Why
he made the list: Tony Verdugo has been a part
of so many things that have shaped Las Vegas nightlife over the
past many years, and is arguably responsible for "single
handedly changing the time people go out to nightclubs in Las
Vegas." With a strong work ethic, an impeccably solid reputation
around town, and his iconic pinstriped "rat pack" style
of dress - Tony Verdugo was an easy choice to be included in my
list of the 31 Most Influential People in Las Vegas. More than
just a successful figure in the industry, I've had the opportunity
to know and work closely with Tony since early 2003, and I can
easily say that he is one of the most respectable and good natured
people that I've had the chance to meet in Las Vegas nightlife.
Simply put? He gives a damn about people, and it shows!
How
you should know him: You'd have to be hiding
under a rock, or be brand new to Las Vegas to not have heard of
Tony Verdugo. He is the original creator of Drais Afterhours,
Alesium Afterhours, After Midnight @ Forty Deuce, Stuff VIP Travel,
and the greatly anticipated TRIQ nightclub. And even if you didn't
know all of that, you've surely seen him out and about with a
group of twenty + well dressed people in the VIP section of almost
every club in town.
The "31
Most Influential People in Las Vegas nightlife" interviews
are slowly but surely being put online, and the word on the street
(and overseas) is that people have been especially looking forward
to this particular interview with great anticipation for weeks
now. It took a long minute, but we were finally able to get everything
for Tony setup, and I'm excited to bring you his interview:
JC:
Tony it's great to see you again, and congratulations on making
the Most Influential list. You definitely deserve it, so let's
get straight to the interview. How long have you lived in Las
Vegas? If not from here originally, where did you move from and
what brought you here?
TV:
Thanks Jack! I used to come out here from Huntington Beach in
the 90’s and throw after-hour parties in the penthouse suites
of various hotels. I bought my home here in Las Vegas after I
blew up Drai’s after hours!
JC:
How did you get your start in the nightlife industry?
TV:
When I was 8 years old I visited my Grandfather’s
biker bar in Arizona by the name of “The Spirit Room.”
I absolutely loved it. I learned to shoot pool there. I learned
a lot about the bar business there. It was there that I knew that
I wanted to be in the bar and nightlife business.
JC:
Started
early, eh? Give me a brief “resume” for yourself after
the age of 8?.
TV:
From the early age of 16 and throwing parties at houses
and recreation centers to forming my first company, “South
Coast Productions,” which rented out skating rinks and helped
the radio station ‘KROQ’ put it’s upcoming bands
on display at our events to developing a following and promoting
@ the Florentine Gardens in Hollywood. I received $1 per head,
and put 2,000 people through the doors. I eventually opened up
my own nightclub by the name of “5902.” 5902 was the
start of many careers to this day. It played a role in catapulting
the careers of Korn, Sublime, The Shrinky Dinks (which eventually
became Sugar Ray), The Deftones, Social Distortion, Red Hot Chilli
Peppers, Boo Yaa Tribe, Kid Frost, and John Huntington who started
as a bartender @ 5902, worked his way up to bar manager of 5902,
and eventually went on to build his own legendary brands Club
Rubber, Pimp & Ho, and Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company.
From there I came out to Vegas and created the world famous Drai’s
after hours out of what it was at the time – a little French
Restaurant.
JC:
What challenges did you face to get to the level of success you
are at now?
TV:
The challenges have been many! But the main ones have
been dealing with phony two-faced conniving con-men that have
used me & stolen from me!
JC:
What do you feel your most important accomplishments have been
thus far?
TV:
My most important accomplishments so far have been turning
failing businesses into flourishing businesses in short amounts
of time. 5902 was a dive punk-rock club, Drai’s after hours
was just a slow French Restaurant, Seven was about bankrupt, and
Forty Deuce was a Ghost Town.
JC:
Talk to me about motivation. What keeps you at the top of your
game, and inspires you to constantly innovate?
TV:
Motivation is my middle name. I love to inspire people to enjoy
life. I really feel good when people are enjoying themselves at
my clubs. You can go anywhere and get treated like shit, but at
my spots, “I treat the everyday Joe’s like VIP’s,
and the VIP’s like Gods! I really feel that is the main
ingredient of what makes my clubs successful. At TRIQ this will
be our # 1 rule! Wow, speaking of TRIQ, just wait until you see
TRIQ! It’s TRIQ! Steve Wyrick has made this place absolutely
magical & mystical.
JC:
You
seem to be very well known for your successful late-night endeavours
over the years. Why Afterhours?
