Country Music And Sin City

Luke Bryan opens up at the new, shiny Resorts World showroom tonight (2/11). He is the latest Country star to see his name in the big lights of Las Vegas, a.k.a. Sin City.

Vegas has always invited Country stars to attract fans to the city’s gambling halls. (The Sin City name comes from the fact you can do things in Vegas and Nevada you can’t do anywhere else in the United States.)

Luke will have a huge stage in a room with 5,000 seats, none of them bad. Shania Twain rode a horse on her Vegas stage. Some fly in the air or have a waterfall on stage. Show business blooms in Vegas.

Mr. Bryan just plans to do his high-energy show. That works in Vegas too. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were plain and simple, as was Garth Brooks and his one-man show.

Saw Rod Stewart and the flying circus in the ’70s. Rod had trapeze artists over his head while he sang. It was visually memorable, even some 50 years later.

Tour season with Covid as its co-star is about to launch. A radio friend is out this week with Covid attack number two, so it’s not over. We all hope and pray these large gatherings will be safe.

Kenny Chesney announced 20 amphitheater dates this week to go along with his 21stadium shows. The boy is ready to work!

One of Country music’s top hit makers in the last 10 years is about to park the buses. After a dozen shows this summer, Florida Georgia Line will “take a break.” Both guys are busy doing their own thing these days. Like many others have done, they are leaving open a return at some distant date.

Back to the Vegas thing … If I add up and rank the best Country shows I’ve ever seen, the ones in Vegas would be right up there. Barbara Mandrell, Louise Mandrell, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, The Oak Ridge Boys, Garth Brooks, Mickey Gilley, Mel Tillis, Charlie Daniels, Tim & Faith -- all filled showrooms all up and down the Strip and in downtown. The showrooms all feature great sound and lights. The big arenas seem to have the same quality.

The air is dry, and you can get Vegas throat like more than a few have done. I was once on stage at one of the showrooms watching rehearsal and the installation on a humidifier in the mic stand of Johnny Cash. Cool invention, and I think it worked for him. Luke’s people ought to think about it.

CRS is just down the calendar. The labels seem to usually have surprises up their sleeves, sometimes roster changes … hmmmmm.

So is everyone on board the Amazon Prime Video ACM Awards in Vegas? In a football stadium? Dare anyone ask what the best-case scenario audience might be for this? “Yellowstone” on cable has maybe 10 million. “1883,” only on Paramount+, three million.

Is even anywhere close to a mass audience going to watch an award show on an app?

The apps are coming, and they appear to be the future. Netflix proves that. Note: Netflix rarely gives audience numbers. Amazon Prime just raised its rates due to the upcoming “Thursday Night Football.”

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” This TV show live on an app involves perception.

Is Country music in such a healthy place it can abandon free TV, and even cable TV, and go to “greener” pastures? Maybe the powers that be better do both