LAS VEGAS (AP) — Country music star Garth Brooks promises no two shows of his new Las Vegas residency opening Thursday night will be the same.
From the occasional special guest to a rotating cast of band members, Brooks, in an interview hours before his first show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, even teased the possibility that fans may hear new music for the first — and last — time at “Garth Brooks/Plus One.”
“We're going to do stuff tonight that they’ll never hear again because it just didn’t work or we just never finish it,” Brooks told The Associated Press with a grin. “We’re going to get very personal, so if you’re not planning on getting some mud on you tonight, don’t show up. It’s going to get down and dirty.”
Earlier in the day, Brooks also announced that Caesars Palace had extended his residency with 18 additional dates next year after tickets sold out quickly when they went on sale in late 2022.
“When the 2023 shows went on sale, I felt extremely fortunate and blessed,” Brooks said in a morning statement. “To even think I would get do this for another year makes me happier than I can explain.”
Fans who missed out on tickets for this year will receive early access to the 2024 dates during a presale opportunity before tickets go on sale May 31 to the general public. The 2024 shows are scheduled between April and July.
Built in the early 2000s to house Celine Dion's record-breaking residency and inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome, the Colosseum has been described by some as the home of the greatest entertainers in the world.
Brooks on Thursday called it an honor to join a long line of artists who have held residencies there, including Madonna, Cher, Mariah Carey, Elton John and Adele. The theater has about 4,100 seats.
“A chance to play a residency is not something you pass up, especially at a place like this," said the Country Music Hall of Fame singer and songwriter, who has won two Grammys during his long career and is a seven-time Country Music Association “entertainer of the year.”
The show marks Brooks' second Las Vegas residency, after he played more than 180 shows during a five-year run at the Wynn hotel-casino's Encore Theater between 2009 and 2014.
He said the live band for “Garth Brooks/Plus One” sets the new show apart from his Wynn residency, which featured acoustic performances.
“This is pretty much dessert for an entertainer right here,” Brooks said, “because you get to choose whatever song you want to sing and how you present it.”
Brooks recently completed his global Stadium Tour, which launched in 2018 in Indiana and closed with a sold-out show in Dublin, Ireland, last September.
Rio Yamat, The Associated Press
