Raiders, Golden Knights music director set to deliver finale

If you’ve ever danced or sang along to the music at a sporting event in Las Vegas, chances are Jake Wagner provided the soundtrack.

The music director for the Raiders and Golden Knights will deliver his farewell performance, at least for now, at Saturday night’s home finale at Allegiant Stadium against the Dolphins.

Wagner and his wife will be relocating to the East Coast where, after a devastating year for the local entertainment industry, she accepted a job at the Macy’s Parade Studio outside New York City.

Wagner’s final game with the Raiders will be played without the fans he has so enjoyed playing music for over the last several years in his hometown.

“It’s disappointing for sure because the reason I got into this was to enhance people’s experience of enjoying music within the game and seeing how it all works together to create the perfect atmosphere,” he said Friday. “It’s kind of a bummer.”

Saturday’s Raiders game will be a far cry from raucous environment he helped create at T-Mobile Arena with the Golden Knights. For the Las Vegas native and Coronado High School alum, the expansion franchise’s inaugural campaign will go down as a career highlight.

“That whole first season was a whirlwind of magical experiences and emotions,” he said. “It’s hard to contextualize, but everyone who was there and got to be a part of that know exactly what I mean. It was a special time. The community just came together so much.”

It was also a chance for his passion for music and sports to come full circle. Wagner grew up attending Las Vegas Thunder games and was captivated by the arena production, particularly how the pregame festivities crescendoed to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” just before the puck dropped.

Wagner got into radio at UNLV’s KUNV and moved on to Nevada Public Radio, also serving as music director for Life Is Beautiful in the early years. He pitched his vision for soundtracking sporting events to the braintrust of the then-Las Vegas 51s and got the job.

His abilities didn’t go unnoticed and soon Wagner’s services were in high demand at sporting venues around the valley. He has also worked the NHL All-Star Game and a Winter Classic game.

“I just feel so lucky that so many people believed in me and I got to do what I had imagined and wanted to do,” he said. “There were a lot of pieces to that puzzle behind the scenes and so many people putting their hearts and creativity into it. That chemistry of everyone contributing created the atmosphere we all got to experience in the Fortress.”

He had hoped to bring the same energy across the street to Allegiant Stadium, but 2020 had other plans. Wagner has still played the music inside the stadium for Raiders home games even though his mission is a bit different.

“(Getting the job) was definitely a culmination of all the work, so it was cool they trusted me with the experience for the players and the media,” he said. “It was definitely out of the wheelhouse. Without fans, you don’t have to do a lot of the crowd interaction stuff, so it’s more geared toward the players and the in-game experience. It was a career moment and special with the long tradition of the Raiders.”

Wagner hasn’t thought much about how he wants to play himself off on Saturday, but Las Vegas sports fans would be shocked if there wasn’t a local angle to his selection.

He has consistently found ways to incorporate local artists into his rotation, notably with Panic! at the Disco’s “Vegas Nights” as the Golden Knights’ goal song. Other prominent local artists are also in heavy rotation. Wagner also helped create the tradition of a local artist showcase at Knights’ games for lesser-known bands.

He mentioned Brandon Flowers’ solo track “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” as a potential final song he would enjoy playing.

“But I don’t really feel like it’s a final goodbye,” Wagner said. “ We have family here and we’ll always love Las Vegas and be back.”

Wagner will take plenty of memories with him, even beyond sports. He was able to be a part of early projects at places like Brooklyn Bowl and Encore Beach Club, venues that are now staples in the city.

He has a particular affinity for the Las Vegas Bowl, an event he was disappointed to see canceled this year, but one he has high hopes for with the move to Allegiant Stadium.

What Wagner will miss the most, however, are the fans and those moments he was able to perfectly pair a song choice with the emotion of the moment.

“You can’t even describe those moments,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll come home from a game late at night and have the adrenaline still going in my system for a few hours where I can’t sleep. Sometimes you just get lucky and it’s like adding a soundtrack to someone’s life in real time, whether or not they understand what’s happening, you know you’re making someone feel something and that’s the coolest part.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.