Why The Sayers Club Rocks In More Ways Than One

When you listen to music, something inside of you changes. No matter who you are, what your musical tastes consist of, the moment the notes emanate from a microphone, speaker, instrument, voice, or whatever it may be – it changes you. It affects your emotions, your mood, anything and everything – if you let it, that is.

When you walk through the oversized doors of The Sayers Club, you are changed. A lot of it has to do with the music billowing from behind the floor-to-ceiling curtains separating you from the amazing venue within. It’s the amazing staff – happy to help you forget reality for a few hours to enjoy this intimate and seductive venue that allows you to get up-close-and-personal with the music.

The Sayers Club is located inside of the SLS Las Vegas Hotel, which is up near The Stratosphere on the Las Vegas Strip. The Sayers Club is a unique venue that combines nightclub per se with modern rock venue and throw in a splash of old school hip-hop lounge as well.

We sat down with Jason Ellefson, general manager of The Sayers Club, to find out more about why this remarkable venue is making waves and winning big among locals and tourists alike.

GVT: What is the concept behind The Sayers Club?

Ellefson: Sayers Club is a live music venue, it’s not a lounge and it’s not a raging nightclub either. It’s very special. The original Sayers Club came from Los Angeles and it was designed by Jason Scopa. The one in L.A. is a little bit different from the one in Vegas. In L.A. you never know who’s going to hop on stage – it’s very, very celebrity driven, so I’ve seen everyone from Miley Cyrus to Bruno Mars to Prince perform – just get out of the crowd and decide to start singing. The original concept was supposed to be a place where musicians/artists felt like it was home basically, a very warm environment and it’s kind of like a really good house party as opposed to a nightclub that is very intimidating.

GVT: What is White Label Thursdays?

Ellefson: We kind of wanted to give back to the artists for this night – and every night that we’re open. It’s not about saying ‘what are you going to be playing tonight…’ it’s really about what they are feeling in the moment. It’s not as manufactured, it’s real, it’s honest and it’s a form of expression, which I don’t think that you always get in the bigger nightclub settings.

GVT: What is the difference between White Label Thursdays and Sessions?

Ellefson: White Label Thursdays is all vinyl-based DJs. They are DJing with real vinyls and then Sessions is our live band that we actually have from Los Angeles that perform in LA and they come over to The Sayers Club Las Vegas and they perform. We do live music that starts at 11:30 p.m., but we still open our doors at 9 pm with regular DJs. But then again even that music there it’s not House, it’s not necessarily only Hip Hop it’s like Funk, it’s different, there’s Rock ‘n’ Roll involved. Again, on those nights, I try to empower the DJs those nights as well to perform with what they feel is right in the moment.

GVT: Tell us about the sound system?

Ellefson: We have a Funktion One sound system in here. A guy by the name of Jason Scopa -- it was his idea of what to put in here for sound. Acoustically, the way it was set up and designed, it was designed by Scopa as well, and if you look at the way the speakers are set up and the way they hit the back brick wall and  bounce off, everything has a position to where it needs to be where it's set up perfectly so you get maximized sound in all directions wherever you're sitting. So it's not too loud if you go up to the stage and it's not too quiet when you go in back. Everything is very, very balanced here and that's something that is really, really important. It's important to band members, it's important to DJs and it's important to The Sayers Club because it's our brand. Music is really where it's at.

GVT: How would you describe the ambiance to newcomers?

Ellefson: It's sexy, it's sleek, it's unique and it's eclectic, I would say, it's different. The design concept, again, came from Scopa and he's is an artist in himself in his own right. When you come in here it's got a really comfortable, warm feeling and that energy I don't think really exists anywhere else except for at The Sayers Club, which I think is special and that's what we go for here.

Click here to learn more about how to party at this incredible venue