Former names | The Joint (1995-2020) |
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Address | 4455 Paradise Rd Las Vegas, NV 89169-6574 |
Location | Paradise |
Owner |
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Operator | AEG Live |
Capacity | 4,500 |
Construction | |
Opened | March 10, 1995 |
Renovated |
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Website | |
virginhotelslv |
The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is a theatre located on the grounds of the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It opened as the Joint on March 10, 1995, as part of the Hard Rock Hotel (later Virgin Hotels). The venue closed on February 7, 2009, and a new, larger Joint was opened two months later, doubling capacity from 2,000 to 4,000 people. The new Joint hosted various concert residencies.
It is a common venue for classic rock and modern rock bands in the Las Vegas Valley. [1] It is frequently booked groups who traditionally favor arena types of venues. [2] It also hosted other events such as comedy acts and boxing matches.
The hotel and music venue closed in February 2020, for renovations and rebranding as Virgin Hotels. The resort reopened in March 2021, and the theater is scheduled to begin hosting performances in September 2021.
The venue, originally named the Joint, opened along with the Hard Rock Hotel on the night of March 10, 1995. The venue had capacity for up to 1,400 people. Numerous musicians performed on opening night, and the concert was filmed and subsequently broadcast on MTV the following night. [3] [4] [5] This new showroom provided audience members with an intimate setting that allowed them an up-close view of performers, some of whom normally would have played in large stadiums. [5] Its success led to similar music venues being built at other nearby resorts, including the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and the Pearl Theater at the Palms resort. [6]
Although the Joint was built as a music venue, it hosted other events as well, such as the world premiere of Con Air on June 2, 1997. [7] [8] [9] In November 2003, it hosted a fundraiser screening of The Big Empty . The screening was part of an effort by the Hard Rock to compete against its rival, the Palms, which had hosted several film and television premiere screenings. [10] In late 2003, Jeff Beacher began hosting a variety show at the Joint, [11] [12] [13] which continued its run for the next four years. [14] In September 2006, the Joint hosted "Imagine: The Artwork of John Lennon", a collection of more than 100 art pieces created by John Lennon, including drawings, serigraphs, and lithographs. [15] [16] [17]
Andrew Hewitt, the Joint's original concert promoter, announced his impending departure in late 2006, after 11 years. [18] AEG Live took over booking for the Joint, and events occurred less frequently there following Hewitt's departure. [19] By 2007, the Joint had capacity for 2,000 people, and there were plans to demolish it for a new, larger Joint facility. [20] [21] The original Joint closed on February 7, 2009, with its final performance being Mötley Crüe. [19] [22] [23] The facility had held more than 1,000 concerts since its opening. [24] The original Joint was turned into additional gaming space for the Hard Rock Hotel. [20] [25]
The new Joint cost $60 million. [26] It was built on what used to be 300 parking spaces, located on the east side of the Hard Rock resort property along Paradise Road. [27] [19] It was designed by Scéno Plus. [24] Like the original Joint, the new one was also built out in a rectangular floor plan, though with an increased capacity for 4,000 people, up from the 2,000 number offered at the original venue. [28] The larger Joint was created to better compete against the House of Blues and the Pearl Theater. [19] The new facility included a second and third level that both wrapped around the room. [28] The furthest seat from the stage was 155 feet. [24] In the original Joint, sound quality would vary depending on where guests would be situated in the room. This was because of a lack of sound absorption, something that was implemented into the new Joint to correct the problem. [26] [29] The floor at the new Joint was angled to give shorter people a better concert view. [29]
The new Joint opened on the night of April 17, 2009, with a performance by The Killers. This was followed over the next two nights with performances by Avenged Sevenfold and Paul McCartney. [30] [31] [32] In addition to its primary function as a music venue, the new Joint also hosted private events and comedy acts, as well as boxing and mixed martial arts fights. [24] [33] [2] The Joint was also frequently used as convention space. [34] In May 2009, the Hard Rock announced that Rogue Pictures had purchased the naming rights to the venue, which would now be known as The Joint by Rogue. [35] [36]
For 2009, Pollstar named the Joint as the Best New Major Concert Venue of the year. [37] Within its first 10 years, the new facility had won 22 local and national awards. [2]
In 2010 and 2011 it hosted the Dew Tour Championships as the venue for Skateboard Street.
