They’ve put a little La-La in Las Vegas

Angelenos who party a little too hard in Vegas these days might be hard-pressed to recall which city they’re actually in. In a town that proudly pilfers the identities of other locales to come up with its faux culture, Sin City is casting an eye to L.A. as its latest source of inspiration, with such local hot spots as Avalon, Forty Deuce, Spider Club, the Beauty Bar and the Rainbow Bar & Grill either recently opening or being planned for Vegas.

Steve Adelman, a partner in the L.A. club Avalon, which he plans to open on the Strip in December, believes the migration of L.A. promoter Brent Bolthouse to the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel club Body English in May 2004 was a turning point in the cultural shift toward all things L.A.

“Casino types aren’t very creative when it comes to marketing, so they’re creating L.A. brands to try to attract the L.A. audience. Body English was one of the models for that since the people who promote the club are very L.A.-based,” Adelman says.

For his part, Bolthouse has made sure Hollywood hipsters and other L.A. VIPs who frequent Body English find familiarity in Vegas. “We wanted to try to create an atmosphere from L.A., like they’re home, they know us, they see a familiar face, Jackson [the doorman] is still out there, AM is still our DJ,” he says.

Jerry Greenberg, who opened the Vegas Rainbow last month with his brother Bob and L.A. Rainbow owner Mario Maglieri, has the same philosophy, promising that those who go to the new Rainbow will experience deja vu, as the main room in the Vegas version will be a replica of the Sunset Strip hang.

The move toward an L.A. state of mind in Vegas makes sense. According to the Las Vegas tourism board, Southern Californians account for 37% of the town’s visitors (the board estimates that percentage is even higher on weekends).

“Your market, a lot of it is Southern California, and the hotels want something with a brand name that has an identity,” says Lorenzo Doumani, who plans to open the Majestic Hotel in 2007. And Ivan Kane, owner of Forty Deuce, says that played into why he opened a club in Vegas. “So much of L.A. chooses Vegas as their party destination over the weekend,” he says.

Since Body English opened, Bolthouse says he’s seen a lot of his L.A. crowd become regulars in Vegas. “Over the course of the year, I saw people from L.A. who would go there a couple of times a month. There were some kids -- using the term loosely -- who would go every other weekend. I remember one time me and [actor] Danny Masterson went and we had such a good time we went back the next weekend.”

But if all you’re leaving L.A. for is more L.A., why go at all? Because it’s still Vegas, baby. What happens there, stays there. Beyond the gambling, it’s like a free pass to go just a little wild, to cut loose, to get away from your L.A. responsibilities and job. Even if that job happens to be making movies or music.

Because Vegas is certainly embracing the Hollywood scene, making it the hottest it’s been for star-watching since Dino, Frank and Sammy had the run of the place. The CineVegas Film Festival in June, for example, brought out the likes of Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper and David Lynch. And the Hard Rock Hotel 10th anniversary weekend-long blowout this year looked like the MTV video music awards with a hint of the Emmys thrown in.

A playground for celebrities

THE Coldplay show at the Hard Rock club the Joint on that Friday night had Courteney Cox Arquette, Jessica Simpson, Fred Durst, Tommy Lee, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Tara Reid, and Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra among the crowd hanging in the upstairs VIP balcony. The following night, Jessica Alba, members of Linkin Park, Mike Einziger of Incubus, wrestling diva Stacy Kiebler and Leelee Sobieski bounced between shows by Bon Jovi and Nine Inch Nails. Many of the celebrities then turned up at Body English to catch a 1 a.m. performance by Hollywood party band Camp Freddy.

“There’s something about that Vegas launch; it brings the celebrities out in droves, they stay out longer, they party harder,” says E! Online’s Lara Morgenson. “Vegas is the ideal playground for celebs. It has everything: high-class restaurants, spas that are incredibly private, clubs. And they know how to treat people, how to be discreet. So this younger generation really embraces it.”

For that weekend, Bolthouse and the Hard Rock Hotel arranged for a private jet to make two trips back and forth to Los Angeles to shuttle its hottest guests. “Once you set foot on that jet and you see people you know, people who are part of your social circle, it instantly makes you comfortable,” he says. Actress Shannon Elizabeth agrees. “You see all your friends here. It’s like hanging out at Spider Club on Friday night,” she said at the event.

With Vegas’ appeal having been cyclical in the past and celebrities notorious for their fickle nature, can this latest love-fest last? Morgenson says it can. “I don’t see it dwindling in the next five, six, 10 years,” she says. “It’s always going to appeal to the younger generation of Hollywood partyers, the Lindsay Lohans and the younger Lindsay Lohans.”

Bolthouse agrees. “I see it lasting with the Hollywood and celebrity people because of what Peter Morton is doing,” he says, referring to the Hard Rock owner who just announced plans for expansion of the hotel and exclusive condos. “He’s going to create L.A.’s answer to the Hamptons.”