In Pearl's whirl

"We wanted to attract the people who had been flying to Vegas or driving to Scottsdale on the weekends, and also the people who are here from out of town," says owner Luke Cusack.

Pearl, formerly The Keys, is a 20,000-square-foot club that is divided into four different areas: Touch, a semi-private ultra lounge; Element, an outdoor bar and lounge; Mantra, a metropolitan dance chamber with an oxygen bar; and Orchid, the restaurant.

At the entrance to the club there's an artificial palm tree with glowing green leaves. To the right is a tiki bar with swinging benches. A small fire pit and assorted heat lamps help keep partygoers warm on cooler nights.

Inside, the club is awash in marble and dark wood. Lava lamp-like animations glow on plasma televisions. Silhouettes of dancing women are projected on smaller screens.

On a recent Friday night, Pearl was full of twenty- and thirty-somethings dancing under the strobe lights to teeth-shaking bass beats. A man and a woman leaned against the tiki bar and kissed open-mouthed while a friend captured the action on her camera phone. On the dance floor, two petite women in low-cut blouses and matching platinum-blond wigs danced with their faces inches apart.

Element, the outdoor bar and lounge, was closed this night. On a subsequent Saturday night, the lounge was busy with people, many smoking cigarettes, who were sitting in the round outdoor booths under electric heaters.

Element includes an omnisex bathroom, where the urinals are imported from Norway and look like women's lips. Each stall has its own video screen and sound system.

The dress code at Pearl toes the line between Vegas chic and Tucson casual. It allows for "current fashion trends" but forbids baggy clothing, athletic wear, flip-flops, work boots or plain-colored T-shirts. Men frequently wear button-down shirts and jeans, while women often opt for skirts and pointy heels.

Pearl brought in several world-class DJs last year, including DJ Dirty South in November and Bad Boy Bill in October. But the club has stopped working with local DJ Corbin Dooley to bring those famous spinsters to Tucson.

"(Dooley) was bringing in the DJs who do a lot of the techno stuff, and we didn't get many people here," said Carrie Cooley, assistant general manager. "I don't know if Tucson is the place for techno."

Mixology Entertainment, featuring DJ Jonny G, now supplies the majority of beats at Pearl. It's remixed Top 40 songs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (and coming soon on Wednesdays). On a recent Friday night, the DJ threw in "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses and "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot.

DJ Aspen spins R&B and neo-soul on Fridays.

Little touches make Pearl unique. Cusack says a half-million pearls are inlaid in the bartops and countertops and all waitresses wear a string of pearls while on duty.

Cusack opened Pearl last May on the site of his old club, The Keys.

The Keys wasn't unsuccessful, Cusack says.

"We had such a great land lease on the property and knew we'd be there for another 20 years, so we wanted to step it up."

The club's restaurant, Orchid, is a tapas-style affair with Asian and equatorial flair. The restaurant recently started serving lunch.

Club regular Edna Gardner was at Pearl on a recent Friday night celebrating a friend's birthday. She and her friends were gathered in one of the VIP sections.

"I like how they've redone everything," she says. "It's more elegant than it was before (when it was The Keys)."

Pearl offers lots of ways to spend money.

On Friday and Saturday nights, you can spend $100-$300 for a VIP table (the cost depends on your proximity to the dance floor and the size of your group). VIP tables come with a bottle of champagne and optional bottle service. VIPs also get to skip the line in front, though they still have to pay the cover.

The club also offers a limo service, which costs $50 per hour, plus a 20 percent gratuity, with a three-hour minimum.

Cusack recently announced plans for a Downtown nightclub on East Congress Street (where Heart Five used to be). He says his new club will be called Jail House and will feature a rooftop patio called The Yard, which will be surrounded by a chain-link fence. Cusack says customers will drink out of tin cups.

No word yet on whether those tin cups will be pearl-studded.

Pearl

• Where: 445 W. Wetmore Road.

• Open: Wednesdays-Sundays from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

• Cost: On Wet and Wild Wednesdays, women pay no cover and get $2 drinks before 11 p.m. Men pay a $5 cover all night. No cover on Thursday nights. On Fridays, no cover for women, $5 for men. On Saturdays, the cover is $7 for women and $10 for men. On Sundays, the cover is $5.

• Coming up: Sunday is the Sin Sunday gone Wild Spring Break Party. Guests who wear a bathing suit, flowered shirt or short shorts don't have to pay the $5 cover.