Silk Sonic’s Las Vegas residency marks the first time I’ve attended an event here that required me to stuff my phone into a Yondr pouch, locked up for the duration of the 90-minute concert and only liberated by a staffer on the way out of the Dolby Live theater at Park MGM.
On the way in, I questioned whether the performance would be worth that seemingly substantial sacrifice. But the old-school soul performance by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and company is so enthralling and celebratory, I only thought of my phone when they played a song titled “We Took Your Phones Away.” That’s a demonstration of the supreme confidence these entertainers bring to the stage.
MGM Resorts and Live Nation are very aware they have a big winner with An Evening With Silk Sonic, also the name of the duo’s nine-track studio album released in November. Debuting on February 25 with dates extending through May, the show earns the residency title and satisfies on every level. If the Strip needed a musical revelation in the wake of the Adele debacle, this is it.
Since Silk Sonic only has a handful of its own songs, past hits from Mars and .Paak are incorporated into the setlist—in unexpected ways. Mars’ “That’s What I Like” is wrapped in Earth, Wind & Fire vibes, and interpolations of Con Funk Shun’s “Love’s Train” and Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” shine as brightly as Silk Sonic’s own hit singles.
Mars and .Paak are both electric live performers, and both are clearly overjoyed to be singing and playing these songs on any stage, let alone in front of 5,000 fans in one of the crown-jewel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip. They bounce between drum kits and guitars, swinging and swaying through Motown and disco-inspired choreography, and neither one ever seems to stop smiling.
They do ham it up for their own tearfully smooth ballad, “Put on a Smile,” co-written with Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. But just when that numbers threatens to get a bit cheesy, the pair skillfully weave pieces of .Paak’s “Make It Better” and Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” into the mix.
It feels special seeing .Paak, a distinctive artist who has performed in smaller spaces like the House of Blues and Park MGM’s nearby On the Record nightclub, make the most of the big stage. He’s absolutely up for being a Vegas headliner.
Even if classic R&B isn’t normally your thing, put Silk Sonic on your Strip residency must list. At times it feels more powerful than an homage to the duo’s inspirations, as if asking, What might it be like if James Brown, Al Green or Curtis Mayfield had a big Vegas show back in the day? Silk Sonic isn’t transporting the audience to another era so much as pulling that era’s amazing music into the present day, reminding us how good it feels.
Since I wasn’t looking at my phone as the show started, I noticed when Usher and Jermaine Dupri strolled into Dolby Live and took their seats. Much later that night, that duo and the Silk Sonic guys partied together at Delilah at Wynn Las Vegas, with Usher and .Paak hopping onstage for an impromptu performance.
If you ask me, that sounds like some new Rat Pack stuff, hardly surprising considering Usher has moved his residency show from the Colosseum at Caesars Palace to Dolby Live, where it’ll start it up again this summer, right after Silk Sonic finishes up. These guys are having just as much fun as we are in Las Vegas. Probably more.
SILK SONIC March 18-19, 23, 25-26 & 31, 9 p.m., $114-$495. Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.
