When the biggest names in music settle in for their over-the-top Las Vegas residency production shows, they obviously take advantage of all the Strip has to offer, hitting up all the hot spots, nightclubs and restaurants when they’re not performing onstage. Right? Right.
When country superstar Miranda Lambert is in town for her Velvet Rodeo show at Planet Hollywood’s Bakkt Theater, she’s hanging with family and friends in a suburban rental home and cooking favorite crockpot recipes from her New York Times bestseller cookbook, Y’all Eat Yet?
“I literally Instacarted a crockpot last time I was there and did all the crockpot things,” she tells the Weekly. “I throw it together, leave for the show and come home and eat after. It was the best.
“And I was actually texting with Carrie [Underwood] because I finally saw her show [at Resorts World] for the first time and it was incredible, and it was, ‘What are you making today? Sourdough?’ We laughed about it, how it’s ‘very rock and roll.’ We just can’t tell people what we’re actually doing.”
It checks out for Lambert, who opened her first Vegas residency in the fall of 2022 and has taken care of her fans with a somewhat stripped-down production, relative to other residencies. She’s basically throwing a honky-tonk party during every concert, reeling off her hits and making the audience feel like they’ve discovered the biggest possible version of a bar gig in the type of Texas saloon where she cut her teeth in the industry.
She knew what she wanted to do onstage, but “I didn’t know what to expect from being in Las Vegas,” Lambert says. “People ask, how is it? And it’s a normal life off the Strip, people just doing life. So I’ve been living in the ‘burbs, which I’ve loved, cooking dinner and taking walks with the dog and then I get to go clock in and go to work.
“I’m just thrilled I was offered this opportunity to do something so different, and it’s given me a rest from the bus. I’ve been touring for 20 years so it’s nice to have a break, especially in a town that’s so amazing. It’s been a really great run.”
Indeed, the run is coming to its finale. Lambert is back on the Strip this week and the last Velvet Rodeo concert is scheduled for April 6; after that she’ll be hitting the road again for all the big spring and summer country fests.
She’s also taken advantage of some extra time off the tour grind to write new music, so fans can expect something soon. “I have some things up my sleeve right now,” she says. “Making records is such a big part of what we do and we wouldn’t have made it to a residency or have the different brands or my charity if the music didn’t drive it all. So I’m keeping that first and foremost, no matter what I’m doing.”
That charity, MuttNation Foundation (which promotes the adoption of rescue pets and supports animal shelters across the country) has received a dollar for every ticket sold to the residency show. Connecting her new Vegas life to all those various endeavors has also been a positive experience, she says, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lambert return for another run or something new on the Strip.
“I think the beauty of Vegas is once you get in the Vegas bubble, they kinda let you in forever, which is an awesome thing to be a part of,” she says. “You can go back and reinvent yourself as an artist three or four years down the road, do something different, and I love that and would be excited about that if the opportunity arises.”
MIRANDA LAMBERT: VELVET RODEO March 22, 23, 27, 29, 30 & April 3, 5, 6, 8 p.m., $69-$250+. Bakkt Theater, ticketmaster.com.
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