As of 2014, the new Joint had sold more than a million tickets to 380 different events. [38]
In March 2018, the Hard Rock was sold to a group of companies that included Virgin Hotels, and plans were announced to renovate and rebrand the resort as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. [39] The Hard Rock and Joint closed on February 3, 2020, to allow for the renovations to take place. [40] The Joint initially was to retain its name, [39] but this idea was scrapped because of an issue with naming rights. The Joint will be renovated and renamed. [41] The venue is tentatively known as The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, while the new ownership decides on a permanent name. [42] Virgin Hotels Las Vegas opened on March 25, 2021, [43] [44] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the music venue would instead debut at a later date. [45]
Christina Aguilera performed in the new theater on June 10, 2021, as part of an official grand opening celebration for the resort, following the end of most COVID-19 health restrictions. The theater includes seating for 4,500 people. [44] [46] Regular performances are scheduled to begin in September 2021. [47] AEG will continue to book and operate the venue. [48] [49]
A Tom Petty concert in August 1999 brought in 1,786 audience members, although the Joint was only permitted by the Clark County Fire Department to hold 1,400 people. [50]
Notable performers during the early to mid 2000s included Beck, Deftones, David Bowie, Robert Plant, The Rolling Stones, and Stone Temple Pilots. [5] Lou Reed performed at the Joint in June 2003, but he became upset when audience members were busy buying alcohol at the bar during his performance. He left the stage out of anger, and people in the audience heckled him when he returned, prompting him to leave again before returning to the stage a third time. [5] [51] [52] [53] In July 2003, the original members of Duran Duran performed at the Joint as part of a reunion tour, which reunited them for the first time since 1985. [54] [55] [56]
The Beastie Boys held their final Las Vegas performance on October 23, 2006, at the Joint. Fiona Apple held her most recent Las Vegas performance in September 2012, at the Joint. [40]
For the new Joint, AEG Live intended to regularly book rock and roll residencies at the venue in addition to one-night performances. [57] [58] AEG announced on April 1, 2009 that Santana would open a two-year residency show at the new Joint called Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits. The band would play 36 shows a year. [59] [60] [61] Santana began its residency in May 2009. [62] [63] DJ Tiësto began a year-long residency in 2011. [64]
In February 2012, Mötley Crüe did a two-week residency at the Joint named Mötley Crüe in Sin City. Each two-hour show included aerialists, dancers, pyrotechnics, and video displays. Frontman Vince Neil said, "It's Cirque meets rock. This is not a show where you just sit there and look at the stage. It's happening all around you." [65] [66] [67] Later that year, Guns N' Roses did a residency show. [68]
Mötley Crüe returned for another residency show in 2013. [69] [70] Def Leppard also did a residency show in 2013, known as Viva! Hysteria .
Guns N' Roses did another residency show beginning in May 2014. [71] [72] [73] Kiss began a residency six months later. [74] [75] [76] The Kiss residency was heavily promoted throughout the Hard Rock resort. [77]
Rascal Flatts did a nine-show residency in 2015, marking the venue's first country music residency. [78] [79] The band returned a year later for another nine-show run. [79]
Journey did a nine-show residency in 2015, and returned two years later. [80]
In 2018, Nickelback played a five-night residency starting February 23 and ending March 5 as part of their "Feed the Machine" tour.
Live recordings at the original Joint included:
Several live recordings also occurred at the new Joint:
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. They have also achieved seven platinum or multi-platinum certifications, nine Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, twenty-two Top 40 mainstream rock hits, and six Top 20 pop singles. The band experienced several short-term lineup changes in the 1990s and 2000s; these included the introduction of vocalist John Corabi and drummers Randy Castillo and Samantha Maloney, both of whom filled in for Lee following his departure from Mötley Crüe in 1999; he returned to the band in 2004.
The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts and operated by Paragon Gaming. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and was known for many years as the Las Vegas Hilton, then briefly as the LVH – Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, until taking its current name in 2014. From 1981 to 1990, it was the largest hotel in the world.
The Tropicana Las Vegas is a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn National Gaming. It offers 1,467 rooms, a 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) gaming floor, and 72,000 sq ft (6,700 m2) of convention and exhibit space.
Park MGM, formerly Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, is a megaresort hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel, with a height of 360 ft (110 m), has 32 floors, including a 102,000-square-foot (9,500 m2) casino floor with 1,400 slot machines, 60 table games, and 15 poker tables. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International. The hotel offers 2,992 guest rooms, including 259 luxury suites. The Monte Carlo was converted into Park MGM between late 2016 and 2018, with the upper floors being converted into a boutique hotel, NoMad Las Vegas.
