Singer-songwriter Charli XCX, one of the artists to appear at the Rock in Rio USA festival in May, performs an acoustic set at The Village Studios on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015 | 7 p.m.
LOS ANGELES — The great block on the Strip party just jacked up the volume.
Announced today in a news conference at The Village Studios in L.A. were a handful of headliners to appear at the first Rock in Rio Festival USA, set for May 8-9 and May 15-16 on the northernmost tip of the Strip. Sam Smith, Charli XCX, The Bleachers, Jessie J, Magic!, The Pretty Reckless, Hollywood Undead, Foster the People, Gary Clark Jr., Saints of Valory and Of Mice and Men have all been added to the festival.
Jessie J performed a quick four-song set for a VIP crowd at The Village after the formal announcements played out on a big screen, with Rock in Rio official Roberta Medina, daughter of festival founder Robert Medina, furnishing the voice-over herself.
“We want different flavors,” Medina said from the stage. “We want different types of artists.”
Tickets for Rock in Rio go on sale Monday at RockinRio.com/Tickets. General-admission weekend passes are $298; VIP weekend tickets with access to VIP areas, open bars, buffet and access to an exclusive entrance are $498.
Some 240,000 to 320,000 attendees over the festival’s four days are expected to flood the under-development parcel west of the Strip and just south of Sahara Avenue. The area covers nearly 50 acres. Initial estimates of crowd size were 80,000 per day, but MGM Resorts Vice President of Entertainment Chris Baldizan, who leads the booking operation at the Festival Grounds, said, “Our goal is 80,000 per day, and we would love to hit that. But, realistically, it might be 60,000.”
Baldizan also said it is paramount that festivalgoers know there will be no parking for attendees at the site. He is working with Clark County officials, the Nevada Taxicab Authority, resort operators and even Las Vegas Monorail reps to forge an effective transportation plan for the event. Shuttle stations will be set up at locations on and off the Strip to haul fans to and from the Festival Grounds.
“We need to get a plan together and make sure people understand, first and foremost, you can’t just drive up and park on the site,” Baldizan said.
The event will indeed be a massive draw. As Medina indicated, the festival is a catchall of the top-selling and highest-drawing music acts in the world. An EDM stage, shaped like an enormous spider, also is in the blueprint, laid out like an outdoor nightclub, with top-name DJs performing on the Sunset Stage. That much-anticipated list is still to be made public, but EDM will have a strong presence at Rock in Rio.
The performances on those two stages will alternate, so fans have a chance to see all of the biggest acts.
The daily breakdown of dates and stages:
May 8: Main Stage: No Doubt, Mana, The Pretty Reckless. Sunset Stage: Foster the People, Gary Clark Jr., The Bleachers, Saints of Valory.
May 9: Main Stage: Metallica, Linkin Park, Rise Against, Hollywood Undead. Sunset Stage: Deftones, Sepultura (featurng Steve Vai), Coheed and Cambria, Of Mice and Men.
May 15:Main Stage: Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Echosmith, Ivete Sangalo. Sunset Stage: Jessie J, Charli XCX, Tove Lo, James Bay.
May 16: Main Stage: Bruno Mars, Sam Smith, Empire of the Sun. Sunset Stage: John Legend, Joss Stone, Ma!, Mikky Ekko.
Even as it has drawn the most famous names in contemporary music in its 30-year history, Rock in Rio presents itself as something of an amped-up county fair. A rock festival merged with an amusement park is how Rock in Rio COO Luis Justo describes the event, saying, “We need to heat up Las Vegas with this festival.”
Dubbed the City of Rock in Las Vegas, the perimeter of the event will incorporate three regions inspired by the United States, United Kingdom and Brazil. Each “street” is to feature 20 house-styled facades of shops and restaurants. