AUGUST 2021 VOLUME 20 | NUMBER 8 VENUESNOW.COM Tough Road to Tokyo RESIDENCY BY ROY TRAKIN Palace. The venue will also welcome venues, which stays in place during Morrissey’s much-anticipated, previ- the run of the residency, is always top- rtist residencies have ously postponed “Viva Moz Vegas,” notch, ensuring that fans will see the been a part of the Las Vegas from Aug. 28 through Sept. 5. Other acts perform at their optimum. landscape since the days of Colosseum residencies include Keith “It’s the very definition of a Elvis Presley and the Rat Urban’s “Live Las Vegas” (Sep- working playcation,” said Gibbons Pack at the Sands, when they tember); Rod Stewart’s “The Hits” by email. “The specialness of the were called engagements, (October); Sting’s “My Songs” (Octo- party atmosphere in Sin City gets Abut the current proliferation can be ber-November, June); Van Morrison turned up a notch when we get to it traced back to 2003, when Caesars (February) and Reba McEntire with and grind. It has become obvious and Palace opened The Colosseum for Brooks & Dunn. convincing that the idea of bringing Celine Dion’s “A New Day.” Stars The Colosseum’s sister venue Zap- the ZZ roadshow to town is the best like Britney Spears, Elton John, Rod pos Theater at Planet Hollywood has of both worlds ... our friends, fans and Stewart, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Shania Twain’s “Let’s Go” (December followers are always up for the show Lopez, The Who, Aerosmith, Gwen through February), Gwen Stefani’s as we are.” Stefani and, more recently, Usher and “Just a Girl” (October-November) Morrissey’s coming appearance Morrissey have all undertaken major, and The Scorpions: “Sin City” with has seen the pendulum in Vegas start multidate casino engagements. Queensryche (March-April), while to shift from ’60s and ‘70s classic Other notable events in Las Vegas’ Westgate International Theater rockers to ’80s and ’90s alternative evolution into a hip entertainment presents “Barry Manilow: The Hits staples like Billy Idol, Duran Duran destination included George Maloof Come Home” (September through and Blink-182. Teen-pop stars Debbie opening the Palms Casino in 2001 December). Gibson and Backstreet Boys’ Joey (original Las Vegas home of MTV’s “We seek out artists who are McIntyre are slated to appear at the “The Real World”), Caesars’ Planet extraordinary live performers, with Venetian in August and September. Hollywood and the emergence of a robust catalog and an avid world- “When all these classic rockers new arenas such as the Mandalay Bay wide fan base who would be willing start to pass away, it’s time for the Events Center and MGM Grand Gar- to travel to come see them,” says boomers to give way to the next den Arena in the ’90s, and T-Mobile Jason Gastwirth, Caesars president of generation, whose audience now has Arena in 2016 as home for the NHL entertainment. disposable income,” said newly mint- Golden Knights. Madison Square Classic rockers have found a ed Vegas resident and longtime rock Garden impresario Jim Dolan’s highly receptive audience in Las Vegas. ZZ publicist Mitch Schneider, who points touted $1.83 billion Las Vegas Sphere, Top’s Billy Gibbons has a home in to such burgeoning areas as the Arts now scheduled for completion in 2023, Vegas, which makes it convenient for District, Chinatown and glam elec- is 500 feet wide and 366 feet tall, with his band’s scheduled residency at the tronic dance music club Area 15 as the an LED display made up of 580,000 Venetian in October. The Texas band city’s newest attractions. “For rockers square feet of light panels. has been playing shows there since of a certain age, the once-dreaded Las Usher is among the first performers 2018 with sets that include Doc Po- Vegas engagement that signaled the to launch the return of residencies mus’ classic “Viva Las Vegas,” made downside of your career has become to Sin City, starting July 16 through famous by Elvis Presley. the much sought-after residency.” Aug. 14 at The Colosseum at Caesars For artists, the production at these Longtime regional promoter Danny REVIVAL22 AUGUST 2021 Stars are finding long- term bookings in Vegas even more appealing coming out of the shutdown Zelisko said the genres of music Dec. 1 and Luke Bryan Feb. 11. months at a time, giving fans an op- booked into Las Vegas casinos have Vegas-based publicist and PR Plus tion to see them either way, or both,” KATY WORLD: An LED screen displays evolved over the years, along with the CEO Alissa Kelly said residencies are says Kelly, who points to Carlos San- an advertisement audience. “Vegas used to be typecast booked based on an artist’s fan base. tana, who is slated to bring his “Inti- for Katy Perry’s as a place for old acts,” he said. “But “You’re looking for an audience that mate Evening with Carlos Santana” coming residency that’s not the case anymore. Rock is has the means to travel, while spending to the House of Blues