iHeartRadio Festival adds three superstars to Las Vegas return

Las Vegas Review-Journal

4 months ago

The Weeknd performs at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Sunday, A ... — The Weeknd performs at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Sunday, April 24, 2022, in Indio, Calif. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

A$AP Rocky performs at the Bacardi stage during the final day of the Life is Beautiful festival in downtown Las Vegas on Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto

Chris Martin of music group Coldplay performs onstage during the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 22, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

A$AP Rocky, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and The Weeknd are buttressing the iHeartRadio Music Festival in its return to the Strip.

That triumvirate of recording artists are the latest headliners tacked on to the iHeartRadio Festival, scheduled for Sept. 20-21 at T-Mobile Arena. Tickets are on sale at AXS.com. The shows are once more streaming live on Hulu.

Previous performers confirmed for the the all-star show are Doja Cat, New Kids on the Block, Gwen Stefani, The Black Crows, Big Sean, Camila Cabello, Hozier, Keith Urban, Paramore, Shaboozey, Thomas Rhett and Victoria Monét are all confirmed for the festival. Ryan Seacrest returns as host.

Among those booked to perform, Stefani and Urban have headlined residencies on the Strip. Urban returns with his “High In Vegas” series at BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau, scheduled for Oct. 4-12 and Feb. 14-22.

The festival has been held in September in Las Vegas since its debut at MGM Grand Garden in 2011. The show moved to T-Mobile Arena in 2016. There are no plans to return the Daytime Stage, a popular Saturday festival showcase in past years, to this September’s event.

He’s bringin’ it

Reports of Bruno Mars singing “Die With a Smile” in his return to Dolby Live are accurate. The song is poppin’, no joke(r).

What Works In Vegas

Magic headliner Mat Franco at Linq Hotel. He sells about 90 percent of the 575-seat house, on average. Nine years on the Strip. Renovated theater named for him. Just keeps his focus and puts on a high-caliber act, with a lot of repeat business. Not a bad guitarist, either, when he’s not breaking strings (insider’s joke there).

Forecasting a Cool Hang

Legacy Club atop Circa is developing a late-night hang after 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. This has the sense of a boutique nightclub, with VIP bottle service, local DJs and a “Nightlife Chic” dress code. Twenty-one and over. We’ll be there in our groovy threads soon enough.

Cool Hang Alert

Sin City Stones, Sin City’s predominant Rolling Stones tribute band, gets its ya-ya’s out at Chrome at Santa Fe Station at 7 p.m. (doors) and 8 p.m. (showtime) Saturday. Tickets are $25 — a mere pittance — and available at Ticketmaster.com. It’s only rock ‘n’ roll, but I like it (take it away, Keith).

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 X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.