Line between stars ‘appearing’ and ‘performing’ at a club deliberately vague

This is not stating the obvious. The Cromwell nightclub is sort of breaking ground here, or at least sorting the ground that’s been broken into neatly defined piles.

Las Vegas is used to seeing live performers such as Drake and Chris Brown billed in clubs as well as traditional concert venues. At the latter, you know what your ticket buys. But at a club, you’re never quite sure.

I’ve always wondered if that’s because clubbers simply don’t care. But assuming they do, information can be evasive. Will said star just take the mic long enough for you to shoot your six seconds of Vine, then pose for photos at the big-spending tables? Perform a couple of songs to recorded backing tracks?

Michael Gruber, managing partner and president of Drai’s, says there’s a reason for that vagueness.

“The clubs have been putting live entertainment into clubs as appearances to avoid LET,” the state’s 10 percent tax on live entertainment.

Concert and club venues have been a gray area for the live entertainment tax, and Nevada Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick last week said it will be rescrutinized in the next session.

A recently compiled report collects all the exemptions to the tax. The language of one from 2003 regarding “disc jockeys” clearly didn’t anticipate the era of the superstars. If said DJ is exempt when he “generally limits his or her interaction with patrons,” Gruber wonders where you draw the line between booth-bound DJs and showmen such as Steve Aoki?

Even when clubs don’t fight the tax — ads for Drake on New Year’s eve at Marquee clearly state it’s built into the price — you’re still not sure exactly what Drake will be doing; The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has two other defined concert venues.

Gruber acknowledges it will be a challenge to get the word out that Drai’s is getting into the concert business with Azalea, and a soon-to-be announced headliner from the recent Life Is Beautiful festival.

But he thinks patrons will quickly warm to the concept.

“Our venue is this beautiful, big rectangular place on top of the city. We’re set up perfectly to put a performer onstage,” he says.

“Rather than going to see a show for 90 minutes at a venue, you’re going to go to a nightclub for four hours, and in the middle of that four hours you’re going to get a full 60-minute show.”

Drai’s also blurs the concert/club line by running the concessions, including VIP-style bottle service, for Britney Spears shows at Planet Hollywood Resort. If you’re puzzled why Britney’s contract was extended — with a reported raise — even as attendance fell, on-site spending could be one answer.

With both venues, it’s clear that after years of clubs draining audiences for live shows, it’s better to join ’em then fight ’em.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.