Watch The Best Las Vegas Casino Implosions, From The Clarion To The Stardust

The Clarion Hotel and Casino became a part of Las Vegas history on Tuesday after an implosion turned the off-strip location into a pile of rocks, the Associated Press reported. The blast did not totally destroy the Clarion casino; its elevator shaft remained in place and will require a second explosion to bring it down.

Las Vegas casino implosions have become a draw much like the famous headliners over the years. “It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Amanda Dickerson, a tourist from Wisconsin, told the AP. The Clarion was an off-Strip casino and was not as famed as other Las Vegas landmarks such as the Sands, Dunes or Stardust, but was the first casino to be imploded since 2007.

The destruction of these Las Vegas landmarks includes plenty of fanfare and added pyrotechnics. Fireworks and a countdown often lead up to the implosion. The Dunes casino implosion kicked off the craze, according to Vegas.com. The Dunes was demolished on Oct. 22, 1993, to make way for the Bellagio.

Perhaps the most famous implosion was the Sands demolition. The casino epitomized what Las Vegas was about in the 1950s and '60s and musical acts included the Rat Pack, Wayne Newton, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin. The New Frontier casino hosted Elvis Presley early in his career, although his performances were panned by critics. The Stardust was the largest hotel in the world and had quite the reputation because of its mob ties. The casino also gave Wayne Newton a $25 million-a-year contract to perform.

You can view some of the biggest casino implosions below. To add a little more Las Vegas flair to the proceedings, listen to a playlist containing some of the Strip's most popular acts including members of the Rat Pack, Liberace, Wayne Newton and Tom Jones.