Running Red Lights with Tiësto at Hakkasan

I’ve seen quite a few of the world’s top DJs over the past few years, including Paul Oakenfold, Above & Beyond, Paul van Dyk and my personal favorite, Armin van Buuren, but up until last weekend, I had never seen one of the best – Tiësto. If you know anything about electronic dance music at all, you know Tiësto. The man is nothing short of a legend in the dance music scene. He might not compete with Hardwell and Avicii in the DJ Mag Top 100 year over year, but he is truly one of the most memorable names on the planet. Even if you haven’t heard his name, you’ve heard his music. When I realized I had an extra day off this week and he would be at Hakkasan at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, I decided to make the drive.

Having seen a few DJs in some of the more popular Vegas clubs by now, I kind of had some idea of what to expect. Of course it was a chore trying to get in. We asked one person where to go, only to be sent to at least three other people and then standing in a line that had not even formed yet. But it gave us a chance to talk to some of the others around us. Most of them had purchased tables, and we made friends with the couple next to us who gladly let us share their table and dance the night away.

Regardless of the chaos getting in, it was worth it because we now have friends we are trying to convince to move to Arizona! It was nice to have some fellow fans to hang out with while we waited for Tiësto to come on at 1:30 in the morning. That is 2:30 our time; there is a 1 hour time difference between Las Vegas and Arizona right now. We checked out the main room at Hakkasan on Level 4, then settled back into our table at the Ling Ling Club on Level 3 until he came on.

We headed back up to Level 4 around 1:30, just in time to hear the epic “Red Lights”. There’s no way you’ve missed the song, as it’s by far the most played song on Tiësto’s A Town Called Paradise. This song and the album have been at the top of my most played list on Spotify for 2014, and it was amazing to hear it in person. Of course, we only assumed that it at first since where we started at, it was impossible to see Tiësto at all. But once we made our way closer to the front and found a good spot, we were set.

Our first experience at Hakkasan was by far our best at any club we’ve been to in Vegas. #1 club, #1 DJ… how could you go wrong? We danced the night away, and definitely will be back to see Tiësto at Hakkasan again soon as his residency there continues. What a great night in Vegas!