Bally's Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. It originally opened as the MGM Grand Hotel on December 4, 1973. The 26-story hotel contained 2,100 rooms, and was among the world's largest hotels.
Red Rock Resort is a hotel and casino in Summerlin South, Nevada, located in the Las Vegas Valley. It is owned and operated by Station Casinos on 59.43 acres (24.05 ha) located in the Downtown Summerlin neighborhood. It is Station Casinos' flagship property, and the company's corporate headquarters is located on the property.
The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was a resort located near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It now operates as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The resort is located on 16.7 acres (6.8 ha) on the corner of Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road, about a mile east of the Las Vegas Strip. At the time of its closure, the Hard Rock included 1,506 rooms across several hotel towers, a 61,704-square-foot (5,732.5 m2) casino, and a music venue known as The Joint. It had also hosted a weekly pool party event known as Rehab.
Sahara Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Meruelo Group. The hotel has 1,616 rooms, and the casino contains 50,662 square feet (4,706.7 m2). The Sahara anchors the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, at the corner of Sahara Avenue. It is the site of the northernmost station of the Las Vegas Monorail.
Palms Casino Resort is a closed hotel and casino located near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It has 703 rooms and suites and contains 94,840 sq ft (8,811 m2) casino, recording studio, Michelin-starred restaurant and 2,500-seat concert theater.
Neonopolis, a 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2) shopping mall, is a $100 million entertainment complex in Las Vegas, Nevada located on top of a $15 million city parking garage. It is located on Fremont Street, at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard. In keeping with the complex's name, it contains three miles of neon lights.
The Zappos Theater is a mid-sized auditorium located at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue hosts a variety of events, including charity benefits, concerts and award shows. It is used frequently for the beauty pageants Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. From 2013 to 2017, the auditorium was the home to Britney Spears's concert residency Piece of Me and Justin Timberlake's annual concert to benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children. In 2011, it was voted as one of the "Best Concert Halls & Theaters In Las Vegas".
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a theatre located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theater is the main entertainment venue for Caesars Palace. Deemed the Home of the Greatest Entertainers in the World, the theater hosts numerous concert residencies by Celine Dion, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, Shania Twain, and Mariah Carey. Celine Dion has had the longest residency at the venue grossing a total of $650 million since her arrival in 2003. She also performed her record-breaking 1000th show at the venue on October 8, 2016. The venue has an estimated seating capacity of 4,100 and is inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome along with aspects of contemporary architecture. The cost of the theater was $108 million, becoming the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas, beating the "O" Theater at the Bellagio Las Vegas.
The Siegel Group, Inc. is an American diversified company based in Paradise, Nevada and Studio City, California. It owns and operates boutique hotels, hotel casinos, restaurants, apartments, bars, office buildings, retail franchises and shopping centers.
A concert residency is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour, but only performed at one location. Pollstar Awards defined residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a single venue. An artist who performs on a concert residency is called a resident performer. Concert residencies have been the staple of the Las Vegas Strip for decades, pioneered by singer-pianist Liberace in the 1940s and Frank Sinatra with the Rat Pack in the 1950s.
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Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is a hotel and casino resort in Paradise, Nevada, east of the Las Vegas Strip. It previously operated as the Hard Rock Hotel from 1995 to 2020, before closing for renovations to be rebranded as Virgin Hotels.
Raiding the Rock Vault is a jukebox musical based on classic rock songs, featuring a cast of musicians from well-known rock bands. Since its debut in 2012, the show has appeared mainly at casinos in the Las Vegas area.
Strait to Vegas is a concert residency by country music artist George Strait at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. It has included 14 weekends of concerts, beginning on April 22, 2016, and is scheduled to continue through February 1, 2020.
Bruno Mars at Park MGM is a concert residency held at the Park Theater, Park MGM in Las Vegas and The Theater at MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill in Maryland by American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars. Both venues are located in the United States. The setlist, which featured songs from Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), Unorthodox Jukebox (2012), 24K Magic (2016) and various covers, was performed by Mars, backed by his eight-piece band, The Hooligans. The concert residency was promoted by Live Nation and MGM Resorts, lasted four years and grossed $29 million. It attracted a wide-ranging audience of all age groups. The April 2020 dates were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coordinates: 36°06′38″N115°09′14″W / 36.110498°N 115.154027°W