at Mandalay “Play” at Resorts the new standard.” time and money on the casino site. Bay Aug. 25-Sept. 4 and returning World Las Vegas in a In addition to the rise of rock, elec- While fans can plan their trip around Nov. 3-14, with tour dates on the East photo taken in June tronic dance music has always been a seeing the band multiple times without Coast and in the South in between. a few days before huge draw for the Strip, with Calvin having to travel to different cities. Right “Residencies will continue to grow. the resort’s open- Harris at Caesars’ nightclub property now, we’re all waiting for international I think we’re going to see different ing. The Theatre at Resorts World has a Omnia making a reported $1 million travel to open back up, targeting Sep- genres and age groups targeted. It’ll capacity of 5,000. a show in his $280 million deal. EDM tember as the date of a full return.” be interesting to see how it develops has been attracting younger audi- On the weekend of July 10, Vegas over the next few years.” ences since Electric Daisy Carnival sprang back to life, with Garth Brooks In fact, casino entertainment is no moved its flagship event to Vegas at Allegiant Stadium (home of the longer an afterthought, a money-loser permanently in 2011. NFL Raiders), Bruno Mars at the Park just to drive traffic to the slots like a Resorts World Las Vegas, the first Theater at MGM Park, and the Conor $2.50 buffet. Recent research by the addition to the Vegas Strip since the McGregor-Dustin Poirier UFC 264 Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Cosmopolitan in 2010, has been par- fight at T-Mobile Arena all taking Authority shows entertainment, not ticularly adventurous in its residency place simultaneously. gambling, is now the No. 1 reason bookings, with Celine Dion’s premiere “I see the future for these resi- people come to Sin City. scheduled for Nov. 25, Katy Perry’s dencies as a hybrid situation, where “We love living here,” says Schnei- “Play” Dec. 29, Carrie Underwood’s the artist will still go out on tour, but der, who moved to Summerlin, just GETTY IMAGES “Reflection: The Las Vegas Residency” then be back in Vegas for a couple of outside Las Vegas, in March 2020, AUGUST 2021 23 TOP LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY ARTISTS Ranked by gross. All data based on figures supplied to Pollstar. Date range: 1/1/2015-12/31/2019. TICKETS RANK GROSS EVENT VENUE SOLD PROMOTER DATE SHOWS 1 $137,598,337 Celine Dion The Colosseum at Caesars Palace 779,635 Concerts West / AEG Presents, Aug. 27, 2015- 189 Caesars Entertainment June 8, 2019 2 $99,091,748 Britney Spears Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood 665,091 Caesars Entertainment, Jan. 28, 2015- 186 Live Nation Dec. 31, 2017 3 $97,665,797 Jennifer Lopez Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood 487,303 Caesars Entertainment, Jan. 20, 2016- 120 Live Nation Sept. 29, 2018 4 $78,693,726 Elton John The Colosseum at Caesars Palace 453,282 Concerts West / AEG Presents, Jan. 16, 2015- 110 Caesars Entertainment May 17, 2018 5 $53,871,719 Lady Gaga Park Theater at Park MGM 184,209 Live Nation, MGM Dec. 28, 2018- 34 Resorts International Dec. 31, 2019 6 $43,173,931 Backstreet Boys Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood 314,597 Caesars Entertainment, March 1, 2017- 80 Live Nation April 27, 2019 7 $41,574,992 Cher Park Theater at Park MGM 279,400 AEG Presents, MGM Feb. 8, 2017- 76 Resorts International Sept. 1, 2019 8 $36,056,274 Aerosmith Park Theater at Park MGM 173,013 Live Nation, MGM April 6-Dec.- 34 Resorts International 4, 2019 9 $32,023,500 Bruno Mars Park Theater at Park MGM 134,221 Live Nation, MGM Dec. 30, 2016- 26 Resorts International Sept. 14, 2019 10 $30,776,835 Mariah Carey The Colosseum at Caesars Palace 221,566 AEG Presents, Caesars May 6, 2015- 65 Entertainment, Live Nation Nov. 30, 2019 TOP LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY VENUES Ranked by tickets sold. All data based on figures supplied to Pollstar. Date range: 1/1/2015-12/31/2019. TICKETS RANK VENUE SOLD CAPACITY GROSS SHOWS 1 Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood 2,107,118 7,028 $321,296,966 572 2 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace 1,979,575 4,298 $316,006,632 510 3 Park Theater at Park MGM 999,088 5,300 $194,462,370 227 4 The Venetian Theatre 164,143 1,815 $17,621,686 103 5 Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas 116,657 1,480 $16,223,352 64 6 The International Theater at The Westgate Las Vegas 91,545 1,582 $7,547,644 66 7 The Joint, Hard Rock Hotel (Now The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas 83,371 4,450 $9,092,779 36 8 House of Blues 31,145 1,900 $4,338,251 36 arriving by car to a blacked-out “Residencies are certainly an even dencies play an important role in our Strip and a lockdown for his own more attractive option for artists these business model and we are moving long-term residency.