Hey everyone. Been on the forums for a while, but just started posting frequently not too long ago. I haven't done a trip report yet, so I thought it would be cool to contribute to this section. This recent trip for Labor Day Weekend was to Celebrate one of my good friends getting married. We had 5 guys and 5 girls and stayed in a house about 10 minutes south of the strip.
Thursday 8/30
Arrived at approximately 9:30PM. Flight was on time. I had some relatives who happened to be in town, so I got to have dinner with them at Sea (a Thai restaurant at Bally's). Although the food was not the best, it was a great atmosphere and overall a great experience. By the time dinner was over, 2 girls and one guy in our party arrived and we met at the Bellagio. This was not a huge night for us. We mainly walked around the strip and drank a little. Did a little gambling at the tables in Paris and came out ahead about 50 bucks (I'm not a huge gambler at all).
Friday 8/31
By this time the others have arrived in town. We were fortunate enough to have a great house for the weekend. A nice 5 bedroom/4 bath with our own pool and hot tub in the backyard. We woke up late and had a quick lunch at the buffet at South Point. This was my first time staying off the strip, so I had no idea anything even existed in this area. The Buffet was relatively cheap and the food was decent. After we ate, we drove over to Target to buy some alcohol. However, we quickly found out that Targets in Las Vegas do not sell any liquor. We stopped by a Walgreens on the way home to pick up out bottles and were good to go. We had a little pre party at the pool before heading over to XS. It was truly a unique experience to have a house to ourselves for a Vegas trip. All of us were feeling pretty good by the time we arrived at XS (around 10). I was not the one planning this trip in detail, so we ended up using presales pretty much the entire trip. We did not have any trouble getting into the venue and the line moved very quickly. Warren Peace was spinning when we got in. He's always the same. Manufactured Superstars went on about an hour later. I always love seeing these guys. They have some great music and are always having a ton of fun during their sets. Nothing but good vibes. Tiesto went on a little after 1. I've seen his "Chasing Summers" opening so many times and I never get sick of it. If anyone has not seen Tiesto in Vegas before, I highly recommend the show. Although he's not the most enthusiastic performer in the world, I've had a blast every time I've seen him at a festival or in Vegas. By 2:30 one of my best friends in the group started feeling sick, so we decided to dip. I was really looking forward to this show most this weekend, but my friend was obviously more important.
Saturday 9/1
This day was filled with a whole lot of walking around. We did some day drinking on the strip and ended up at the pools at MGM in the later afternoon. Since we had nothing planned for the night, the girls decided to go to Thunder From Down Under, and the guys decided to got o a strip club ( I think it was Sapphire or something like that). I was not really down for a strip club that night, so I decided to hit up a few friends who were also there for the weekend. We decided on Afrojack at Surrender. I hit up Bryce Olson (The listed contact on here). He was very responsive via txt and very professional. However, we weren't able to get there before 10:30, so our plans didn't really work out. I decided to hit up Patrick Frank, who was at XS for the night to see if he could help us out. I felt that he wanted a little much to take care of 3 guys and 2 girls. I ended up talking to a few guys in front of XS, and was able to get the 5 of us in for $120 (which I thought was very reasonable for LDW at XS). By the time we got in, there was only about a half hour until Steve Angello went on! I was really stoked, because I have never seen him perform before. When we got in we took a shot of liquid cocaine and Patron, and we were good for the next couple hours. We didn't stop dancing until Steve Angello was done (I believe this was about 5:30). One of the most fun and nice crowds I have ever seen at XS. By far one of my best nights of the weekend!
