VEGAS MUSIC ROUNDUP: Nostalgia Overload! (Duran Duran, Heart, Pat Benatar, ABBA Avatar Show)

Posted on: April 2, 2024, 01:30h. 

Last updated on: April 2, 2024, 02:26h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

The latest cluster of new Las Vegas concert announcements reads like a classified ad from 1984, with the majority of dates booked by, ironically, the newest casino on The Strip.

John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran appear at their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2022. (Image: Associated Press)

Heart, featuring sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, brings its latest comeback tour to the Fontainebleau’s BleauLive Theater on December 13. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Pacific time Friday via fontainebleaulasvegas.com.

Heart’s Nancy and Ann Wilson are one of several old bands performing at the new Fontainebleau. (Image: Getty)

Duran Duran, still featuring Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and John and Roger Taylor, make their return to the Wynn’s Encore Theater on May 3-4. The ’80s band first performed at the venue in 2022. Tickets are already on sale via Ticketmaster.com.

Pat Benatar and her husband and musical partner since 1982, Neil Giraldo, return to the Pearl at the Palms August 2 under the band name Funtastic 24. The couple were the casino’s first headliners since they reopened under the ownership of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in September 2022. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.

Bringing the list up to a relatively more recent 30 years ago are the Smashing Pumpkins, featuring original members Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlain. Their new tour also stops at BleauLive, on September 27. A presale has already begun, with a general on-sale starting Friday at fontainebleaulasvegas.com.

Another BleauLive booking from that newer old epoch is Hootie & The Blowfish, who perform there August 23-24. Tickets are now on sale at fontainebleaulasvegas.com.

ABBA-tar Show?

The ageless avatars of ABBA (Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog, Frida Lyngstad, and Benny Andersson) take a computerized bow in London’s “ABBA Voyage” show. (Image: londontheatre.co.uk)

“ABBA Voyage” is reportedly close to finding a home in Las Vegas. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the smart money is on Resorts World. The London stage production presents virtual avatars of the members of ABBA, pretending to sing in the group’s original voices along to accompaniment by live musicians.