DJ Kaskade Awarded $8M From Red Rock Resorts Over KAOS Nightclub Closure

Posted on: March 23, 2022, 07:18h. 

Last updated on: March 23, 2022, 12:55h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

It seemed like a match made in heaven. One chart-topping superstar DJ whose driving deep-house sets would have thousands of revelers dancing to the same beat, and one venue vying to be the hottest destination on the Las Vegas club scene. Both wanted to take the city by storm. Both used the letter ‘K’ with reckless abandon.

Kaskade
Ryan Raddon aka Kaskade, seen above, was hired to play 60 shows at KAOS for $300,000 each, according to court documents. (Image: Magnetic Magazine)

Three years on, a federal court in Las Vegas has awarded DJ Kaskade a cascade of cash from Red Rock Resorts, which owned the ill-fated KAOS nightclub at the Palms.

On Friday, US District Court Judge Andrew Gordon ruled Kaskade, real name Ryan Raddon, was entitled to $8 million in compensation and damages for the club’s cancellation of his residency.

Raddon was booked to perform 30 shows at KAOS in 2019 and another 30 through to the end of 2020, all at $300,000 a pop. But according to court documents, he only performed 20 in 2019 before Red Rock began canceling the shows as the club underwent renovations. It never reopened.

Red Rock Calls Excessive Costs

Opening in April 2019, KAOS was billed as the centerpiece of Red Rock’s $690 million renovation of the Palms, which the company bought in 2016 for $312.5 million.

Its first high-profile signing was another of America’s most celebrated DJs, Marshmello, who was getting a rumored $600,000 per performance. In November 2019, Red Rock abruptly announced KAOS would close indefinitely, citing, somewhat unsurprisingly, “excessively high” entertainment costs.

It “doesn’t appear that the market has grown enough for the amount of supply,” said Red Rock CEO Frank Fertitta at the time.

Red Rock closed the entire property in March 2020. In 2021, it sold the resort to California tribal gaming operator the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. The tribe intends to reopen the property in spring.

No Alternative

In his ruling Friday, Gordon agreed that Raddon was still under contract through 2020, despite the club’s closure. The DJ could have performed several shows between January 1 and March 15, 2020, before casinos were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, he noted.

Prior to the pandemic, Red Rock could have offered an alternative performance venue, said Gordon. Afterward, Raddon could have performed at virtual events, but no such solutions were offered.

“We are pleased that the court found in Kaskade’s favor and upheld the parties’ carefully negotiated agreement,” said Raddon’s lawyer, Jordan Siev, in a statement.

Red Rock, which has not commented on the ruling, was able to negotiate an exit from the Marshmello contract.