Nightlife

Imagine, for a moment, you’re a precocious teenage girl. This will be easier if you’re one of our less savory readers with proclivities we’d rather not hear about. But what could possibly be more in your wheelhouse of things you obsessed about over the last three years than Twilight, the Jonas Brothers or candy? Nothing. The answer is “nothing.” (Except for those newly mourned Bieber bangs.) Ashley Greene (yes, we know, it’s not the same as if it was Kristen Stewart in this scenario, but roll with us) was at Pure for her 24th birthday, bringing boyfriend Joe Jonas for her Candy Land-themed party.

Proving yet again that Mel Brooks was on to something—indeed, it is good to be the king—the categories for the 2011 Nightclub & Bar Awards reflect Las Vegas’ dominance of the nightlife scene nationally. So complete has been our rule over the annual awards lineup that this year, Las Vegas has been elevated to a category unto itself.

If you’re lucky, what happens here stays here. But what happens here is rarely happening for the first time. We’ve been the nightlife capital of the world for decades, for example, but much of our fame arrived already famous: Ghostbar had success in Chicago before coming to Vegas; Tao restaurant and Marquee nightclub launched in New York before venturing west; and Eva Longoria’s Beso has a sister spot and nightclub in Hollywood. Still, a new crop of Vegas exports seems to indicate a changing of the tides, and Lavo appears to be the one that’s having the most gravitational pull in a major outside market.