It’s just after midnight at LIV Nightclub. Throngs of bodies pack the dancefloor, bottle girls shoulder bright neon signs emblazoned with “Scorpio SZN” and I’m sharing a section with Vanderpump Rules reality TV star James Kennedy. My head’s on a swivel searching for cameras—Could this be season 12? Is this the show’s next ceremonious Vegas episode playing out? But unlike what I’m used to seeing Kennedy stir up on screen, there’s very little drama. Instead, the internationally recognized resident DJ of LIV has hopped behind the decks to deliver, in true Vanderpump fashion, one of the best days of our lives.
Newly acquainted strangers smush and grind together to his mashup of Icona Pop’s “I Love It” and Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money.” And it’s almost instinctual how the hands go up for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which Kennedy seamlessly transitions into a remix of M83’s “Midnight City.” Pretty soon, he’s ditching his t-shirt and scaling the DJ booth to sing along with his fans.
Within its first year on the Strip, LIV Nightclub and LIV Beach have orchestrated countless moments like this, drawing the likes of Kehlani, Tiësto, Calvin Harris, John Summit, Dom Dolla, Busta Rhymes and plenty more through its doors. And nightlife impresario David Grutman of Groot Hospitality isn’t finished making his mark on Las Vegas.
“Coming into a market where you have the best operators in the world all condensed into one area, and just to be able to open in that kind of marketplace, for me, was a very humbling experience,” says Grutman, who opened the original LIV Nightclub at Fontainebleau in Miami 16 years ago.
“We went a little bit of a different route with some of our DJs, and it was so great to see John Summit, Metro Boomin, Cloonee and Dom Dolla all have record years,” he continues. “We’re pretty good at projecting people’s trajectory and to see how those guys just took off is incredible.”
Grutman says stakes were incredibly high in the first year, launching LIV in a hyper competitive nightlife town. He leaned heavily on his Las Vegas team to help navigate the scene, knowing that what worked well on the East Coast didn’t always translate well to the West.
“The hospitality, a lot of the lighting and sound and stuff like that, we elevated it for the Vegas market,” he says. “But one thing that we were able to work even better in Vegas is the ecosystem, because we have [restaurants] Papi Steak and Komodo. …We really wanted to be that full ecosystem where you come and have dinner and then you could take that and go to the nightclub afterwards.”
That strategy has helped bolster business all around at Fontainebleau, and quickly established LIV as the place to be. During Super Bowl weekend, Bad Bunny popped in. And where else could you catch a club residency by Metro Boomin this year?
“Also seeing those days of John Summit, and it’s like 90% female, is crazy to me,” Grutman says. “I’ve never seen a nightclub that’s 90% female before in my life. John Summit is definitely America’s sweetheart, that’s for sure.”
Grutman says it’s even more impactful to see these artists flourish at LIV because they were there from the beginning.
“They were walking the property with me when it was under construction,” Grutman says, “and I was like, ‘I swear to you, this ceiling is going to move around, this and that.’ And they’d see workers and builders and duct tape. So to see it come alive, I feel like they take it so personal. They feel like they were a part of the success of LIV, especially in the first year.”
During Formula 1 race week, LIV will host a wealth of nightlife programming, including performances by Dom Dolla and Cloonee at LIV on the Grid and a trackside hospitality experience called Papi Steak Garage. Grutman says more resident artists will also be announced for the clubs soon to ensure the momentum keeps building.
“The level of hospitality here … It’s like nothing else I’ve ever seen,” he says. “Vegas has the best of the best. I’m just so happy to even be there with these guys and to be able to play on the same field.”
LIV Nightclub Fontainebleau Las Vegas, 702-678-9700, livnightclub.com. Friday-Sunday, 10:30p.m.-4 a.m.
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