Las Vegas native Damian Costa wrapped up his run as vice president of entertainment operations at Caesars Entertainment after helping launch new residency shows by Usher and Donny Osmond during the pandemic. But there was no downtime; he immediately began setting up a different kind of project, the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame at the new Dollar Loan Center in Green Valley, then focused on launching magic shows from Farrell Dillon and Lioz at Bally’s on the Strip.
This year, his new company, Pompey Entertainment, has renovated a prominent space at the Rio into a new one-stop-shop known as the Duomo. The 286-seat venue opened over the summer with the return of the long-running tribute production Raiding the Rock Vault, and this month Pompey kicked off another musical residency by touring yacht rock group The Docksiders. The Weekly caught up with Costa on all things entertainment.
What distinguishes this new venue, the Duomo? I think we have good foot traffic in the Masquerade Village and near the Rio parking garage, so we want to offer those guests any amenities they could want as they’re passing by. You’re getting the nostalgia of the arcade, there’s a big bar and a great café location with a delivery window at the end. It’s just a neat place to hang out and get some free wi-fi or a pizza or a margarita. [And] the audience reception is great—they love the room and the bar. We think there’s a place in the [Las Vegas entertainment] market to do things a little differently and have some fun and have something for everyone.
The new addition is the yacht-rock residency by The Docksiders. Why is this show and this music a good fit in Las Vegas right now? My sons are 18 and 22 … and when we [hang out] and get in the pool, what do they put on? Yacht rock. They’re absolutely into it. I think this music sets an emotion people need right now, that everything is OK. … And I think The Docksiders will find a great audience here, because when you’re on vacation, why not?
During your time at Caesars Entertainment, you and the entertainment team didn’t just open big shows and residencies, you also maintained smaller showrooms and developed other options that carried a bit of risk. Is Vegas entertainment still taking chances?There have always been people who were pushing it. You have to take risks; you have to help things evolve from the venue and management side, because the artists are evolving and the guests are evolving in how they want to consume entertainment. But not everyone is comfortable in that space, and it’s not always the most comfortable space to be in.
Does the constant expansion of big shows—now including huge sports events—push out the smaller venues and entertainment options, or does it create new opportunities? The big stuff is always going to get bigger. The headlining spot in Las Vegas just keeps getting bigger. But the opportunity to open a show in Las Vegas has always remained exactly what it is, and I just think we need to make sure we don’t forget those opportunities need to remain. That’s what the audience is always going to want. The way people used to actually sit and have a steak dinner at a show, that’s gone … or did it just change? Maybe you do the same thing but you don’t sit in the same space for three hours. For us, this is our home, so we’re thinking about how to do things right to make sure these things are sustained.
Now that you have a new foothold at a couple different venues, what’s next for Pompey Entertainment? This company services the entertainment market as opportunities arise. I’m giving a lot of free [advice] right now, which is great. I’m in a good place because I wanted to produce a few shows, run a few venues and manage a few artists. We will announce more venues like this as they come to be, but I think Vegas needs more of what you’re seeing here at the Duomo. I don’t know that you’ve actually walked through an arcade, a bar, a café, an art exhibit and a music hall, a place where you think, “I can actually lose myself here for a little bit.” I want to focus on a customer experience and a journey through a space that doesn’t need to be Instagrammable. How about music, and the bar and food, the stuff we all know and loved for decades? That’s my style.
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