Sunday 9/2
We had a pretty boring day. I don't even remember what we ate at this point. Someone in our group wanted to go on the NYNY roller coaster in the evening, so we decided to do that. Call me cheap, but I was not down to pay 15 bucks for a roller coaster at this point. After the roller coaster, we headed downtown for zip-lining. Again, was not down to pay 20 bucks to zip line down Fremont, but I did it anyway. I didn't think it was that fun, but I guess if zip-lining is your thing it could be worth it. We went back to the house and pre gamed a little before heading over to XS for David Guetta. Everyone in my group was looking forward to David Guetta a lot more than I was. Personally, I was a lot more excited for the opening set by Sultan and Ned Shepard. The inside was packed and it was extremely difficult to move around with a group of 10. Sultan and Ned Shepard KILLED IT as always. I would highly recommend seeing them. We ended up around the back of the center of the dance floor. One of our girls got knocked over as soon as David Guetta got on. It got kinda chaotic, and a little fight broke out right next to where we were dancing. At this point, I was pretty pissed off. If I had to find one thing I did not like about Vegas nightlife, it would be that some of the crowds are not always the best. At this point our group got separated. I ended up using the bathroom and losing everyone. As a wandered around listening to David Guetta's crappy music, I started talking to this cute Hispanic Girl. Long story short: Cute Hispanic Girl > David Guetta. We went back to her room (which was conveniently at the Wynn), and we were done by about 3:30. I headed back down to the club and got back in as David Guetta was finishing his set. I txted someone in my group and found them by the blackjack tables in the pool area. Sultan and Ned Shepard came back on and I went nuts! Unfortunately, the rest of my group was not down to stay and watch. We went and got some food at the Venetian (I think). I had an undercooked Burger with fries.
Monday 9/3
I set 5 alarms to wake up at 9:00am. I got two hours of sleep. I felt like shit from the Burger from the night before. I almost wanted to just stay in and sleep. After about a minute of thought, I realized that nothing was worth missing the event I was looking forward to most this weekend: ABOVE AND BEYOND AT MARQUEE DC! No one was awake in my house, so I decided to just call a cab and go solo. I was not down to wait for anyone and miss the show! I arrived at Cosmo around 10:30. This was a FREE show and getting into the club was no problem at all. This was my first time at any dayclub in Vegas at all, which is a little odd because I go so much. I met several people there from the west coast. Really great vibe at Marquee DC from the very start! After about an hour of walking around and meeting people, Mat Zo went on. I have not heard a lot of his music, so I was pretty stoked. I really enjoyed his two hour set! If you like trance, definitely recommend looking him up if you have not already. A half hour before his set ended, I decided to go to the bar and get some alcohol in me. I made my way to the very front before Above & Beyond came on. Everyone around me was really, really friendly! This was the first even I've been to in Vegas were I saw people with Kandi. Unfortunately, I did not bring any to trade! Jono and Tony came on and everyone went nuts! This was by far the most fun that I had all weekend. Great vibes from everyone around me and an AMAZING set by Above and Beyond. My only complaint: I was looking forward to hearing Love is Not Enough and Every Little Beat... but it never came =[. It's okay... still one of the best sets of my life!!! I traded contact info with a local, which is kinda cool... because I'm in Vegas a lot and only know a few people who live in the area. After the set I RAN up to the bar area and got to meet Jono and take a picture! It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This definitely made my weekend. I definitely would have not gotten to do this at a typical festival or a massive. I went back to the house and knocked out for about an hour and packed up my stuff. By this time, there were only three of us left in our group (me and two of the girls). We headed out to XS at around 10:30 for Deadmau5. John Dahlback was opening and he was amazing! A lot of great music and energy from this guy! Deadmau5 came on at around 1:00. As a note, I was not a huge Deadmau5 fan before coming to this show, but many friends have recommended seeing him. I do enjoy some of his music (The Veldt, Strobe, Some Chords, etc.) but I really did not know what to expect for his show. We made it to the front of the dance floor for the opening set, so we were in the VERY FRONT for when Deadmau5 came on. The first hour of his set was one of the most boring hours I have ever had at any show. I didn't recognize any of the music. It was just a repeated 4/4 patterns of bass/snare pattern with no real melody. I guess most of his music is like this? Don't mean to bash Deadmau5 too hard. I guess I'm just not a fan of most of his music. After the first hour, he finally dropped "some chords", and by this point I was too asleep to enjoy it. An hour and a half into his set, we gave up and left. We actually got some sleep before our flight home at noon.
