In this post, we’re going to show you the easiest way to find the best Las Vegas raves and how to determine if an event is actually a rave…or just another club show. 

If you’re just visiting or new to Vegas don’t worry, because we’ve been to every major concert, festival, and club that Nevada has to offer so we’re essentially professional party-goers….not just some random Wooks! 

Let’s skip a beat and get right to it…

Partying in Vegas

When most people hear the word “Las Vegas” they immediately think nightclubs, gambling, alcohol, Fremont Street, or The Strip, but behind all of the mainstream clubbing and debauchery, there are large-scale raves and even a hint of an underground rave scene too. 

Las Vegas Raves VS Nightclub Scene

While Las Vegas nightclubs host some of the largest electronic DJs around, there’s no substitute for an actual rave where people welcome you with open arms. Raves in Las Vegas generally include colorful outfits, art installations, flow arts (people spinning poi or fire, LED gloving, LED hula-hoops, etc), and open-minded people who encourage self-expression and acceptance. Some Las Vegas-based promotional or rave companies have hosted DJs such as Deadmau5, Excision, AC Slater, Alison Wonderland, Yotto, and everything in between. 

Clubs like Encore Beach Club, XS, and Omnia can be fun but the crowd is generally more stuck up (holier than thou), alcohol-driven, and plays the same mainstream static you’ve heard on the radio a million times. For example, you’ll hear popular artists like Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, Carnage, etc at the clubs. 

Don’t get us wrong, many club DJs are great but if you’ve been in the EDM scene for a while you’ve probably gone down the rabbit hole and prefer a variety of niche genres and artists. 

At the end of the day, some club shows might be considered EDM concerts but there’s no substitute for an actual rave where Peace, Love, Unity & Respect (PLUR) are core values.

Avoid the Clubs: Find The Most Epic Raves in Las Vegas

To avoid the club-like vibes and ensure the night is filled with sporadic adventures with welcoming strangers one should try to stick with these top rave companies. Below we’ll tell you what you can expect from each company, what genres they specialize in, and how to view all their shows in one area. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list and 9/10 of these events are 18+ but you should always check the specific event page to be sure. 

Insomniac

Insomniac throws some of the largest electronic music festivals and raves in the United States like EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival), Beyond Wonderland, Nocturnal Wonderland, Drive in Raves, and even Virtual Raves during the COVID pandemic. 

Insomniac doesn’t stick to any specific genre so if it’s a smaller rave you will need to make sure you like the genre or DJ’s (disk jockeys) playing that night. For example, if you’re a dubstep fan but attended Dream State (5.28.21) at the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center you probably left disappointed because that was a trance based show featuring Cosmic Gate. 

Insomniac was started by Pasquale and partially bought by Live Nation. Together, they’ve truly spearheaded the USA’s festival scene with artists like Deamau5, Drezo, Svdden Death, Charlotte De White, Subtronics, Adventure Club, Lil Texas, and countless others. Don’t believe us? Go check out the past lineups for EDC. 

Ravelation (RVLTN) (Holy House)

Nearly all of Ravelation’s events are rave-like but they’re far from underground since they’re at some of the larger venues around town. Outside of Insomniac which is new to the area, RVLTN is the main player as far as Las Vegas raves go. RVLTN events usually have a turnout greater than 1000 and up to several thousand some nights. They primarily focus on the genre dubstep, riddim, and other bass-heavy genres. They also partner with Foam Wonderland and have foam spraying machines at a show each year.

RVLTN’s only non-rave shows are Holy House at Commonwealth on most Sunday evenings. Holy House does bring in some really neat niche artists but it’s definitely more of a nightclub vibe. During their reign, Ravelation has brought huge artists out to Las Vegas like Tchami, Liquid Stranger, Excision, Cookie Monsta, Illenium & many more. 

Epic Raves (Lavish Entertainment)

Epic Raves truly throws…” Epic Raves”. While they’re not quite as big as RVLTN or Insomniac events they’re surely noteworthy and have top-tier artists too. You can expect some of the grimiest dubstep as well as 500-1000 people at Lavish Entertainment events. Some artists they’ve booked include FuntCase, Eptic, Downlink, Virtual Riot, Mastodon, Modstep, and more. 

Elation

Elation’s shows are rave-like but they bring a different type of crowd (no, not the snobby club crowd either). The Elation crowd doesn’t dress quite as colorful or revealing as you’d see at most raves but nonetheless, they’re still very friendly. Dancing styles also vary at Elations events and you won’t see many people headbanging as you see at Epic Raves or RVLTN events. The reason being is Elation caters to certain genre niches like techno, hard dance, trance, and a few others in between. 

Just as with Insomniac, you want to double-check the genre before you attend an Elation show and you can expect 600-1200 or so people at each one of their shows. 

SoulState

SoulState has some of the grooviest house and techno music around town. They previously hosted events at bars such as the Artifice & Park on Fremont so it wasn’t very rave like to begin with, but they’ve made a HUGE transition to Area 15… which is a  must see in the Las Vegas area; it contains Meow Wolf (an art experience filled with trippy art), Oddwood, Dueling Axes and Several other attraction on top of the new SouldState After Hour parties in the Portal which is a really neat warehouse like venue that has projection mapping on each wall.

SoulState’s participants are open-minded, energetic, yet laidback folks and many of them are Burners (a term used to indicate that someone has been to burning man). The production and sound at the new venue is quite literally some of the most intense we’ve ever seen. Currently, you can expect 200-500 guests at each of their events.

Underground Raves in Las Vegas

Church of Bass

Church of Bass has some of the best underground raves in Las Vegas but I was surprised with the lack of church attire. They’re usually in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the desert about 30-60 minutes outside of town. As you may assume, Church of Bass is dubstep centric and you can expect 200-500 guests at each show. It’s worth noting that their production efforts keep getting louder, brighter, and overall more impressive with each event. 

Dynamic Events

If you’re a hard dance or hardstyle fan these events are made for you! Due to the nature of their target genre, their events are full of energy. It’s very common to see people shuffling or stomping on the dance floor at the drop. Dynamic Events doesn’t quite shout underground but their events aren’t quite mainstream either. You can expect 200-500 people at these shows. 

 

Upcoming Las Vegas Raves 

You might be asking yourself, where do I see all the raves going on tonight? Now that you know exactly who throws the raves we’ll show you where to find the rave schedule or calendars to see all the upcoming shows, raves, and more.

We suggest checking out and downloading the EDM Train app or website. Since this site or app doesn’t tell you which shows are club-like, you will need to stick with the promo companies above to make sure it’s actually a rave.

Next, you can always check out each promotion company’s Instagram or website since EDM Train might not have every event on it. For instance, as of now, you won’t find Church of Bass on EDM Train. 

Last but not least, you can always check Eventbrite, TicketMaster, or other curation sites like Electronic.Vegas. 

We hope this article helps you narrow down raves vs clubs, who throws the best raves around, and what you can expect from the Las Vegas rave scene. Party on, my friends.