LAS VEGAS (CelebrityAccess) – Reigning Academy of Country Music (ACM) Entertainer of the Year and current Country Music Association (CMA) triple-nominee Miranda Lambert celebrated the launch of Miranda Lambert: Velvet Rodeo The Las Vegas Residency, this past weekend at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The headlining residency debut featured high-energy entertainment and poignant stripped-back moments spanning her entire career from her 2005 debut, Kerosene, to this year’s critically-acclaimed Palomino.
“We’ve been dreaming up this show for so long to make it something special for the fans and to celebrate all the music we’ve enjoyed together over the years,” reflects Lambert. “It felt amazing to finally take everything we’ve rehearsed and share it with that room full of people. I can’t wait to do it again next weekend and to make Vegas our own supersized honky tonk for months to come!”
Clad in a bright blue embroidered ensemble inspired by one of Elvis’s Vegas jumpsuits and topped with a glitzy Sin City-appropriate Daniel x Diamond cowboy hat, Lambert rose slowly on an upstage lift to officially kick off the eight month residency Friday (September 23) with the sassy opener “Actin’ Up.” From there, as she moved into “Fastest Girl in Town,” the pyrotechnics exploded with the energy of what was to come as the at-capacity crowd basked in the excitement of opening night.
Backed by her longtime band featuring guitarists Ethan Ballinger and Jerry Massey, steel guitarist Spencer Cullum, keys player Daniel Mitchell, bassist Jonathan Murray, backing vocalist Gwen Sebastian and drummer Max Zemanovic, Lambert treated fans 22 songs within her 90 minute set. From an especially touching performance of Lambert’s emotive ballad “Carousel,” backed only by a piano as she stood flanked by spotlights, to a rousing rendition of her triple-Platinum hit “Gunpowder & Lead” that wowed the audience with its grand finale as the fringed sleeves of her pink Idyllwind jacket burst into sparkling flames, the musical celebration was well worth the wait for both Lambert and her fans.
“We made it! We’re so damn glad to be playing for people tonight; we’ve been rehearsing for a really long, long time,” Lambert shared midway through her set on Friday night as she introduced inclusive anthem “All Kinds of Kinds,” continuing, “This song is your friendly reminder to be who you are, always, all the time – ‘cause you just might end up in Vegas on a stage with bright lights, you never know!”
Saturday’s show maintained the high-energy atmosphere of opening night, from a poignant rendition of her Grammy Award-winning “The House That Built Me,” with the crowd taking over lead vocals for the final chorus, to an invigorating performance of her ACM Single of the Year-winning number “Mama’s Broken Heart” and a full audience singalong for the penultimate number, “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home),” as confetti rained from the ceiling.
Lambert, Live Nation Las Vegas and Caesars Entertainment are donating $1 of every ticket purchased to Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit that has raised over $6 million since its inception in 2009. The Foundation’s mission is to promote the adoption of rescue pets, support animal shelters across the country, advance spay and neuter and assist with the transport of animals during times of natural disaster.
Opening Weekend Set List:
1. Actin’ Up
2. Fastest Girl in Town
3. Kerosene
4. Strange
5. Famous in a Small Town
6. Heart Like Mine
7. If I Was A Cowboy
8. Bluebird
9. Vice
10. All Kinds of Kinds
11. The House That Built Me
12. Automatic
13. Geraldene
14. Tequila Does
15. Only Prettier
16. White Liar
17. Carousel
18. Tin Man
19. Mama Tried – Mama’s Broken Heart
20. Gunpowder & Lead
21. Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)
22. Little Red Wagon