Wow... this took a really long time to write and there are probably a zillion typos. I hope I can come back soon and proofread this.
Thursday 8/30
Arrived at approximately 9:30PM. Flight was on time. I had some relatives who happened to be in town, so I got to have dinner with them at Sea (a Thai restaurant at Bally's). Although the food was not the best, it was a great atmosphere and overall a great experience. By the time dinner was over, 2 girls and one guy in our party arrived and we met at the Bellagio. This was not a huge night for us. We mainly walked around the strip and drank a little. Did a little gambling at the tables in Paris and came out ahead about 50 bucks (I'm not a huge gambler at all).
Friday 8/31
By this time the others have arrived in town. We were fortunate enough to have a great house for the weekend. A nice 5 bedroom/4 bath with our own pool and hot tub in the backyard. We woke up late and had a quick lunch at the buffet at South Point. This was my first time staying off the strip, so I had no idea anything even existed in this area. The Buffet was relatively cheap and the food was decent. After we ate, we drove over to Target to buy some alcohol. However, we quickly found out that Targets in Las Vegas do not sell any liquor. We stopped by a Walgreens on the way home to pick up out bottles and were good to go. We had a little pre party at the pool before heading over to XS. It was truly a unique experience to have a house to ourselves for a Vegas trip. All of us were feeling pretty good by the time we arrived at XS (around 10). I was not the one planning this trip in detail, so we ended up using presales pretty much the entire trip. We did not have any trouble getting into the venue and the line moved very quickly. Warren Peace was spinning when we got in. He's always the same. Manufactured Superstars went on about an hour later. I always love seeing these guys. They have some great music and are always having a ton of fun during their sets. Nothing but good vibes. Tiesto went on a little after 1. I've seen his "Chasing Summers" opening so many times and I never get sick of it. If anyone has not seen Tiesto in Vegas before, I highly recommend the show. Although he's not the most enthusiastic performer in the world, I've had a blast every time I've seen him at a festival or in Vegas. By 2:30 one of my best friends in the group started feeling sick, so we decided to dip. I was really looking forward to this show most this weekend, but my friend was obviously more important.
Saturday 9/1
This day was filled with a whole lot of walking around. We did some day drinking on the strip and ended up at the pools at MGM in the later afternoon. Since we had nothing planned for the night, the girls decided to go to Thunder From Down Under, and the guys decided to got o a strip club ( I think it was Sapphire or something like that). I was not really down for a strip club that night, so I decided to hit up a few friends who were also there for the weekend. We decided on Afrojack at Surrender. I hit up Bryce Olson (The listed contact on here). He was very responsive via txt and very professional. However, we weren't able to get there before 10:30, so our plans didn't really work out. I decided to hit up Patrick Frank, who was at XS for the night to see if he could help us out. I felt that he wanted a little much to take care of 3 guys and 2 girls. I ended up talking to a few guys in front of XS, and was able to get the 5 of us in for $120 (which I thought was very reasonable for LDW at XS). By the time we got in, there was only about a half hour until Steve Angello went on! I was really stoked, because I have never seen him perform before. When we got in we took a shot of liquid cocaine and Patron, and we were good for the next couple hours. We didn't stop dancing until Steve Angello was done (I believe this was about 5:30). One of the most fun and nice crowds I have ever seen at XS. By far one of my best nights of the weekend!
