Sebastian Ingrosso

Las Vegas Gets Two Nightclubs in April: Light and Hakkasan

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

Hakkasan-Las-Vegas

Las Vegas’ club scene continues to explode with Light at Mandalay Bay and Hakkasan announcing they will both open in April. Light, a state-of-the-art nightclub operated by Cirque du Soleil and The Light Group, will present resident Nicky Romero, Clockwork and Andy Caldwell on April 26, followed by resident Axwell with Hook N Sling on April 27. The club says it has “confirmed partnerships” with world-renowned DJs including Skrillex, Sebastian Ingrosso, Alesso, Baauer, Thomas Gold, A-Trak, Mat Zo, Otto Knows and many others.

Hakkasan, a five-level culinary/nightlife experience, will open its Las Vegas outpost on April 18 at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. The club, which is sprawled out over 10,000 square feet on the fifth floor of a spectacular building, will also feature state-of-the-art design and technology , promising DJ talent including Tiësto, Calvin Harris, deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Bambi, Bingo Players, Bob Sinclar, Dada Life, Danny Avila, Fergie (DJ), Hardwell, Laidback Luke, Michael Woods, NERVO, Quintino, R3HAB and Tommy Trash.

The influx of nightclubs in Sin City will no doubt be a boon to DJs given that both clubs are well financed. But will both clubs’ deep pockets lead to a bidding war for DJ talent? We’ll find out soon enough.

Swedish House Mafia Lighting Ceremony at Empire State Building [Photos]

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Steve and the Mafia enjoying the moment

Parting is such sweet sorrow. With only days left to go for Swedish House Mafia’s long farewell, the three members of the DJ/producer threesome were honored yesterday afternoon in New York City, where they gathered for a lighting ceremony at the world-famous Empire State Building. Their Black Tie Rave benefit held last night at Hammerstein Ballroom before a string of four sold-out New York City shows raised money and awareness for Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief. For this good deed someone of power felt that they should be honored by having the building illuminated in yellow and blue, the colors of the Swedish flag.

Arriving roughly 15 minutes late with their families at their side to a pack of eager photographers jostling for space behind a velvet rope, an official from the Building gave a few introductory remarks before handing over the podium to the Mafia. Axwell did the talking as Steve Angello stood to his right, smiling and enjoying the moment, while Sebastian Ingrosso on the left looked happy and perhaps a tad nervous.

The threesome then stepped to their right amid a barrage of camera flashes and flipped a switch, turning the art deco building yellow and blue. When they saw the miniature version of the Building light up, they all locked eyes and smiled. It was a graceful and genuine moment that was perfectly in line with how they’ve orchestrated their own demise.

Images by Darren Ressler

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Swedish House Mafia’s Next Tour Will Be Their Last

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In a move that has surprised fans and music industry types, Swedish House Mafia have posted a message on their website announcing their upcoming tour will be their last. “Today we want to share with you that the tour we are about to go on will be our last,” the black-and-white message said. “We want to thank every single one of you who came on this journey. We came, we raved, we loved.”

The brief message alluded to what will likely be their farewell DJ tour. “The final leg of this journey will be announced in August.”

Whether or not you were a fan of Mafia’s’s music, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello achieved more success than most pop groups, headlining Madison Square Garden, Milton Keynes Bowl and Coachella and regularly selling out shows all over the world. They also created the revered Masquerade Motel party brand and linked up with Absolut Vokda for a campaign.

Though the Mafia’s members are being quiet about their decision, what is know is that the trio has changed management recently and some of the members have been taken to task for allegedly playing mix CDs and not DJing duirng their shows.

Before Winter Music Conference DJ Sneak called out Steve Angello and Swedish House Mafia in an interview, leading to testy exchanges with Angello on Twitter. In Big Shot‘s interview with DJ Sneak, he described the Mafia “a DJ fraud.” (Angello’s publicist said Angello had no comment.)

While some fans will be upset that their favorite group will no longer be touring and, presumably, not recording music (all of the members have solo careers), there’s a good chance DJ Sneak and a few other non fans will be walking around today with a big smile on their face.

The group’s last post on Twitter reads as follows: “Thank you. And goodnight.”