Luke Bryan relates to Mr. Las Vegas’ lounge history

Winning over an audience is essential for live performers. This was true in 1959 at Carnival Lounge at the Fremont Hotel. It’s true today at the Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas.

Luke Bryan knows as much. The country superstar is opening this weekend at the new, palatial theater on the Strip. It is Bryan’s first Las Vegas residency, nine shows total through this month. Bryan hosted a Zoom teleconference on Thursday morning, inviting questions from attending media.

So I had asked Wayne Newton if he wanted to ask Bryan anything, as Newton is something of an expert at live performance in Las Vegas. Long before he ever performed in a showroom or theater, Newton played five shows a night, six nights a week at the Fremont. He’s told these stories over the years, including in his stage show at the Flamingo.

Newton wanted to know about Bryan’s development as a stage performer, learning his craft at taverns, music clubs and honky-tonks

“Wow, it’s pretty amazing that you get to hear Wayne Newton’s path — I guess he is Mr. Vegas, him and Elvis, obviously. But the main thing that clubs and honky tonks teach you is to really get the crowd’s attention” said Bryan, shown with the Resorts World orchestra section and stage behind him. “If you’re the house band at honky-tonk or club, and you’re playing music, and nobody’s responding to you, nobody’s paying attention to you, you’re not doing your job to grasp their attention and create an amazing show.”

We know Bryan today primarily as a recording star and network-TV personality on “American Idol,” seated alongside fellow Resorts World headliner Katy Perry and R&B legend Lionel Richie. But he was a Nashville songwriter before any of that.

“Everything I’ve done in music was always propped up for me to be onstage,” Bryan said. “I mean, if I wrote songs, if I moved to Nashville, if I did all this, the purpose of it was, what can I do for the fans when I’m onstage.”

The Theatre at Resorts world is no honky-tonk, of course. Bryan has some help winning over the 5,000 or so fans turning out for his Vegas engagement.

“I’ve never been a part of something so technologically amazing,” Bryan said. “From the sound, the lights, the way the stage works. That was a big reason why we chose to do this, to do these shows with Resorts World, because we knew it was a brand-new theater and they were going to have the biggest and best things.

“It’s certainly been amazing rehearsing and seeing what we all have at our disposal.”

Las Vegas’ residency headliners usually have a sense of the city’s rich entertainment history. Bryan certainly does. He recalled growing up listening to Elvis’ recordings from the International and Las Vegas Hilton.

“I keep going back to it, as a kid, I listed to Elvis’ record, ‘Live from Las Vegas,’ and there was always so much nostalgia about it,” Bryan said. “And then you hear of the Rat Pack. Even during rehearsals (Wednesday), when I was playing the piano, I was like, I might just need to sit a glass of Jack Daniel’s up there kind of like Frank Sinatra-style.”

Bryan touched on the city’s position as a live-entertainment destination among contemporary stars.

”Vegas is a place where big, big stars certainly dream to have a residency. Certainly, when I had the opportunity to do this, I was like, can I give it the proper time? I need to really, really knock it out of the park, and compete with the biggest entertainers in the world,” Bryan said. “When I look out into that crowd, it may not always be your typical country music fans, and not your typical Luke Bryan fans, they might just pop into the show. I want them to leave saying, ‘Wow, we didn’t expect a country concert to be like that.’ ”

It winds back to connecting with that crowd. Bryan is up for the task.

“The same way that I was trying to prove myself in honky-tonks, I’ll be doing it on this stage for people that may or may not even know who I am,” Bryan said, reaffirming a message shared by legends.

Cool Hang Alert

A country hang at a favorite haunt, Stoney’s Rockin’ Country at Town Square. Dylan Schneider is headlining Saturday night (doors 7 p.m., show at 10 p.m.). Schneider is a popular songwriter in the country community and has been a support act of Florida Georgia Line, Granger Smith, Mitchell Tenpenny and Chris Lane, among others. He co-wrote Dustin Lynch’s most recent hit, “Momma’s House.” GA tickets for those 21 and over are $10 in advance, $15 on the day of the show. For those 18 and over, it’s’$15 in advance, $25 day-of. Go to stoneysrockincountry.com for the lowdown on this hoedown.

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.