Sunday 9/2
We had a pretty boring day. I don't even remember what we ate at this point. Someone in our group wanted to go on the NYNY roller coaster in the evening, so we decided to do that. Call me cheap, but I was not down to pay 15 bucks for a roller coaster at this point. After the roller coaster, we headed downtown for zip-lining. Again, was not down to pay 20 bucks to zip line down Fremont, but I did it anyway. I didn't think it was that fun, but I guess if zip-lining is your thing it could be worth it. We went back to the house and pre gamed a little before heading over to XS for David Guetta. Everyone in my group was looking forward to David Guetta a lot more than I was. Personally, I was a lot more excited for the opening set by Sultan and Ned Shepard. The inside was packed and it was extremely difficult to move around with a group of 10. Sultan and Ned Shepard KILLED IT as always. I would highly recommend seeing them. We ended up around the back of the center of the dance floor. One of our girls got knocked over as soon as David Guetta got on. It got kinda chaotic, and a little fight broke out right next to where we were dancing. At this point, I was pretty pissed off. If I had to find one thing I did not like about Vegas nightlife, it would be that some of the crowds are not always the best. At this point our group got separated. I ended up using the bathroom and losing everyone. As a wandered around listening to David Guetta's crappy music, I started talking to this cute Hispanic Girl. Long story short: Cute Hispanic Girl > David Guetta. We went back to her room (which was conveniently at the Wynn), and we were done by about 3:30. I headed back down to the club and got back in as David Guetta was finishing his set. I txted someone in my group and found them by the blackjack tables in the pool area. Sultan and Ned Shepard came back on and I went nuts! Unfortunately, the rest of my group was not down to stay and watch. We went and got some food at the Venetian (I think). I had an undercooked Burger with fries.
Monday 9/3
I set 5 alarms to wake up at 9:00am. I got two hours of sleep. I felt like shit from the Burger from the night before. I almost wanted to just stay in and sleep. After about a minute of thought, I realized that nothing was worth missing the event I was looking forward to most this weekend: ABOVE AND BEYOND AT MARQUEE DC! No one was awake in my house, so I decided to just call a cab and go solo. I was not down to wait for anyone and miss the show! I arrived at Cosmo around 10:30. This was a FREE show and getting into the club was no problem at all. This was my first time at any dayclub in Vegas at all, which is a little odd because I go so much. I met several people there from the west coast. Really great vibe at Marquee DC from the very start! After about an hour of walking around and meeting people, Mat Zo went on. I have not heard a lot of his music, so I was pretty stoked. I really enjoyed his two hour set! If you like trance, definitely recommend looking him up if you have not already. A half hour before his set ended, I decided to go to the bar and get some alcohol in me. I made my way to the very front before Above & Beyond came on. Everyone around me was really, really friendly! This was the first even I've been to in Vegas were I saw people with Kandi. Unfortunately, I did not bring any to trade! Jono and Tony came on and everyone went nuts! This was by far the most fun that I had all weekend. Great vibes from everyone around me and an AMAZING set by Above and Beyond. My only complaint: I was looking forward to hearing Love is Not Enough and Every Little Beat... but it never came =[. It's okay... still one of the best sets of my life!!! I traded contact info with a local, which is kinda cool... because I'm in Vegas a lot and only know a few people who live in the area. After the set I RAN up to the bar area and got to meet Jono and take a picture! It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This definitely made my weekend. I definitely would have not gotten to do this at a typical festival or a massive. I went back to the house and knocked out for about an hour and packed up my stuff. By this time, there were only three of us left in our group (me and two of the girls). We headed out to XS at around 10:30 for Deadmau5. John Dahlback was opening and he was amazing! A lot of great music and energy from this guy! Deadmau5 came on at around 1:00. As a note, I was not a huge Deadmau5 fan before coming to this show, but many friends have recommended seeing him. I do enjoy some of his music (The Veldt, Strobe, Some Chords, etc.) but I really did not know what to expect for his show. We made it to the front of the dance floor for the opening set, so we were in the VERY FRONT for when Deadmau5 came on. The first hour of his set was one of the most boring hours I have ever had at any show. I didn't recognize any of the music. It was just a repeated 4/4 patterns of bass/snare pattern with no real melody. I guess most of his music is like this? Don't mean to bash Deadmau5 too hard. I guess I'm just not a fan of most of his music. After the first hour, he finally dropped "some chords", and by this point I was too asleep to enjoy it. An hour and a half into his set, we gave up and left. We actually got some sleep before our flight home at noon.
Wow... this took a really long time to write and there are probably a zillion typos. I hope I can come back soon and proofread this.
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