‘I’m a regular Taylor Swift’: Tony Orlando’s tickets jump in Vegas final
The Kats! Bureau at this writing is South Point Showroom, site of Tony Orlando’s final series as a Las Vegas headliner. He’s running through an a cappella version of “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears, telling the story of his early years in show business.
A medley of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around The Old Oak Tree,” “Candida” and “Knock Three Times” opened the show. These are usually encore songs, but not tonight. The 79-year-old showman is covering everyone from James Taylor to Prince.
The place is jammed, standing-room at the bar, where I am. Orlando’s ticket prices on secondary-market sites vaulted Friday as word spread that these were his final shows.
Seat Geek briefly listed a pair of VIP booth seats for $710 each. That platform, and also LasVegasTickets.Com and StubHub.com posted seats for between $200-$300.
Tickets originally started at $60. One friend of Orlando’s told the “Knock Three Times” singer he was happy to find two tickets at $25o for Friday. Saturday and Sunday were totally sold out. But it is possible ticket-holders will return their purchases and those tickets will wind up on the secondary market.
Amid all the activity, Orlando texted, “I’m a regular Taylor Swift!” I suggested he extended his career by a few months and book a show at Allegiant Stadium. “Ha ha ha” was his response, followed by eight laughing emojis.
No, these shows at South Point are it for T.O. Two more to go after this one and he’s going out smiling.
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.