“There were elements that we had to make adjustments to because of COVID. “The show that you experienced at the Colosseum is going to totally be different than what you’re going to experience at Park MGM,” he said. (Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment) Contact him at Follow on Twitter, on Instagram.LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 16: Usher performs at the grand opening of “USHER The Las Vegas Residency” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Jin Las Vegas, Nevada. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at /podcasts. John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. But this inspired preshow event could stand on its own even outside Usher’s production at The Colosseum. The Backstory is for those holding VIP tickets, paired with Usher’s performance. There is more to this event - much more (a strip club, a futuristic enclave called Ush Land) - starring about 30 actors, musicians and dancers. That scene spills through a curtained-off, outdoor street-dance segment just off the Forum Shops at Caesars’ lower-level valet. There is a backstory to this Backstory, about how the superstar son attempted to reconnect with his father.Īlso spotted in this mix, in some sort of creative capacity, is Majestic Theater founder and Vegas arts community leader Troy Heard. Even Skye Dee Miles and members of her backing band rock the place, with hired-gun dancers performing undercover, scrambling to the dance floor between the musicians and cocktail tables.Īs a capper, the wonderful Eric Jordan Young - portraying Usher’s late, estranged father Usher Raymond III - arrives onstage, dressed in military garb and holding a teddy bear. and dropped it to the bowels of Caesars Palace. On Friday, I caught Club Ush, which feels as if you took the defunct supper club Rose. You’re told to follow the Yellow Brick Road to this downstairs haunt, filled with themed rooms envisioned by Usher himself. Usher’s preshow plays out much like a second production itself.
The bills were a fitting souvenir of a night when a star performer returned to the stage, and paid it forward. The show also closed out with the requisite blasting of confetti - yet more “Ushbucks” (don’t try to use them at the tables, kids). “Yes, yes - it’s been so good that I don’t want to close the curtain.”Īttitude of gratitude closes it out #UsherVegas #RJNow /XB3ZO0QXJ4 “It means so much to me, just to get back to the thing I loved most, which is performing for you,” he told the audience. But the Usher production team - along with staff from Caesars Entertainment and promoter Live Nation - still brought a mind-blowing spectacle to the stage in the middle of a public health crisis.Īt the end of the show, Usher brought out the entire stage team. It’s unclear if protocols will be adjusted at The Colosseum. Entertainment observers in Las Vegas were wondering if it would even come off as originally planned, given pandemic uncertainties. Ushers performance, the first at The Colosseum since its reopening, seemed steeped in destiny. Usher’s shimmering silver suit studded black short-sleeve shirt with matching ball cap and show-closing, hot-pink ensemble were favorites.
Not since Cher played here have we seen such an enthusiastic swapping of attire. The rollout is as dizzying as the star’s several costume changes. The show’s signature set is a two-story scene that is reported to be an homage to the Atlanta strip club Magic City. Still, The Colosseum erupts with sound, a reminder of its audio overhaul and the venue’s refresh from a couple of years ago. There is a smoking aerial pole dance by a “Bad Girl” during the song of that name, and even a quasi-erotic number with the headliner grinding on the mic stand.Ī post shared by John Katsilometes musicianship, though, is reduced to a pair of percussionists and a keyboardist. We have powerful lights and sound, two dozen dancers and a two-story set piece that seems structurally permanent.īut we also watch, equal parts amazed and bemused, at the star on roller skates.
Usher’s Colosseum residency, which opened Friday night, is peppered with such deft moments. The star not only has developed his own customized cash stash, but has so much of it that he requires landscaping equipment to sweep it out of the way.
It’s an inspired moment - the height of showmanship. So much of this artificial money litters the stage that a leaf blower is brought out to clean the floor. (John Katsilometes/Las Vegas Review-Journal) into Usher’s show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the set rains with “Ushbucks,” the superstar’s counterfeit cash that looks and feels so very real. Las Vegas artist Skye Dee Miles is shown at Backstory, the pre-show of “Usher: The Las Vegas Residency” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on July 16, 2021, in Las Vegas.
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