Open Format Music at Drai's Nightclub

Spanning 30,000 square feet, Drai's Nightclub is purpose-built to handle Open Format music at its full potential. Located at The Vanderpump Hotel — Basement (formerly The Cromwell), the venue's sound architecture is designed around the sound system needs to handle everything from heavy EDM drops to crisp hip-hop vocals to Latin percussion — and it does. The audio engineering allows DJs to switch between genres without any loss in quality or impact. Whether the DJ drops a bass-heavy trap banger or transitions into a smooth R&B classic, the system reproduces each genre at its best.

With a capacity for a crowd of up to 2,500 guests, Drai's Nightclub is known for Dark, intimate underground energy with multiple rooms for different sounds — the original Drai's vibe restored. Hip-hop in one room, house in another, hookah lounge as the chill-out zone. More focused and immersive than the rooftop era, where the outdoor environment imposed a ceiling on the bass response and the show competed with the Strip skyline for attention. Underground, the sound system takes over completely and the crowd orientation shifts inward toward the DJ and the dance floor rather than outward toward a view. The multi-room format creates a constant sense of discovery — the energy in the hip-hop room at 1 AM is completely different from the electronic room at the same time, and moving between the two resets the experience without requiring a venue change. The hookah lounge functions as a decompression zone: lower volume, seated, a space to hold a conversation or plan the next move without stepping outside. The Wednesday industry night crowd knows the venue intimately — less performative than weekends, more socially fluid, and the kind of room where you are more likely to talk to strangers and less likely to be in a group that stays rigidly at one table all night.. On Open Format nights specifically, the layout accommodates the diverse energy shifts that come with open format sets. The dance floor stays active through genre changes because the crowd feeds off the DJ's ability to read the room and pivot. Different sections of the venue naturally attract different vibes — high-energy near the booth, more social near the bars — giving you options throughout the night.

Friday and Saturday for the biggest DJ bookings. Wednesday is the industry/local crowd night.

For Open Format specifically, the biggest nights are typically Friday and Saturday when headliner DJs take the stage. If you want a less crowded experience with the same great music, Thursday nights often feature Open Format sets with shorter lines and a more relaxed atmosphere.

Doors usually open at 10:30 PM, but the dance floor does not really fill up until midnight. For guest list entry, plan to arrive before 12:30 AM — especially on peak nights.