Keith Urban Tells Why Country Stars Are Flocking To Vegas To Play Residencies

Feb 05, 2020 by apost team

Keith Urban may not seem like an artist who would be headlining his very own residency at the swanky Caesars Palace Resort in Las Vegas, but he has in fact been doing so since mid-January.

By the time you read this, Urban would probably have wrapped up his first 12 shows at the Palace, but he will be back in April and may even plan to stay there for years; it all depends on how his residency plays out, but there is a good chance that he will not be the only "new country" artist holding a residency in Las Vegas.

It is tempting to think that Urban would take it easy and go unplugged for his residency, but his hardcore fans know that this would never be the case. According to early reviews published by Rolling Stone magazine, Urban gives fans exactly what they expect from him: two-hour concerts that tear the roof off the venue and keep everyone on their feet.

Urban had previously played a concert at the Colosseum concert hall of Caesars Palace in 2019; the initial deal was for just one performance, but promoters talked him into an additional date.

Once rehearsals began, Urban began to feel the rock star vibe of playing in a venue that has theater seating in addition to a dance floor. The concert organizers wanted to really put on a show like the ones played by heavy metal bands of yore, so they brought in New Zealand producer Ben Dalgliesh, a man who really knows how to put together arena shows.

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Playing the Caesars Palace is different than playing Nashville or going a tour of Texas roadhouses. Urban felt that he had to go beyond the usual playlist of radio-friendly hits; this is, after all, Las Vegas, so he is injecting country rock and even covering hits by Selena Gomez and Post Malone, as detailed here at Billboard.

While his first two concerts at the Colosseum lasted an hour and a half, he decided that would not be enough for his residency, so he added a few more songs.

Urban also welcomed all the electronics, stage effects, and LED magic that the production crew could handle. A giant LED screen serves as the backdrop of the concert, and it synchronizes perfectly with the music; during some songs, it will play nature scenes, but it can also display Carrie Underwood so that she can perform a duet with Urban even though she may be sleeping across state lines. It may feel a bit over the top, but we are talking about Las Vegas.

There is a certain expectation related to taking up residency in Las Vegas: Artists have to live up to the legacy established by Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, and this means being available to fans. Presley was truly a master in this regard; he used to work closely with the producers and the construction crew because he wanted walkways built in a way that would allow him to reach sections of the audience.

Urban has been more than happy to copy this trick from the King, and he walks from the main stage to a smaller satellite platform so that fans in the back sections can get front row seating at least once during the show.

As for touching base with fans after the concert, Urban has even outdone Sinatra. Right after his first performance in Las Vegas, a fan approached him begging for a selfie, but the singer believed that the man deserved more than that, so he gave him an autographed guitar.

Booking Urban for a residency at Caesars Palace is a stroke of genius, but it is also part of a trend, one that in the past has featured Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Urban currently has competition from other country artists such as the legendary George Strait, but he has an advantage in terms of musical diversity. Urban loves pop music as much as he does country, and his guitar playing background prompts him to lean towards including rock songs on his concert playlists.

There is no question that Las Vegas residencies pay off. Urban has just started this new chapter in his musical career, and there are already requests to take similar shows on the road to Europe. Once the concert production team gets used to putting on glitzy shows in Las Vegas, they will be able to set them up elsewhere. If this means that Urban and other country music stars will become as big as Celine Dion, so be it.

What do you think of Keith's decision to do a residency? Pass the news on to the country music fans out there.