Vegas News July 25, 2022

U2 Residency

The work week ended with another Friday evening news dump. Billboard reported that U2 will have its first Las Vegas residency starting in late 2023 at The MSG Sphere at The Venetian. Read more here.

The shows will be spread out over several months. U2 will not play shows on consecutive days. This could lead to Thursday & Saturday shows which would extend visits for weekenders an extra day. Kind of a smart trick if you’re looking to sell extra hotel rooms that I wouldn’t be surprised to see other casinos implement.

The U2 residency could begin during the Las Vegas Grand Prix F1 race in late Nov. 2023. If that happens, the most affordable hotel rooms in southern Nevada may be in Primm.

I wouldn’t be surprised if U2 does appear that weekend. An internationally popular rock band performing for fans of an international sport makes too much sense.

I’m sure we’ll hear more information on the U2 Las Vegas residency soon. In the meantime, let’s get to the rest of the Vegas news from the past week!

Las Vegas Quick Hits

• I knew Blackstone made good money on the sale of the Cosmopolitan. There’s a reason the company felt good about bonusing every employee on its way out. I didn’t realize it was the company’s most profitable single sale ever. Read more here.
• Ghostbar at Palms is reopening on Aug. 3. You can read about how “Ghostbar’s DNA will be based on a concept that is exclusively inclusive” here.
• The Whisky X is returning to the Cosmopolitan in October. Read more about the whisky tasting event outside at the Boulevard Pool here.

Useful Info

• While we’re talking about booze, MGM Resorts Las Vegas restaurants won a bunch of Wine Spectator awards. Read more here.
• Aerosmith made a big announcement this week. A small part of the statement was that the band will resume its Las Vegas residency at Park MGM in September. Read more here.
• Last week Station Casinos announced it was demolishing three casinos and selling the land. This week the company announced it was buying more land in between South Point and M Resort. Read more here.
• Station Casinos did not announce specifics about when and what the company will build here. Maybe they’ll share that during the earnings call in a few weeks. 
• Las Vegas is renovating the walkway between the Fremont Street Experience and Pizza Rock/Downtown Grand. Somehow it will take nine months and $4.5 million. Read more here.
• Jeff Dunham is playing three shows at Planet Hollywood in Nov. and Dec. Read more here.
• There’s a King Tut exhibition coming to Luxor in late August. Read more here.
• Remember that episode of “Las Vegas” when a priceless Pharaoh was stolen and the crew had to steal it back? That was a fun one. Read more about the “Pharoah ‘Nuff” episode here.
• You can see another rumor about the possible Adele residency at Planet Hollywood here.
• Swedish House Mafia announced its first Las Vegas residency at XS inside Wynn. All three members have done solo residencies. I didn’t realize the trio hasn’t done a residency together before. Read more here.
• It looks like the Bally’s/Horseshoe poker room will be reopening this week. See the tweet from one of the few poker people I follow here.
• Missed this last week because a chicken finger restaurant chain on the Vegas Strip doesn’t excite me. Read more about Raising Cane’s opening across from Park MGM here.
• While we’re talking about eating in Las Vegas, check out the top 10 restaurants in Las Vegas according to people that use OpenTable here.
• We already learned that the Las Vegas Raiders had the highest ticket prices on the secondary market last year. Now we come to find out that the team led the league in ticket revenue. No surprise. Read more here.
• Adam Lambert’s next run of Las Vegas shows will happen at Wynn Las Vegas in late October. FYI, Haloween in Las Vegas is an underrated time to visit if you like people-watching. Read more here.
• There’s no opening date for Legends Bay Casino in Sparks, NV yet but we do have some info and renderings for the Circa Sportsbook location at the casino. Read and see more here.
• The Mob Museum is expanding. Read more here. 
• Halo launched its driverless beta service that will deliver you a car in downtown Las Vegas. This is a bit too cutting edge for me but it’s interesting. I’ll let other people be the guinea pigs before I try it. Read about it here. Learn about using the service in Las Vegas here.
• Life is Beautiful will have a market with 40 local vendors. Love to see the festival continue to support local businesses. Read more here.