In the beginning, it was Celine, an international superstar who upended the notion of Las Vegas as an artistic graveyard.
Her immediate success at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace – the $100 million venue constructed to her specificity – pioneered an eruption of one-named icons following her precedent: Elton, Cher, Bette, Rod, Reba, Shania, Mariah.
This summer, Usher became the first R&B artist to host a residency at the 4,100-capacity venue and beginning Jan. 21, another single-monikered luminary, Adele, will launch “Weekends with Adele” at The Colosseum through April 15. Her announcement spurred frenzied ticket buying and an immediate sell-out of the 100,000 tickets available.
In the nearly 20 years since Celine Dion opened “A New Day…,” which played 717 shows from 2003-2007 before a 2011 return to the venue with “Celine,” another opus that produced 424 shows, artists as varied as Gwen Stefani, Garth Brooks, Lady Gaga, Aerosmith and Lionel Richie have stationed themselves along the Las Vegas Strip. Eager fans flock to them, anticipating a unique concert experience coupled with the city’s ancillary enticements.
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“We had to kill the stigma of cradle to grave,” said John Meglen, president and co-CEO of AEG Live/Concerts West, which presented Dion’s shows. “If you go back, the concept was about creating a show as much as bringing in a top-name artist. Everyone was in love with ‘O,’ and Cirque du Soleil was one of the hottest things around the world at the time – not that they aren’t now – but everyone talked about this amazing new kind of art with ‘O.’ That was the through line. As we’ve told many artists over the years, (think of) that show you couldn’t take on the road because it’s too big or takes too long to set up: That’s the show I want you to do here.”
The Las Vegas marketplace continues to expand with new and upgraded venues, and with weekend tourism booming and convention business tenuously returning, the appetite for live productions from top music acts in a stationary setting is renewed.
“Starting with Celine and the other artists who followed, they’re trailblazers who believed in the potential and upside of this model and delivered extraordinary shows,” said Jason Gastwirth, president of entertainment for Caesars Entertainment. “When we launched Britney (Spears) and J.Lo (Jennifer Lopez) at Planet Hollywood, it caught the attention of other artists that this is something I ought to consider. I remember the days when I had to explain to people what a residency was. Now there is huge anticipation for them.”
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Earlier this month, Carrie Underwood opened the 5,000-capacity Resorts World Theatre with “Reflection: The Las Vegas Residency.” The christening of the high-tech venue, part of the Resorts World hotel and casino that arrived in June at the north end of the Strip, originally fell to Dion, who was tapped for a monumental return to the city in November.
But in October, the grand dame of residencies announced that “severe and persistent” muscle spasms were preventing her from rehearsing. Her spate of dates in November, January and February are currently shelved.
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Bobby Reynolds, senior vice president of AEG Presents Las Vegas, which books the Resorts World Theatre, said the need to replace those vacant dates was less of a concern than establishing the venue’s reputation with a relevant act.
“I was not interested in filling in a weekend in January because Celine had canceled. We’re super-mindful of that theater and the reputation we want to build there,” he said. “We don’t want to sacrifice anything and we don’t want to negotiate on the caliber of talent.”
Underwood’s lavish production – which Reynolds says is “such a beautiful show that that doesn’t exist on the road and couldn’t exist on the road” – includes dates in March, April and May. As she wraps her inaugural run, Katy Perry is warming up the debut of “Play,” which will debut Dec. 29 with dates through March 19.
The venue has also tapped Luke Bryan for his first residency, arriving in February, and, in a “limited run” of six dates in April, Michael Bublé.
For several months, Resorts World was the rumored landing spot for Adele, who will reportedly earn more than $2 million per show at her Caesars Palace domain, with each appearance generating about $600,000 per show gross, according to Billboard. In contrast, Dion averaged $654,000 for “Celine” (2011-2019); Elton John’s 2004-2009 “Red Piano” spectacle was $673,000; and Spears’ “Piece of Me” at Planet Hollywood (2013-2017) was $555,000, according to Billboard.
