Hazy details

By Xania Woodman

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 | 4:47 p.m.

Elsewhere in the world, a club opening just 83 days from now would be shouting its own name from the rooftops. But not in Vegas. No, we build it, you pencil it in, but we don’t tell you too much until we are satisfied that the competition won’t have time to head us off at the pass. So aside from a carefully worded press release, it’s no surprise that Light Group is keeping mum on the goings-on at CityCenter’s Aria Resort.

Adding 350 jobs to the Vegas economy when they emerge on December 16 (and grand-open December 31 with guest DJ Tiesto) are the first three venues in Light Group’s next wave of nightlife-dominating destinations.

From the sound of things, Haze, Union Restaurant, the Deuce Lounge and, arriving in March, Liquid Pool will employ the best of what’s out there with regard to design, technology and service, while still adhering to Light Group’s signature formula of eat-drink-dance-swim.

A big part of that formula is the tradition of switching up the designers—variety is the spice of nightlife! Whereas Fix and Stack restaurants were designed by Graft Lab, and Yellowtail by Rockwell, Adam Tihany will have the honors at Aria’s “contemporary American” Union. Light Group will also be working for the first time with Franklin Studios for the Deuce Lounge. Jet was designed by Jeffrey Beers, but for Haze, Light Group is collaborating again with ICRAVE Studios, designer of the Bank.

“Haze refers to a vague state of mind,” says ICRAVE designer Robert Del Pazzo, “a kind of confusion characterized by lack of clarity. The nightclub creates a space that achieves this state of mind, where all is not what it seems.” Anyone who has ever partied hard at a Las Vegas nightclub can probably recall (or not) a few nights filled with such hazy vagueness. Lack of clarity, thy name is dirty martini.

“The club was not inspired by places so much as it was inspired by performers,” Del Pazzo continues, “who create dynamic, surreal spaces in which to challenge our perceptions of reality and embrace their theatrical environments like a carnival.” Translation: Performers will ply their trades above our heads throughout the night. Not an innovation—(cough) Rumjungle—but still something I’m looking forward to.

I’m expecting Light Group to build a better wheel here, not to reinvent it. Though that would be pretty great, too.

At present, the 25,000-square-foot, technology-driven Haze is a priority for Light Group—reps will barely even discuss the rest, and not surprisingly as clubs are typically the biggest moneymakers.

As guests enter, they are sorted, with the general-admission and guest-list folks being delivered to one of Haze’s three bars, while table parties are guided through a separate door. After emerging on Haze’s mezzanine, similar to the Bank’s, guests can descend to the dance floor or ascend a grand central staircase to the second floor. Haze is 40 percent larger than Jet and about 75 percent larger than the Bank.

Jodi Myers, the president of customer development, Light Group.

Light Group President Jodi Myers says she visited Ibiza this summer as she has the past four, but this time seeking inspiration. With Haze, says Myers, “We’re trying to re-create some of that atmosphere and that theatrical environment.” Cutting-edge projection technology will throw images on a 100-foot screen while Haze’s moving trusses shift light, altering the mood. Where the Bank relies on opulent surfaces and textures at every turn, Haze allows the technology and performers to take center stage.

As with the Bank, bottle patrons can expect club service (individual mixers), purse drawers, chocolates and strawberries, large-format champagne and bottle-runners, who keep the lovely cocktail servers where we can better appreciate them. “The Light Group has service down to a science,” says Myers, formerly president of customer development.

Bottles are peachy. But central to this local’s concern is which school night of the week will be industry night at Haze? Sorry, no dice. Though frustrating for would-be customers, that secret is closely guarded. Clubs love to get a hold of their rivals’ plans ahead of time; all the better to trot out massive new marketing campaigns and steamroll the competition’s intentions toward, say, Tuesday. Or Thursday. Trying to get any more out of them right now is like trying to squeeze Cristal from a turnip.

“It will be like nothing ever seen in Vegas,” sums up Myers, blithely resuscitating that age-old public-relations chestnut. Frankly, given the state of the economy, it better be.