Night Life Guru

Knitting Factory Hollywood To Shut Its Doors
By Matheson Kamin
Friday July 27, 2009

The Knitting Factory Hollywood is closing its Hollywood location when the noted music venue’s 10-year lease runs out in October. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the company’s CEO Morgan Margolis said the all-ages venue is opting not to renew its lease at its current location. The Knitting Factory’s Bruce Duff says, “When we get more info — when exactly we’re closing, what our last show will be, and, most importantly, when and if we’re reopening in another location, we will of course let you know. Thanks, and to be sure, the ride isn’t over yet.” Contact Duff, 323-463-0204 x121, Duffkfla@aol.com. Visit http://la.knittingfactory.com for updates.

Information from: The Rock & Roll Report

Planet Hollywood agrees to pay $500,000 fine in NV
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 11, 2009

Planet Hollywood has agreed to pay a $750,000 fine to Nevada gaming regulators, admitting that resort officials were lax in policing illegal activity inside the Privé nightclub.

The Gaming Control Board has told the resort industry that properties need to control actions inside the nightclubs that traditionally lease space in casinos and are operated independently.

Planet Hollywood is the first hotel-casino to acknowledge it was at fault for the problems inside a nightclub that it doesn’t own.

“We didn’t execute proper supervision and we’re the message being sent to the rest of the industry,” gaming attorney Frank Schreck, who represents Planet Hollywood, said Friday.

Gaming authorities could be investigating as many as nine hotel-casinos about activities inside their nightclubs, which could lead to six-figure fines and other punishments.

Schreck, who represents several hotel-casinos and gaming companies, said he has advised clients they need to pay attention to what is happening inside their nightclubs.

“It can’t be ignored. The situation needs to be addressed,” Schreck said.

In April, the Gaming Control Board posted a stern letter of warning on its Web site, saying disciplinary action was being considered because of problems not only inside the nightclubs, but also at the properties’ ultra lounges and topless swimming pools.

The agency sent a similar warning letter in 2006. Gaming Control Board member Randy Sayre thought another missive was needed this year.

“I’m not going to write any more letters,” Sayre said Friday. “Having said that, I can indicate with great confidence that a few locations may not have gotten the message loudly and clearly. And these situations will be addressed.”

Sayre confirmed several hotel-casinos are under investigation by gaming authorities about activities inside their nightclubs and other venues.

“Some are more serious than others and we need to address whether or not these venues are conducting themselves under state and local ordinances,” Sayre said.

In an agreement with the Gaming Control Board that settled a nine-count complaint, Planet Hollywood agreed to pay $500,000 up front and another $250,000 in a year if changes are not made in the operation of the nightclub.

If no additional complaints are filed over the next 12 months, the $250,000 payment will be waived.

The Nevada Gaming Commission will vote on the settlement when it meets in Las Vegas on July 23.

“Planet Hollywood took this matter seriously,” Sayre said. “Sadly, they should have addressed some of these events sooner.”

The nine counts ranged from Privé employees removing drunk customers and dumping them in the casino unattended, or telling hotel security to remove them, to customers having to be hospitalized for drinking too much.

Privé employees and patrons were charged with physically and sexually assaulting customers.

The club reportedly admitted minors, who were then served alcohol.

Another count involved a Clark County Department of Business License citation for allowing topless and lewd activity. Privé reportedly failed to cooperate with the county.

Another count was based on the large increase in phone calls to emergency medical personnel and police since the club opened. The control board charged that prostitution increased around the club and the club did nothing to discourage the activity. Privé also hired people with criminal records.

Planet Hollywood admitted to all the allegations and admitted it didn’t maintain enough control.

Schreck said that aspect will change. He said the lease between Planet Hollywood and Privé has been rewritten. Planet Hollywood security officers, who formerly weren’t allowed to enter the club without a club employee, can now enter the club.

Also, Planet Hollywood can terminate the club’s lease if any of the conduct outlined in the nine counts continues.

“We’ve taken some pretty draconian steps to assert control,” Schreck said.

“Planet Hollywood wants to be a good corporate citizen and licensee. We stepped up to the plate and took responsibilities for the actions.”

Privé is operated by the Opium Group, a Miami-based nightclub company. A spokeswoman for Opium Group did not respond to phone calls or an e-mail message Friday.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Encore Nightclub’s Name at Center of Trademark Lawsuit
By Steve Green
Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A dispute has erupted over rights to the trademark “XS” — the name of a luxury nightclub at Steve Wynn’s Encore casino resort in Las Vegas.

Wynn Resorts Holdings LLC filed suit Monday against NYLO Hotels of Atlanta, an operator of boutique hotels, after NYLO asserted rights to the trademark and offered to let Wynn pay a licensing fee for use of the XS name at Encore.

