Chappelle not alone in high-selling Vegas shows
The MGM Grand Garden headliner on Friday night needed only a few spotlights, a cocktail and a seemingly limitless supply of cigarettes.
Dave Chappelle ruled once more at the Grand Garden, filling four shows on consecutive weekends, including his appearance with Joe Rogan and Tom Segura on the bill this weekend. The shows were “phone free,” meaning electronic communications devices were pouched in Yondr-brand cases before the show.
It was a whole lotta heavyweight comedy, and the crowd was almost exhausted even before Chappelle’s arrival, and after Segura and Rogan’s energetic sets. Segura should get the award for the “wrong-est” material. His closing bit was both funny and way wrong.
But hey, no phones, no worries about social-media blowback.
Heading in … @joerogan #DaveChappelle @MGMGrand #RJNow @reviewjournal pic.twitter.com/rhrGnh0qBU
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) July 10, 2021
Business-wise, Chappelle is among the hot-selling headliners over the past two weekends in Las Vegas. He sold out the Grand Garden for four shows at about 10,000 tickets each.
Across the Strip, tickets to shows and sporting events are moving at an uncommonly fast clip.
“This is the biggest two-week run I’ve seen in a quarter of a century of doing business in Las Vegas,” says Ken Solky of brokerage site LasVegasTickets.com. “We’ve been selling out everything down the pike.”
Chappelle’s shows and Bruno Mars’ opening two weekends at Park MGM have set the pace. Garth Brooks’ show Saturday at Allegiant Stadium sold out originally when it went on sale in February 2020. The UFC bout between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier at T-Mobile Arena was drawing same-day prices of $1,000 just to get in the door, and upward of $15,000-$20,000 for premium ringside seats.
Solky’s company is showing strong sales for those expected to pack theaters, including Usher, Morrissey, Keith Urban, Rod Stewart and Sting at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and the Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan residencies coming to The Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas.
The next superstar headlining series, Usher’s run at the Colosseum, opens Friday. His first eight dates sold strongly enough in April that the venue’s promoter, Live Nation, added six more for August. The first eight are now sold out (with an exception of a few single tickets), with the six added dates and the four shows over New Year’s week all on a pace to sell out.
In all, Usher has already sold 61,000 seats (nearly enough to fill Allegiant Stadium himself) across 18 shows. As Live Nation Las Vegas exec Amanda Moore says of Usher’s residency, “It’s a monster.”
Miley Cyrus’ one-off at Resorts World’s Ayu Dayclub, and Justin Bieber’s small-capacity foray Saturday at Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas, also sold out.
Production residency shows are also filling up. As reported, “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace is running 16 shows per week. David Copperfield is back to his usual high volume of 15 a week at MGM Grand. Solky says tickets to the returning Cirque shows “O” at Bellagio and “Mystere” have become scarce.
Small-capacity shows (or “small-cap” in the industry lingo) are also feeling the push. Take Xavier Mortimer’s new residency show at The Strat, where he’s sold upward of 280 tickets for his 6 p.m. performances. That’s more than double what he sold at The Magic Attic at Bally’s just before COVID shut the town down.
“We’re seeing A-listers, corporate executives, locals,” Solky says. “People love to come here. People love to be here.”
‘MML’ in reality
Having rolled through all that reopening fodder, we do realize safety remains a high priority in Vegas and everywhere else. The HBO Max competition show “The Real Magic Mike,” filming at Sahara Las Vegas, is heading off a COVID outbreak. Three employees in the show’s production crew of about 60 tested positive Friday.
“As part of the rigorous testing implemented for all production employees, three crew members tested positive for COVID-19,” the production said in a statement. “In compliance with the industry guidelines, the production members are in isolation, and any unvaccinated close contacts will be required to quarantine. Filming continues as scheduled.”
It is not known whether this positive test will be reflected in the show’s final edit. The live production is scheduled to return in its new theater, which also being used for the HBO project, on Aug. 27.
Air it out
Terry Bradshaw’s return to singing, dancing and storytelling is lined up for Sept. 9 at Luxor. Love Bradshaw, and his backing band led by Smokin’ Joe Escriba. Details forthcoming.
Great Moments in Social Media
Donny Osmond posted on IG about randomly walking the Strip and just happening to notice his image on the side of Harrah’s. Osmond gets a kick out of this oversized signage. The Donny & Marie images on the Flamingo were constant visual complements to the Strip for 11 years.
Cool Hang Alert
Broadway talent is represented at Italian American Club at 6:30 p.m. Sunday with Brent Barrett (of “Chicago” and “Phantom” fame) and his band of pianist Philip Fortenberry, sax man Eric Tewalt, drummer Jakubu Griffin, and bassist David Ostrem. Joan Sobel and Bernard Blanks are guest singers. Michael Grimm is back Wednesday, and Michael Shapiro’s Reckless in Vegas rock trio is Thursday in the poppin’ IAC Showroom. Hit up the club for reservations.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
