Continued from Part 2...

Another shift would come in the form of country artists hunkering down in Vegas for residencies.  Garth Brooks certainly got the ball rolling with his Garth at Wynn residency at Wynn Las Vegas (187 shows, 2009-2014), and the appeal for country residencies just gathered momentum with Shania Twain’s Shania: Still the One in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace (105 shows, 2012-2014), and Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas (95 shows, 2015-2021).  These country greats laid the groundwork for the likes of Miranda Lambert’s Velvet Rodeo (24 shows, 2022-2023), Keith Urban’s Keith Urban the Las Vegas Residency (16 shows, 2023), and The Chicks’ Six Nights in Vegas (6 shows, 2023) in the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood; as well as Carrie Underwood’s Reflection (39 shows, 2021-2023) and Luke Bryan’s Luke Bryan: VEGAS (42 shows, 2022-2023), in the Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas.  Of course, now that Garth Brooks has come full circle and returned to the Strip with Garth Brooks/Plus ONE (27 shows, 2023) at Caesars Palace, country music’s impact on Las Vegas is indisputable. 

 “I think it’s really exciting that we’ve moved so heavily into country recently,” enthused Jason Gastwirth (then President of Entertainment at Caesars Entertainment). “It’s such a popular form of music, and these artists are so approachable, that we are really proud to present our roster of country talent in these intimate settings.”

Per Lambert, the most awarded artist in the history of the Academy of Country Music (she’s received 38 ACM awards, to date), whose Raj Kapoor-produced Velvet Rodeo just completed a multi-year run, packing ‘em in at the Bakkt Theater,  “We’ve been dreaming up this show for so long to make it something special for the fans and to celebrate all the music we’ve enjoyed together, over the years.  It feels amazing to finally take everything we’ve rehearsed and share it with that room full of people, making Vegas our own supersized honkytonk!”

Lori Nelson (Senior VP of Communications & Public Affairs, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) shared the parts of the LVCVA’s most recent annual visitor study—published to understand the evolving choices, behaviors, and spending of Las Vegas’ nearly 40 million annual visitors—specific to the role that entertainment played last year in visitors’ experience.  A few statistics stood out, including that the average spending on shows and entertainment in 2022 was $117.29/trip, more than triple from 2021 and more than double from 2019 ($32.55/trip and $51.68.trip, respectively).  Also, in 2022, 28% of visitors (11.2 million people) saw a show (up from 19% in 2021); and of those, 25% (2.8 million people) saw a headliner.  In short, those 11.2 million people spent more than $1.3 billion on shows and entertainment, in 2022. 

And like those 11.2 million visitors who see shows, residencies come in all shapes and sizes.  So, in addition to those artists selling out the 4,700-seat Resorts World Theatre or the 5,200-seat Dolby Live, you’ve got far more intimate residencies, such as those in the 780-seat Flamingo Showroom at Flamingo Las Vegas, including Donnie and Marie Osmond’s Donnie & Marie: Live (1,730 shows, 2008-2019), Olivia Newton-John’s Summer Nights (175 shows, 2014-2016), Paula Abdul’s Forever Your Girl (23 shows, 2019-2020), and most recently, RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! which celebrated its 500th performance, on July 08, 2023. 

Fun fact: At this time last year, all three of the judges on American Idol were current Las Vegas residency artists, with Lionel Richie at Wynn Las Vegas and both Katy Perry and Luke Bryan at Resorts World Las Vegas. 

It should be noted that this article doesn’t even touch on the residencies in Las Vegas’ many nightclubs and pools, whether live acts like Drake (XS Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas), Cardi B (KAOS at Palms Casino Resort), and Jack Harlow (Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World Las Vegas); or the myriad EDM DJs—such as the Chainsmokers (at XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas), Tiësto (at Zouk Nightclub and Ayu Dayclub at Resorts World Las Vegas), and Steve Aoki (at Hakkasan Nightclub and WET REPUBLIC Ultra Pool at MGM Grand Las Vegas)—who demand such high fees that Forbes felt compelled, in 2012, to begin publishing its annual list of the highest paid EDM artists and acts.  Nor did it touch on the comedy residencies by everyone from Don Rickles and George Carlin to Jerry Seinfeld and Ali Wong.

The most noticeable change in the residency shows of the past twenty years is that they are occurring for fewer dates over shorter runs.  Of course, one simply cannot expect any artist—no matter the genre or generation—to deliver the number of shows with the frequency that Celine Dion did 20 years ago, in A New Day..., because frankly, even she was unable to maintain that breakneck pace a second time with Celine.  And whether it’s a matter of the attention span, discipline, or work ethic (or the lack thereof of any of these) possessed by the latest crop of Las Vegas residency artists, is the subject of an altogether different article.  Further, due to the residency business (itself just a small sliver of the global touring industry) being dominated by two companies, Live Nation and AEG Presents, the days of influence by such iconic, career-making, casino-industry entertainment honchos as Jack Entratter, Bill Miller, and Richard Sturm, are increasingly behind us.

[Editor’s Note: A version of this article was published in Business Traveler, August 2023 (ink Global)]