TV:
Why after hours, huh? Well, we were coming out here to
Vegas from Orange County and John Huntington was throwing Pimp
& Ho at C2K in the Venetian and Club Rubber the first Saturday
of every month. I was throwing “Fire-n-Ice” the first
Friday of every month at The House of Blues. I was looking for
a place to throw an after party for all of my friends from Orange
County w/ out all of the tourists. Previously we would rent out
Hotel Suites. We had outgrown the hotel rooms and I wanted a bigger
place. My friend Nick Zibrey told me about this restaurant called
Drai’s in the Barbary Coast basement. I was like, “come
on, the Barbary Coast is a dive!” But I went anyway to talk
to Victor about my idea to transform his restaurant into my after
hours club. From what I’ve heard from one of the original
investors of Drai’s, the business was hurting at the time.
That’s why Victor said “OK” to my idea right
away! My first night was packed so Victor asked me if I wanted
to do it again. I came back in a month and did it again. Same
results. Packed! So Victor asked me if I could do it in a week,
next Saturday. I said “ok” and once again, same results.
Packed. I did four Saturday’s in a row. Packed. Now Victor
comes to me and asks if I can do Fridays as well. No problem.
He says he’s leaving for Europe for 4 months and tells me
to run the place like it’s mine. So I did! In that 4 months
time it totally blew up. Playboy and GQ Magazine wrote that I
had the best club w/ the most beautiful people in the country.
When Victor got back, instead of saying “wow, nice job,”
he proceeded to take half of my creation. That’s right,
‘HALF’. Thus our partnership began!
JC:
Speaking of which, I read the interview
in the September issue of Vegas Magazine that featured your former
Drai’s After-hours business partner Victor Drai. I noticed
he didn’t mention your key involvement in the success of
the club. At all. Victor even went so far as to mention that he
had never had a partner, until recently when he started work with
Steve Wynn at Tryst.
How do you feel about that?
TV:
That’s so sad that Victor can not give credit where credit
is due. His ego is really getting the best of him these days!
You would think that he would thank me, because if I did not create
Drai’s afterhours there would be no Drai’s after hours,
and ultimately there would be no Tryst!
Drai’s after hour’s success is why Victor landed the
deal with Wynn. I have no ill will towards Victor, but I’ll
tell you this, if ever a young man was to do for me what I did
for Victor, I would embrace that man and treat him like a golden
child & never let him go. To not even give me credit, is like
Nike not giving Michael Jordan credit for saving them from bankruptcy!
It’s ridiculous!!!
I remember
right when I started Drai’s after hours and walking through
the Barbary Coast. You could have fired a shot-gun off in that
place and not hit anyone. That’s what a Ghost Town it was!
To four months later having “Eye Witness News” telling
me that I single handedly changed the time people went out in
Las Vegas. Better yet Jack, before your “Top 31 Most Influential
People in Las Vegas” list came out, back in October of 2002,
The Mercury (which was a subsidiary of the Las Vegas Review Journal)
put out the “Top 24 Most Influential People in Vegas Nightlife”
in order and I was #3. It simply read, “#3 Drais. Victor
Drai made the call and Tony Verdugo made it happen.” If
you look at that list, it was pretty impressive. From Light,
to N9NE group, to Drai’s
after hours. What I’ve learned from this whole ordeal was
to have my name on the lease so that no one ever steals my creation
again! Greed and jealousy are a mother fucker!
JC:
What do you think are the most important elements
a nightclub should have to help ensure it’s customers get
their money’s worth?
TV:
Hospitality and Customer Service are first and foremost. Above
and beyond the multi-million dollar clubs of today and tomorrow
with the multi-million dollar marketing budgets comes customer
service. Expect it at TRIQ baby!
JC:
What are the top five clubs in Las Vegas according to
you?
TV:
Body English (for keeping
it real since day 1,Thank you Cory, Shannon, Chester, Chad, Jack
, & the entire staff), Tao
(Jason Strauss & staff a close second), Playboy Club, Pure
and then Tryst. This
whole “hustle and gouge” bottle minimum thing has
gotten out of hand! It’s time to go back to the basics:
Customer Service with a hug! TRIQ will be tough to beat in this
category.
JC:
Have any advice for tourists wanting to go out?
TV:
Yes, dress nice, bring women, and have a ‘good
friendly’ attitude.
JC:
What else should be included on JackColton.com to better
prepare tourists for their trip?
TV:
A message board to post comments ala MySpace!
JC:
Thanks for your time Tony!
