Clubbers rank local venues and XS comes out on top

We live in an age of crowdsourcing, so let’s look at Yelp.com to see which clubs on the Strip get the best ratings from clubbers.

The clear Yelp winner is XS nightclub at Wynn. It gets 4½ stars out of five stars, based on 1,876 reviews on Yelp.com.

And after XS, the following clubs merit four stars each: Surrender nightclub at Encore; Encore Beach Club dayclub; Foundation Room ultra lounge atop Mandalay Bay; The Act variety-performance club at The Venetian; and the new Light nightclub in Mandalay Bay.

Next, these clubs earn 3½ stars each: Marquee nightclub and dayclub in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; Tryst nightclub in Wynn; Lavo restaurant and nightclub; Moon nightclub in the Palms; VooDoo nightclub at Rio; Bare topless pool lounge; Liquid pool lounge; Body English in Hard Rock Hotel; and Hyde Bellagio.

Then, these clubs have three stars each: Tao nightclub in The Venetian; Chateau nightclub in Paris; Gallery nightclub in Planet Hollywood Resort; the new Hakkasan nightclub in MGM Grand; 1 Oak nightclub in The Mirage; new Daylight dayclub-pool at Mandalay Bay; Pure nightclub in Caesars Palace; and the Bank nightclub in Bellagio.

And then these clubs have got just 2½ stars each: Haze nightclub in Aria; and LAX nightclub in Luxor.

On Deadmau5

I don’t want to get into a whole thing about Deadmau5. But I will say this. I listen to a lot of his original songs at home, and often. He is truly one of my favorite musicians.

But in person, as a DJ, Deadmau5 doesn’t do it for me.

Personally, I think Deadmau5 could use more respect for club DJing (based on things he said a year ago). He could strive to elevate the live art form musically.

But judge his DJing for yourself by seeing Deadmau5 Friday night at Hakkasan nightclub or on Sunday at Wet Republic dayclub-pool.

If you do catch Deadmau5 at Hakkasan, check out his new stage setup, which involves two robotic mouse-head things called “Mau5bots,” which sway over the crowd to the rhythm of the beat.

They are “12 feet and 2 tons each of pure mechanical bliss,” as Deadmau5 described them on Twitter.

LOST MAX GRAHAM INTERVIEW

A year ago, I lost an interview I did with Max Graham, who DJs tonight at Marquee. Well, I found the interview. It was good, too.

But a year has passed, so I don’t want to quote extensively from it. However, I like this bit:

Graham told me he quit the music business for a while to run an Apple store in Toronto, even though he was on the verge of becoming big because music started to sound all the same to him.

Now he is back and growing again, without regrets.

“I’m more than happy with the path I’ve taken,” he said. “It’s still a great living and a great life, in every country in the world, and great food.

“I’ve had a dream life. If I died tomorrow, I’d die happy.

“I’d be unhappy if I was in a desk job and thought, ‘I should have followed music.’ ”

Doug Elfman’s column appears on Page 3A in the main section on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He also writes for Neon on Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.