Haute Event: A Star-Studded Lineup Hits XS and Tryst for Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend, the Memorial Day weekend lineup at XS and Tryst nightclubs rivaled some of the best festivals in the world with electronic dance music superstars from across the globe gathering under one roof for the extended holiday. The two nightclubs reserved their honor as the epicenter of dance music in the United States with an incredible sequence of headlining DJs throughout five nonstop days of evening parties from Thursday through Monday.

On Thursday, May 24, the festivities kicked off at Tryst with rising star Alesso and an opening set by Otto Knows. Alesso brought his progressive house style to the open air turntables and christened the brand new stage that sat in the middle of the lagoon under the nightclub’s 90-foot waterfall.

On Friday at Tryst, Afrojack created an unbeatable second night to the holiday weekend. Named “The World’s Next Top DJ” by Mixmag, the Grammy Award-winning producer jump started the summer season with his chart topping tracks, “Take Over Control,” “No Beef” and “Can’t Stop Me” as the crowd danced until the early hours of the morning.

Friday at XS, Tiësto launched the weekend festivities with his residency return. As an added bonus when Sebastian Ingrosso, one-third of Swedish House Mafia, and Kaskade both jumped into the booth to throw in a few mixes of their own.

On Saturday, XS showed that size does matter with Steve Angello, Max Vangeli and AN21 playing the Size Matters party for night No. 2 of the holiday marathon. Offering a late-night set at Tryst, Grammy Award-winner Skrillex took to the stage at 3 a.m. and played to a sold-out crowd as the sunrise began to peak through at 5:30 a.m.

Sunday at Tryst, Manufactured Superstars offered an opening set with a special debut performance by Nick Hissom of their new single, “Killin’ Tonight.” Lil Jon took to the stage around 1 a.m. as the headlining deejay to close out the 2011 Nightclub of the Year’s holiday festivities. Mixing both house and hip-hop, the versatile star kept guests happy with a combo of sounds for all tastes.

At XS on Sunday, Deadmau5 made his triumphant return following his history-making set at XS for “Deadmau5 Day” in January. He played master of ceremonies for the club’s Night Swim party that had fans dancing in the pool until the break of dawn.

In true holiday fashion, XS closed out the weekend’s marathon of events with an unrivaled back-to-back set by David Guetta and Avicii with an opening by Sultan & Ned. Making his XS residency debut, Guetta felt right at home in the booth with incredible production including four LED mega-screens, confetti explosions, smoke blasts, lasers and more adding to his performance. At 2:30 a.m., Grammy-nominated DJ and producer, Avicii, took the handoff as he closed out the evening with his club anthems “Levels” and “Fade into Darkness” hyping the crowd. The duo offered the perfect entry into the summer months in Las Vegas and closed out the holiday in style.

The weekend did not go without familiar faces in the crowd as celebrities flocked to take in the EDM marathon. Fellow dance music icon Kaskade; socialites Paris and Nikki Hilton and their parents Kathy and Rick Hilton; “Dancing with the Stars” pros Cheryl Burke, Mark Ballas, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd; actor Benicio del Toro; UFC legend Chuck Liddell; NFL standouts Reggie Bush and Shawn Phillips; singer and former N’Sync member Joey Fatone; comedian and “Price Is Right” host Drew Carey; Hollywood royalty Paulina Gretzky and Hannah Selleck; and reality star Crystal Harris all joined in the weekend parties at XS and Tryst.