“Wynn has spent a significant amount of time, resources and money in developing and promoting a restaurant, bar, nightclub and indoor and outdoor entertainment venue at Encore under the XS mark,” said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

“Wynn maintains that its use of the XS mark is lawful and does not infringe upon the rights of NYLO,” said the suit.

Correspondence between attorneys for Wynn and NYLO attached to the lawsuit indicates NYLO intends to offer services using the XS mark, and begin franchising on the mark, including in Las Vegas.

“Please note that although an ‘XS’ hotel has not yet opened, NYLO is extremely sensitive to the use of the ‘XS’ mark because of the time, resources, money and public discussions it has had concerning the brand,” said a May 28 letter to one of Wynn’s attorneys from NYLO attorney David Rogers.

Rogers indicated a willingness by NYLO to license the name to Wynn for use at the club. Encore describes it as a “decadent vibe” poolside nightclub.

A request for comment on the lawsuit was placed Tuesday with NYLO, which says it operates two boutique hotels in the Dallas area and a third in the Providence-Warwick, R.I., area.

Wynn’s suit was filed by attorneys Mark Tratos and Peter Ajemian of the Las Vegas law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Information from: Las Vegas Sun

Mayor’s Office Strikes Back at David Chiu In Memo On Nightclub Violence

By Peter Jamison
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice has sent a memo to Board of Supervisors President David Chiu asking him to back off efforts to set up a stricter nightclub permitting process, the latest volley in an intensifying intra-city feud over how to handle rising club violence.

The memo, dated June 19, was recently obtained by SF Weekly. It concerns legislation that would affect how the San Francisco Entertainment Commission — a seven-member board of political appointees who wield the crucial power to grant or revoke nightclub permits — does business. In it, Kevin Ryan, the fired U.S. attorney who now heads the mayor’s criminal justice office, upbraids Chiu for seeking to crack down too harshly on the commission’s laissez-faire approach to permitting.

“It is my opinion, as both a career law enforcement officer, and a life-long San Franciscan, that the late night activities outlined above do not substantively contribute to nightlife-related violence,” Ryan wrote. He continued, “Restricting night life in San Francisco could have downward effects on associated businesses — restaurants, bars, theaters and other activities which draw people into the city.”

Critics, including Chiu, have complained that the Entertainment Commission has been ineffective in curbing repeated outbreaks of violent crime at city clubs. (In fact, as we reported last week, two commissioners are co-owners of clubs that have been the subject of police complaints.) The legislation at hand would give the commission added powers to crack down on misbehaving clubs, but has stalled because the commission opposes Chiu’s amendments.

Ryan’s criticisms centered on Chiu’s suggestion that an undue increase in permits for late-night clubs or one-time late-night events — defined as an uptick of more than 15 percent in a given year — should trigger caps on further permits. Three of the memo’s eight pages were devoted to difficult-to-parse mathematical equations demonstrating that even a slight increase in the permits would trigger such a moratorium.

In a telephone interview, Chiu said the letter was the latest sign of lack of cooperation on addressing nightclub violence from the mayor’s office. He said the mayor’s criminal justice officials had agreed to meet with him, then “blew off” the meeting and began going after him in the press.

“To set up meetings, attack me in the press, blow off the meetings, and then send me a letter with several pages of bizarre mathematical formulas is not the best way to move forward,” Chiu said. “I think this letter continues to show that the MOCJ has just not been focused on the public safety, and has spent more time thinking about the interests of the late-night entertainment industry.”

Information from: SF Weekly

Remembering The Roxbury, Plus Playhouse Hosts BPM’s Biggest Bash
By Lina Lecaro
Friday, July 17, 2009

In this week’s Nightranger, we toddle around Hollywood’s newest super-club, Playhouse, a gorgeous mega-production-geared space opened by club impresarios Elie Samaha and Rob Vinokur.

Samaha, also a movie big-wig, is best known for famed ’90’s hotspot The Roxbury nightclub on the Sunset Strip, and during a chat with him at Playhouse, he revealed that a sequel to the 1998 club-themed classic, Night at the Roxbury, is in the works. Inspired by “The Roxbury Guys,” the beloved head-bobbing Saturday Night Live skit starring Chris Kattan and Will Farrell (before he became a box office giant), the film told the story of the Butabi brothers, two nightlife-loving fellas on a quest to get past the velvet ropes of Samaha’s venue. It seems funnier than ever, probably because the ubiquitousness of upscale club culture means everyone’s in on the joke these days (even if the joke’s on you, ’cause ya cant get in).

Information from: LA Weekly