack and Tiesto are paid millions to take up residency and draw crowds in the thousands every weekend on the strip.

“Vegas is the reason why these guys are getting these huge contracts,” said Brendan Powers, former creative director for the Hard Rock Hotel. “Vegas has a lot of money to throw around, and they wanted to secure them and they offered them crazy amounts of money.”

But before it was a business model, a few pioneers took to the streets to draw crowds to parties in the late 1980s and 1990s that would be characterized by MTV and Life Magazine as the “Woodstock of Generation X.”

And Powers was one of those pioneers. One of his signature parties, Narnia, that took place in southern California in the mid-1990s, was one of the biggest raves of the decade, drawing crowds of more than 60,000 to randomly chosen locations on the West Coast. What they were doing was illegal –   throwing events without the proper permits and not to mention the drug usage – but that never seemed to stop them.

Over the years, the rave culture evolved to create EDM, and its following creates some of the biggest events thrown to date. The Electric Daisy Carnival is one of Las Vegas’ highest grossing weekends, and draws crowds upward of 700,000 to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But to those who haven’t developed an ear for the music, it just sounds like a bunch of electronic noise. So why does it have such a following?

“It’s the new rock star,” Powers said. “No one wants to pick up a guitar and start a rock band, everyone wants to think they can just pick up some turntables and become a DJ.”

It might be much to the chagrin of these early influencers like Powers.

“All these mega-clubs, and all these things, there’s no loyalty and there’s no soul to them,” Powers said.

But back in the rave heyday, DJ’s were paid to actually spin and blend the music they played, without much computer interaction. But that’s the life cycle of the musical world.

These days, Powers is more focused on entertaining the local, more adult crowd. He is opening his new tiki bar The Golden Tiki later this summer on Spring Mountain Road.  

Branden Powers, owner, The Golden Tiki

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Prior to taking on the role of Broadcast Operations Manager in January 2021, Rachel was the senior producer of KNPR's State of Nevada program for 6 years. She helped compile newscasts and provided coverage for and about the people of Southern Nevada, as well as major events such as the October 1 shooting on the Las Vegas strip, protests of racial injustice, elections and more. Rachel graduated with a bachelor's degree of journalism and mass communications from New Mexico State University.