For two weekends next May, more than 100 acts representing the music of America, Britain and Brazil will entertain 300,000 expected fans at the debut Rock in Rio USA festival at its very own 37-acre City of Rock on the Las Vegas Strip.
Bruno Mars, Joss Stone and Ed Sheeran were announced Monday as the newest performers to join already-set Taylor Swift, Metallica, Linkin Park, John Legend and The Deftones. More concert artists will be revealed in December and January. Organizers said Monday as they unveiled an on-site miniaturized model that they have booked more than 50 percent of the 100-plus stars expected.
The first-time Las Vegas event, on MGM Resorts land from Circus Circus to the edge of Sahara Avenue opposite SLS Las Vegas, celebrates the 30th anniversary of the legendary Rock in Rio celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Lisbon, Portugal.
Although the venue will have six stages for entertainment, it’s more about “the gathering” for people to enjoy music, culture and food. In addition to a Ferris wheel, there will be a 64-foot-high and 600-foot-long zip line that stretches in front of the Main Stage. As many as 85,000 people can attend daily from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m. The air-conditioned VIP area alone can accommodate as many as 4,000 people with a unique view of the City of Rock.
Organizers provided a sneak preview Monday of the three thematic streets inside the City of Rock. Dozens of musicians, performers and street artists tantalized with the experience that audiences will enjoy. Rock in Rio chief Roberto Medina conceived the U.S. festival and its City of Rock four years ago.
Now his vision will come to life in partnership with MGM Resorts, Cirque du Soleil and billionaire Ron Burkle — his Yucaipa equity investment takeover company owns Fresh & Easy among his numerous supermarket holdings.
Unlike other music festivals, Roberto wanted Rock Streets where audience and artists could interact over each 500-foot area featuring 20 “homes” filled with shops, restaurants and a stage. Performers will transform the street into stage areas to connect with audiences.
Rock Street USA will use the imagery of New Orleans, its culture and music as its backdrop with a diner, parked Cadillac, street-side cafes, jam sessions, the blues and dozens of street-dance styles with an official crew. Artistic directors Bruno Bastos, Miguel Colker and Shaun Evaristo will choreograph 15 dancers performing routines from artists including Beyonce, Usher, Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson as diverse as hip-hop, popping and locking, voguing, waackin’, dancehall, house, breaking and krumping. Guest crews from L.A. and Las Vegas will take part alongside the street-dance battles of the official crew.
Rock Street U.K. will feature the heritage of music from Great Britain and Ireland on a street created to resemble London’s Camden Town and Ireland’s Grafton Street with houses inspired by traditional Irish and English pubs and shops. On the streets, audiences will meet magicians, bagpipers, a Victorian-inspired photographer, jugglers, caricaturists and even a Buckingham Palace guard.
Onstage, there will be Celtic-inspired music by Terra Celta, and to honor the influences of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, the band Stone the Beetles will perform every night. Hula-hoop performer Lisa Lottie will present her “Bend It Like Barbie” contortionism circus art that has taken her to more than 100 cities in 29 countries. More than 1.5 million views of her have been accumulated on YouTube.
Rock Street Brazil will capture the warm and colorful culture of Brazil featuring some of the most charismatic figures of the typical Bahiana woman resembling the character that inspired Carmen Miranda and carrying the famous fruit basket on her head; the “Malandro da Lapa” from the bohemian neighborhoods in Rio played by ballroom-dancing legend Carlinhos de Jesus; Bumba Meu Boi, a folkloric bull figure typical from the northeast of Brazil; and capoeira group Batuque that will dance and battle on the street.
The stage will spotlight three acts that represent the variety of Brazilian music culture. Spok Frevo Orquestra, the Pernambuco big band composed of 17 musicians, and Latin Grammy nominee Cris Delanno and her Bossa Cuca Nova band with traditional bossa nova sounds and percussion.
Since Rock in Rio USA was announced this year, advance tickets have been purchased from 32 countries six months in advance of the Las Vegas invasion. News has generated $25 million in coverage worldwide and is expected to be worth $150 million in Las Vegas exposure by May.
A Cirque executive told me that acts from the company’s eight Strip shows will be featured at the festival in collaborations similar to Sunday’s Life Is Beautiful concert The Beatles “Love” cast performed with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
The lineup announcements to date include:
May 8
Main Stage: No Doubt
May 9
Main Stage: Metallica; Linkin Park
Sunset Stage: The Deftones
May 15
Main Stage: Taylor Swift; Ed Sheeran
May 16
Main Stage: Bruno Mars
Sunset Stage: John Legend; Joss Stone
Our thanks to Steve Marcus of the Las Vegas Sun, contributing photographer Tom Donoghue and videographers Richard Corey and Chris Rauschnot for their coverage. As the Las Vegas debut gets underway, Rock in Rio celebrates its own 30th anniversary and during its 14 festivals has attracted more than 7.4 million fans.
Organizers say the Las Vegas venue will be a premium world-class facility. “It’s a monumental task, but this will be no ordinary festival,” said Roberto proudly. “It’s a permanent installation, so we have a permanent city within a city complete with grassed gardens and even real toilets.”
In my book, that sure makes a difference!
{ SOURCE: Robin Leach via The Las Vegas Sun }
