MBS to put sparkle into local nightlife

Marina Bay Sands to put sparkle into local nightlife

After a delay in opening and two lawsuits filed over alleged contract breaches, international nightclub brands Avalon and Pangaea look set to open their doors in Marina Bay Sands (MBS) after all.

While the two clubs did not give a specific date when contacted by MediaCorp, the Avalon website stated that it will hold the Avalon At Large, an F1-related party, at MBS on September 23 and 24.

Meanwhile, according to the Pangaea website, its club here will have capacity for 500 patrons and is now available for private bookings.

The efforts to make MBS' south Crystal Pavilion a much-touted nightclub destination look set to happen with American Gregory Gumo of Crystal Pavilion Marina Productions, the man behind the two projects, MediaCorp understands.

Avalon is famous in Los Angeles for being home to Hollywood celebrities and a venue for annual parties such as the Oscars and Emmys, while Pangaea is a party hot spot in New York, Miami and London.

Mr Gumo, the co-founder and director of the Fuel Festival music event held in Singapore during the 2009 Formula One weekend, had told an online interview with former Zouk marketing manager Tracy Phillips on inSing last year he had suggested bringing in the two names after a few nightclub brands were discussed but none fit the bill initially.

Mr Gumo, who is also one of the founders of Soundpedia, a Singapore-based Internet radio and music community website that was started in 2006, then flew the owners of the clubs to Singapore.

The news that the clubs will open soon, as MBS also stated on its website, comes as a twist in an ongoing legal action.

Last week, Singapore entertainment management company Kraze Entertainment filed a lawsuit against MBS for breaching a leasing agreement in April. The former had worked on bringing the two nightclubs into MBS and is alleging that MBS has wrongfully terminated a 10-year lease at south Crystal Pavilion.

Last month, Kraze Entertainment, which has ties with Korean company Krazetech, also filed a writ of summons against Pan Av Asia Partners, the clubs' purported operators, for "various material breaches" in agreement.

The collaboration fell through after Pan Av Asia Partners allegedly scrapped its licensing deal on March 25, resulting in Kraze Entertainment's own termination of its management agreement on April 9.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~