Suede celebrates 8 years in Scottsdale

Suede (Credit: Emily Piraino/Special for Metromix)

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By Megan Finnerty
azcentral.com

The upscale Scottsdale lounge Suede is hosting its eight-year anniversary tonight in Old Town, an unusually festive affair, considering the recent spate of restaurant and lounge closings in the area.

Owners Les and Diane Corieri will celebrate the club's longevity, remarkable for an industry in which success is measured in months, not years, by hosting a VIP open bar with X-Rated Fusion Liqueur drinks, and then opening the night up to old-school hip-hopper Tone-Lōc.

This is the man who brought the world no, not just “Wild Thing,” but also “Funky Cold Medina.” It's one of only a handful of raps in which the protagonist, while waxing about his sexual prowess, actually admits to accidentally engaging in some “Crying Game” action. A classic if there ever was one.

Last year, the club booked rappers the Sugarhill Gang (hello, “Rapper's Delight”), and Les said the night was a wild success. He's looking to repeat the retro-cool vibe again tonight.

The couple will also unveil the space's second facelift in eight years.

“You have to reinvent yourself,” said Les. “You have to keep the product up if you want the clientele to keep coming back, and you have to innovate.”

There's new flooring as well as new, deeper seating and a divider that bisected the club was removed, eliminating the cause of the shoulder-to-shoulder crush that plagued the space when crowded. Which is to say, every Friday and Saturday night. The new seating has 12-inch-deep backs on the long, low couches, because, according to Les, guests don't like to sit on seats anymore. They like to perch on the backs.

“We're taking a page out of Las Vegas with this,” he said. “These days, people want to be a little elevated, and they want to dance on the seats, too.”

This means the new brown and taupe couches are also now, conveniently, high-heel proof.