Keith Urban to usher in new Colosseum at Caesars Palace
A guy in a black T-shirt and extensive tattoos spraying graffiti all over the place is ushering in the newly renovated Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
Country superstar Keith Urban is hauling in his “Graffiti U World Tour” into the currently under-overhaul theater Sept. 6-7 (tickets start at $59, minus fees, and are on sale 10 a.m. Friday at ticketmaster.com or at the Colosseum at Caesars box office).
Urban’s shows are the first performances in the Colosseum after its post-Celine Dion overhaul. The venue went dark after Saturday night’s Reba and Brooks & Dunn show.
“I think it’s going to be a spectacular setting with a multiple-Grammy Award winner in a new design that really pops,” Caesars Entertainment President of Entertainment Jason Gastwirth said in a phone chat Thursday. “We’ll have new VIP elements new video screens, and using the general-admission format for the first time.”
The message couldn’t be more clear if it were created with Krylon: Urban’s show is expected to bring the party. The GA section will be open, standing, a place to jump and dance if need be. The vibe is to reflect the festive atmosphere in the party pit at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood. The Colosseum GA section even has an automatic lift for different seating formats.
“We absolutely want guests to see for the first time what that section has to offer,” Gastwirth said. “What we will see with this show, and the ones that follow, is the Colosseum’s versatility.”
Known to explore a venue’s audience-seating areas, Urban is set to perform chart-topping hits “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Somebody Like You,” “Days Go By,” “Long Hot Summer” and “Stupid Boy.” He’s also added “Coming Home” from his 10th album, “Graffiti U”; and “Wasted Time” and “The Fighter” from “Ripcord.”
Gastwirth says the Colosseum is pushing variety with its lineup of headliners after Dion, who anchored the venue for the better part of 16 years, left the venue on June 8.
“Between Keith Urban, Guns N’ Roses, Madonna, our existing headliners and more to come, we’ve got a really versatile venue,” Gastwirth said. “It’s a full-in process with a variety of programming, and a really exciting time for us.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.