A&E

Five takeaways from Blake Shelton’s MGM Grand Garden show March 4

Image
Blake Shelton perform during his “Doing It to Country Songs” tour at MGM Grand, Saturday, March 4, 2017.
Tom Donoghue / DonoghuePhotography.com

Seven-time Grammy-nominated country music star Blake Shelton wowed a near-capacity crowd of about 16,000 Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with a 30-song setlist lasting nearly 150 minutes. The marathon performance included his latest radio single “Every Time I Hear That Song,” Billboard-charting remakes “Footloose” and “God Gave Me You,” and recent hits “Came Here to Forget,” “Boys ‘Round Here” and “Honey Bee.” Here are five more takeaways:

1. He was impressed with Las Vegas. A regular performer and five-time host of the annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, Shelton has seen his fair share of large crowds on the Strip. But this weekend’s crowd inspired him to play what he called the “long version” of his setlist, including a three-song acoustic set and a two-song encore, also using the crowd to participate in renditions of “Gonna” and “My Eyes.”

“You never know in Vegas, but this is the best Vegas crowd I have ever been in front of,” he said about halfway through the show. “It’s awesome and I love y’all.” The show began just before 9 and ended at 11:15 p.m.

Blake Shelton at MGM Grand

2. His fans are all ages. “Three generations and we all love Blake,” read a Twitter post shown on the arena’s big screen. Fans from the late teens to retirement age, mostly women, packed the front rows surrounding the stage. In the stands near the press area, middle-aged adult couples stood swaying together, some looking one another in the eyes and kissing during lighter hits “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” and “Austin.”

3. He might not be great with numbers. Shelton complemented the crowd of “over 47,000 fans” at the MGM Grand Garden before later saying the crowd of “51,000 people” “wasn’t bad.” His joking played up his goofy image from his judging role on NBC’s The Voice.

4. He gives up-and-comers a shot. Instead of an established name opening the show, Shelton’s tour features 22-year-old former Voice contestant RaeLynn. She advanced to the quarterfinal stage of the show in 2012 and seemed to lack energy on stage Saturday during eight songs lasting just over a half-hour. With country singles “God Made Girls,” “Love Triangle” and “For A Boy” already in her arsenal, RaeLynn could be a well-known name in the future, but nothing about her Vegas performance—including a return to the stage to sing “Boys ‘Round Here” with Shelton—seemed to move in that direction.

5. Country stars don’t mind playing all night in Las Vegas. Shelton’s performance isn’t the first such lengthy country music show in recent memory. Luke Bryan treated fans to two hours of hits as part of a 23-song setlist in October as the annual Route 91 Harvest Festival headliner, and again during a performance at the MGM Grand Garden in December. Also on Saturday, Dierks Bentley played for 90 minutes at the Chelsea after Cole Swindell opened.

Share
Photo of Chris Kudialis

Chris Kudialis

Get more Chris Kudialis
Top of Story