Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Post-Santana Joint to be filled one night at a time

Carlos Santana and the Agassi Prep Drum Line @The Joint

Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Carlos Santana performs in The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Feb. 6, 2010.

In the music venue business, it’s OK to be afraid of the dark. A darkened theater (unless it is the sort of darkness used as a stage effect by Nine Inch Nails) is equal to a night of lost revenue.

But promoters should not fear filling the concert schedule one night at a time.

Carlos Santana: In Concert With Special Guests

Chris Daughtry performs with Carlos Santana during Supernatural Santana at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel on Aug. 25, 2010. Launch slideshow »

Santana's Memorabilia Case at Hard Rock Hotel

Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman at the Hard Rock Hotel for the unveiling of the Santana memorabilia display on April 12, 2011.
Launch slideshow »

“I’m never afraid of one-offing it to death,” says Paul Davis, vice president of entertainment at the Hard Rock Hotel. “We’re OK with that. It keeps the property busy and helps everyone make their budgets.”

It might help to know what one-offing is. It’s not a mob term, at least in this instance. A one-off is a single show. One concert. The Arcade Fire show last Thursday, which marked the second anniversary of the new Joint, was a one-off. What is not a one-off is the extended engagement of Carlos Santana, which began in the spring of 2009 and ends May 1 (the final octet of dates begins tonight).

With Elton John returning to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for a three-year run beginning in September, it is natural to question what happens at the Joint post-“Supernatural.” Both venues enjoy a strong business relationship with AEG Live/Concerts West. AEG Live is the exclusive booking partner with the Joint and also staffs and operates the Colosseum. At Caesars Palace, AEG Live has nabbed such high-powered Colosseum headliners as Celine Dion, Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John and, once more, Elton John.

But the Joint has no such superstar performer in place to snap up the dates left vacant by Santana. The reason: It is not that easy to coerce even a solo star to commit to dozens of dates over two or three years. As for a top rock band, it’s nearly impossible.

“It’s an arduous process to find someone at the right stage of their career who is big enough to still sell tickets and make our financial model work,” Davis says. “And if you look at what’s happened at the Colosseum, and at the Joint, all residencies have been individual performers. Yes, Santana is actually a band, but you are dealing with Carlos Santana.”

To arrive at even a list of bands that could, hypothetically, fill 30 to 40 dates over a two-year period is not easy. More difficult is to find that type of band, then face the grim reality that most rock bands are comprised of several polarized personalities.

“You have not seen a full band take on a full residency, and the reason is it’s harder to carve up the pie four or five ways,” Davis says. “Do all of them want to go through this chapter of one venue over a two-year period versus what they have always done, which is tour?”

Not likely. Any top rock act makes far more one-offing in arenas across the country and around the world than they would at the 4,000-capacity Joint.

Consider, for the sake of mentioning Aerosmith, that one of the bands targeted by the Joint is Aerosmith. This is a band that could regularly fill the Joint for a couple of years. Problem is, Aerosmith is not a monolithic (or mono in any way) rock band. Getting the members of Aerosmith just to agree on who sits where on the band’s private jet might be something of a challenge, so getting them all to agree on financial and logistic terms for an extended residency in Vegas is about impossible.

Dream on, as they say.

“We’ve gone after some big bands, and we’ve never stopped trying,” Davis says. “We might have a couple who do six or 12 per year, in smaller chunks.”

And don’t rule out the man who is leaving the Joint in May. Carlos Santana has a home in Vegas. He’s already here.

“Sure, all of our options are open,” Davis says. “He lives here and his people are great to work with, and he’s a great human being. It was good branding for the property. But he has other things that he does, he likes to tour internationally and sells a lot of tickets and enjoys the lifestyle that it yields. We do love him dearly.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.

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