Empire

Empire Ballroom – across from Monte Carlo , if you have to ask…
The glory days of Vegas night-clubbing are back.

Facts: Opened Nov 2005
Managed by Gino Lopinto

Overview: Back in the 90’s, before every hotel had a nightclub, Vegas had two power house clubs (neither located in a hotel). One was Drink (where ICE is now housed) and the other was Utopia. Utopia was legendary for throwing some of the biggest parties in the country at the time (where the very first Pimp N ho was held), bringing fame to many of the DJs that played such as Crystal Method, Keoki and a plethora of others. It was a starting ground for the next generation of nightclubs both in Vegas and across the country.

After a fire, reopening and fall out, the venue closed before the current wave of nightclub boom began. However, its influence lives on. Many of today’s top industry people who now influence and run Vegas venues such as Foundation Room, ICE, Rain, PURE, ghostbar, Body English, Ra, Studio 54 and pretty much every club that exists today have a connection to Utopia.

Empire Ballroom became a vision to bring back the Vegas nightclub hey-day while making sure today’s recipes to success (bottle service, multi-use venue) were in place. Empire Ballroom is a mega-venue that is equipped for live events, concerts, as well as multi-genre clubbing. Like its predecessor and many venues in Miami (Space, Nokturnal,…), Empire has a patio where sounds and dancing help inaugurate the break of day and the ensuing sunlight into the early hours of morning. Late Night Empire After Hours commonly lasts until 9-10 in the morning, sometimes even going until noon or later.

INsider: Two forces are worth mentioned when talking about Empire, Gino LoPinto and Ray Davila. Gino is one of the “God fathers” of Vegas nightlife, having been a key influencer for well over ten years now. Gino is constantly pushing the envelope and his entrepreneur spirit has helped Vegas become, well VEGAS. Recent successes include Forty Deuce, AM After Hours and Vegas Alliance.

Ray Davila and his brother, Randy, are perfect examples of the NEW Vegas scene and are two of today’s hardest working industry people. Randy opened PURE and is now a key part of Vegas Passport, Las Vegas Printing and 944-LV magazine. Ray has been responsible for most of the special events and parties at Tabu, Studio 54 and Teatro (all at MGM Grand) over the past 3 years and is now managing “InnerCircleLV”, which is one of the forces behind many of the big events and parties in Vegas.

VE! Review: Neophyte Late Night Empire brings home a victory that makes Utopia and Gino LoPinto proud. Empire AH (after hours) is a difficult club to assess in its own, mostly because by the time you are there to review it, the night has come and gone and you are standing there with a drink in your hand, listening to the model next to you tell you something about some photo shoot she is doing in Phoenix next week with so and so...it's hard to know for sure because at this point of the day (4am) you are euphoric and quite buzzed...luckily the atmosphere is perfect for pounding through the final hours of moonlight only to ascend upstairs to the patio where you get feel the miami-like sunrise coming up on a new day...it is usually then that you realize the model is still there and you take her to breakfast at Lucky's (hard rock) or Peppermill...and then...well, just go to Empire and you will find out

SPECIAL NOTE: Utopia’s 10 year anniversary weekend was Feb 17-19 and was a multi-night multi-venue non-stop party in the flavor of Utopia and WMC. Venues included EMPIRE Ballroom, EMPIRE afterhours, ICE Las Vegas and DJs include Keoki, Paul Oakenfold, Dave Aude, Rabbit in the Moon, and more

MGMT/VIP: Gino LoPinto, Matt Minichino, Jason Sloan, Ray Davila, Adam Gould
Resident DJs: Hollywood, Scotty Boy, Joey Mazzola
HOT NIGHTS: Fri, Sat

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