Lady Antebellum Joins Country’s Stampede to Las Vegas With 2019 Residency
By Chris Willman
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The term “Nash Vegas” was originally coined as a joke about Nashville getting glitzier, but the tables are turning, as Las Vegas is going Nashville by playing host to more residencies. Lady Antebellum announced their own extended stay in the desert Wednesday, using a video of themselves putting on bling inside the Palms to tease an early 2019 run at the resort’s Pearl Theater.
The Live Nation-promoted residency is dubbed “Our Kind of Vegas” (a spin on their 2010 hit, “Our Kind of Love”) and will take in three five-date spurts, spaced three months apart. The shows are set for Feb. 8-9, 13 and 15-16; May 10-11, 15 and 17-18; and August 23-24, 28 and 30-31.
The group is emphasizing that these 2,500-seat shows will be more in a “storytellers” mode than their usual concerts, including songs that haven’t made it into their arena and amphitheater set lists previously. Hillary Scott told the Las Vegas Weekly that they’re “creating some moments that are bright and vibrant and big, along with others where we bring it down into a more intimate space where it feels like, here’s where we were when we wrote them and how we wrote them.”
They join a stampede of other country artists heading west for extended check-ins. Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire have had a co-headlining show running on and off at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for years; their next trip if booked for Dec. 5-15. Florida Georgia Line has a much shorter residency set for five nights in December at Planet Hollywood. George Strait, officially retired from touring, plays almost exclusively in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena now; he recently added upcoming shows Feb. 1-2, which would be convenient for any country fans who can afford to stick around town a week for Lady A’s opening.
Before arrives, rocker Billy Idol is booked into the Pearl for a run of January shows. Blink-182 is currently playing the venue’s first official residency. Other acts to play one-offs recently in the hall include the Killers, Adam Ant and Simple Minds.
Lady Antebellum recently wrapped another long run — with Universal Music Group Nashville — to announce in September that they were signing a new record deal with the Big Machine Label Group. Any new releases are off in the distance, with Scott telling the Las Vegas Weekly that the trio may do some recording for their Big Machine debut at the resort’s Studio at the Palms.
