Swingers Club will bring dueling pianos, golf, booze and disco to Plaza

In Las Vegas, where labels like "unique" and "never-before-seen" are hung on bars that look like they came off the same assembly line, Anthony Cools' new Swingers Club just might live up to its hype.

His new bar -- and so much more -- to open in the downtown Plaza will offer elements that are conventional, though usually not found in the same room:

Dueling grand pianos, suitable for lounge acts and audience sing-a-longs?

Check.

Nine-hole, glow-in-the-dark putt-putt golf?

Got one.

Booze?

Indeed.

Disco (almost) to dawn?

But of course.

"We are trying to do the exact opposite of what everybody else does," said Cools, the stage hypnotist at Paris Las Vegas since 2006.

Whether golfing for beer is the precise antithesis of an ultralounge, Cools thinks that getting people off bar stools and on to miniature fairways will "cause them to mingle and move around. What better way to meet people?"

Plans are still hush-hush, but Cools said the miniature links will surround two grand pianos and each hole will have a Las Vegas theme. He declined to describe he holes beyond cryptic references to Elvis and a haunted house, or say how much the whole thing will cost.

"It sounds confused but it could work," said Jeff Manno, principal of the Los Angeles consulting firm Outlier Group. "It seems to appeal to two different groups."

The club will open at 11 a.m., with piano playing from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. That appeals to an older, more sedate crowd, he said. Putt-putt golf is more commonly associated with families, but Cools believes it will draw groups such as bachelor parties scaled to $5 beers rather than $500 bottles.

From 2 a.m. to closing black lights will bring out the course's luminescent trim while a disc jockey goes disco.

Cools and his partners in the not-so-subtle double entendre Swingers Club, nightclub industry veterans and fellow Canadians Keith Takaoka and Shawn Young, conceived of the bar as a place that would appeal to the middle market. When the Plaza reopens on Aug. 24 after a $35 million renovation, it will target visitors who expect more than the cheap sleep the Fremont Street landmark had become in recent years but who don't want to wallow in luxury.

The partners started with the concept of dueling pianos, something with a track record on the Strip that never made it to downtown.

"Live entertainment, for sure, is coming back in a big way," said Manno.

The partners then decided to mix in the golf, a concept that Takaoka and Young first tried at a Calgary, Alberta, sports bar in the 1990s, and place the pianos in the middle of the course akin to sand traps.

Yet Cools does not worry about putting putters into the hands of hard-partying patrons who might want to take swings at things other than glow-in-the-dark balls.

"That is not the clientele we are going after," he said. "We are not going to be playing hip-hop or rap or R&B, with the kind of clientele that can cause problem. The bad element does not go to listen to dueling pianos."

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.

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Comments

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1. wm2slc Oct. 16, 2011 | 7:17 p.m. Report Abuse

   I think I will just talk about the club. Went in one night, everyone was having a great time and the staff was awesome. As it was in the hotel I was staying and they had big screens and the ACLS and NCLS were going on, I decided to go down and watch and have a beverage or two. Amazing, they didn't have the games on the TVs? OMG, are they anti America's Game? ha ha Asked and they changed the TVs to what ever I wanted. It was afternoon and there was just one young lady working. She was great, friendly and ran the place very efficiently. Oh, did I saw she was drop dead gorgeous? I will definitely go back for both the nights and afternoons if only to see Courtney...
   Great bar and very fun...

2. markallentunney Jul. 14, 2011 | 4:30 p.m. Report Abuse

   The man never made a statement about race or color, you, the real racists out there did. Remember that.

3. SEPSIS Jul. 13, 2011 | 4:00 a.m. Report Abuse

   I goin just so I can swanga swang at some balls!!! Should be lots of fun. I dont care what music their playing. Who really cares? Its not that big a deal.

4. No More Pizza Jul. 13, 2011 | 3:51 a.m. Report Abuse

   I love putting my balls in holes... so i'm going to try out that 9 hole glow in the dark course!!

5. G.Wiz Jul. 12, 2011 | 5:37 p.m. Report Abuse

   Well I for one don't think that the type of music that you listen to is any indication of your ability to cause trouble. "That is not the clientele we are going after," he said. "We are not going to be playing hip-hop or rap or R&B, with the kind of clientele that can cause problem. The bad element does not go to listen to dueling pianos."--Cools. That added bit at the end was completely unnecessary. We don't accept racism in this town, thinly veiled or otherwise. Get it together.

6. Olivia.Alexander Jul. 12, 2011 | 4:36 p.m. Report Abuse

   I think everyone needs to calm down! I listen to hip hop and rap, but I'm not a person that causes problems. I didn't get offended by Anthony's comment! I get what he's trying to say.
   
   If I had a choice as a woman to go in a dueling pianos bar by myself or a club that plays heavy hip hop or rap, I'd go to the country bar. Am I a racist then?!
   
   I've seen Anthony's show a few times and he's a great guy (so I've heard). Lets not blow everything out of proportion here.
   
   VIVA DOWNTOWN!

7. CentennialHillsMomma Jul. 12, 2011 | 3:55 p.m. Report Abuse

   I will vote with my patronage against racism by going to the Early Clover Show - Americas Sound Rock n Roll to Motown at the Four Queens when I am in downtown Las Vegas. His family friendly show has never had a single problem with "that element" the swingers club wants to keep out. www.Americas-sound.com I have seen Early's show many times from several shows around town, he never disappoints. We need to support R&B in downtown!

8. Jackov.Smirnoff Jul. 12, 2011 | 3:52 p.m. Report Abuse

   vegasstyleguy- Actually, in the 70s, the disco scene was dominated by blacks, gays, & Latinos. Women, & minorities dominated the pop charts for the 1st time. Latinos developed the Spanish Hustle.

9. Jackov.Smirnoff Jul. 12, 2011 | 3:50 p.m. Report Abuse

   A Beyonce/Britney/Gaga-free club zone! I'll check it out. They should open at 9 or 10p for the other older.

10. Suzie.McKay Jul. 12, 2011 | 3:44 p.m. Report Abuse

    vegasstyleguy, Right on! Where's the RJ "LIKE" button?

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