Meglen confirmed the Adele talks with Resorts World, but ultimately, “We really didn’t have the time. We were booked. She’s only doing Fridays and Saturdays, so if I’m the property, what are they doing Sunday through Thursday? Now you’re going to other artists and saying, ‘You can’t have the weekends.’ It’s printing money, so it’s a matter of how much are you going to print and how are you going to do it?”
As everyone from John Fogerty (February and March at Wynn) to John Legend (launching at Planet Hollywood in April) eyes a temporary base camp in Las Vegas – affording them the luxuries imbedded in high-end resorts and negating the need for grueling travel – the model remains an ideal arrangement for artists and fans.
“We’re selling more (tickets) now than in 2019 on a nightly basis,” said Amanda Moore-Saunders, senior vice president Las Vegas Residencies for Live Nation, which books shows at The Colosseum, Dolby Live at Park MGM and at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, among other venues. “The appetite is voracious. This is a market that sells 2 million tickets a week. People want to come to Vegas to have a good time.”
Added Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World, “Vegas has shifted in the last 10 years and that shift is more than just coming to Vegas to gamble. We’re known for the best food in the world, the best retail and the best entertainment. It’s not just slot machines and blackjack.”
So what is a residency?
What differentiates a residency from a limited engagement? Is it a distinctive production or merely a detour from a larger tour for a series of dates?
Some of it is industry jargon, but there is “a fine line” between a residency and a limited engagement, said Moore-Saunders, who applies the limited engagement tag to performances in the three-to-nine show range.
The Doobie Brothers recently announced an eight-date run in May at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood.
Styx is a frequent visitor at The Venetian Theatre, popping in for a handful of shows a couple of times a year (they return for five concerts in January and February with Nancy Wilson of Heart).
Brad Paisley will play two intimate acoustic dates at the Encore Theater at Wynn, which seats around 1,500, in March.
“We let the artist decide what they want to do,” Moore-Saunders said. “What’s important is that we impress on fans that it’s only something they’re going to see in Vegas. You might see Keith Urban do three shows at a time, but it’s over three years and he’s coming back to the same venue. It is a show that is unique that is specific to that room.”’
Artists can decide the right fit
Installing the appropriate artist in the appropriate venue is also part of the process when cultivating residencies.
While megastars such as Underwood, Dion, Lady Gaga, Sting and Bruno Mars opt for the spaciousness of Resorts World, Dolby Live at Park MGM, Zappos Theater and The Colosseum – which experienced a significant refresh in 2019 – others deliberately seek an undersized venue to present fans with a special encounter.
In 2009, Garth Brooks opened a three-year, one-man show at Wynn’s Encore Theatre (he’ll be back in February for two nights of a similarly stripped presentation at Dolby Live). One of music’s most ferocious live performers who routinely packs stadiums sought to offer diehards simple, unvarnished takes on his music as well as influential covers.
“This is the kind of room that gives you the feel of old Las Vegas, that you could see the fans,” said Brian Gullbrants, president of Wynn Las Vegas. “Lionel (Richie, who returns in January) was great, interacting with fans and letting them ask questions of him. Garth had many a night when he would take requests and do a Q&A. He’s an amazing storyteller and it was a lot like the old ‘MTV Unplugged.’ There’s not a lot of places you could have his stardom and fame and still allow for such interaction with fans.”
As Las Vegas continues its pandemic-era rebound and international travel – an important sector with artists such as Adele and Dion – inches back, there is a seemingly unlimited market for artists to stake their turf, regardless of the longevity of their campaigns.
Kurt Melien, president of Live Nation Las Vegas, is especially optimistic with ambitions on Vegas dominating the landscape.
“Now it’s, ‘How do we become bigger than any city in the world as the capital of live music?’ It’s already the residency capital, so the idea now is we’re the live music capital,” he said. “It used to be Cirque and Celine and it’s so much more than those now.”
