The best Las Vegas residencies you can still see this year
Jun 6th, 2019
Nicole Rupersburg, Matador Network
There was a time when a Las Vegas residency meant an end-of-career artist cashing in on the nostalgia of their aging fan base. Then came 2013 and Britney Spears’ Piece of Me residency at Planet Hollywood. Spears not only catapulted her career to a new level, she simultaneously reshaped the entire residency landscape — by the final performance on December 31, 2017, she’d topped $130 million in ticket sales and inspired modern acts across multiple genres to follow in her footsteps. Even punk band Blink-182 did a Vegas residency in 2018.
A Vegas residency is now the thing for top talent to do, and many venues now feature some of today’s biggest stars and geared at a much younger demographic. Old Vegas stalwarts like Celine Dion and Donny & Marie are ending their longtime runs this year, making way for younger talent, all part of Vegas’s perpetual re-branding. For many of these artists — Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, for example — seeing a show in this type of setting is a chance to see them in a much smaller venue than you would otherwise. Nostalgia is also a driving factor for a lot of these shows, too (looking at you, Paula Abdul), giving you yet another reason to visit Sin City this year. Here’s the lowdown on who’s playing.
Paula Abdul
Before there was Britney, there was Paula. Elder millennials will remember playing the Forever Your Girl cassette on repeat and trying to learn MC Skat Kat’s dance moves from the “Opposites Attract” video. And was “Rush Rush” not, like, the most romantic song EVER? She, of course, went on to be a judge on a pretty popular TV show, but to those of us who grew up roller-skating to “Straight Up” and “Cold Hearted,” Abdul is forever our girl. It’s time to relive the skate-rink nostalgia, and to make it even more awesome, her new Vegas residency, Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl, is at the Flamingo Las Vegas, so you can pregame at Margaritaville and walk outside to the fountains at Caesars going off across the street after the show.
Show dates:
August: 13, 15, 16, 17
October: 22, 24, 25, 26
November: 26, 28, 29, 30
December: 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 22, 24, 27, 28, 31
January: 1, 3, 4
Other 2019 Vegas residencies include:
- Lady Gaga
- Florida Georgia Line
- Bruno Mars
- Mariah Carey
- Christina Aguilera
- Gwen Stefani
- Janet Jackson
- Lady Antebellum
- Postmodern Jukebox
- Robbie Williams
- Aerosmith
Filed under: Music