As flashy and palatial as the Colosseum at Caesars Palace can be, Blake Shelton wasted little time turning it into a good old-fashioned honky tonk for his first Las Vegas residency show.
The country star made his rustic entrance just after 8 p.m. on February 5, with a six-piece band that included a banjoist, a pedal-steel guitarist and a fiddler trailing closely behind. For over 90 minutes, Shelton took us down south and across his decades-spanning discography, opening the show with “Pour Me a Drink” and the woozy proclamations of “I’ll Name the Dogs.”
“This is a big deal for me,” he said onstage. “I’ve been coming to Las Vegas for a long time, so I know what my job is here tonight. My job tonight is to provide a soundtrack for y’alls trip to Las Vegas, so when y’all go back home … you’ll be driving around in your truck somewhere, and maybe one of these songs is gonna come on the radio, and just for a second, you’re gonna go, ‘Oh s**t.’ You’re welcome, everybody!”
Shelton expressed his elation for headlining on the Strip, but also jokingly acknowledged the pressure of it: “Everybody’s waiting for the trapeze people or some kinda glitter to come down.”
No such fanfare was needed. His resonant vocals filled the room with such exquisite power, it could’ve shaken the beams. Couples danced down the aisles to “Some Beach.” A cadence of cowboy boots stomped to the rhythm of his cover of Alabama’s “Mountain Music.” And cheers exploded for a feverish solo from the band’s fiddler.
“Somebody in here pour me a damn drink!” Shelton bellowed, his distinctive drawl becoming more pronounced on twangy cuts like “Hillbilly Bone” and “A Guy With a Girl.”
The country singer channeled his inner outlaw on everything from “Ol’ Red” to “God’s Country,” but softened considerably for “Nobody But You,” a duet he shares with his wife, Gwen Stefani. Looking the part of a gentle southern giant, Shelton crooned and held fans’ hands, charming us out of our leather line-dancing boots. You know, like those country men do.
BLAKE SHELTON February 14 & 15, 8 p.m., $99-$639. The Colosseum, ticketmaster.com.
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