New dance club Red opens on Fremont in Las Vegas

After more than a year of vacancy, Red, a new dance club has quietly opened at the former site of Insert Coin(s) on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas.

Brothers Rod and Bruce Perdew are behind the club, the latter being the “club guy” who has run clubs and related events in Los Angeles for more than 20 years.

The venue’s current layout — large video screens adorn the walls with couches lined up alongside them — is a temporary setup for now, said Perdew, who plans to remodel in early 2017 and eventually have a multi-room venue with an outdoor bar.

Perdew describes the 6,500 square-foot venue as a “Sports bar by day, nightclub by night.” At night the screens show music videos or videos that match the music and during the day, they show sports games.

The venue, which had a soft opening over Labor Day weekend, has different themes every night and features music from the 1980s, 1990s, Old School Hip Hop sounds and more.

Perdew said his Los Angeles parties all have themes and he plans to bring that tradition to Red. At his Los Angeles clubs, music might feature an artist like Blink-182 for a pop punk crowd and the next night it might feature the Spice Girls, said Perdew.

“I want the music to stand on its own,” he said.

The nightclub owner said he likes to reach different crowds with everything he does and with Red, he’s playing it by ear to determine what’s the best fit.

Perdew said he grew up with Las Vegas culture vacationing with parents and often visited on weekends off from work.

While working as a guest DJ at the nearby Oddfellows video dance bar in Downtown Las Vegas, Perdew said he got an idea of what the area was like and was intrigued.

The venue is still hiring and plans to have 20 to 25 total employees.

The building’s previous tenant, bar-arcade Insert Coin(s), closed after four years in July 2015 due to financial problems.

Landlord Artemus Ham III, said the property was vacant as long as it was because he was holding out for a prospective tenant who had plans for a large restaurant venue.

In the end, the prospective tenant was unable to find investors to cover project costs, he said.

Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find @acoreynews on Twitter.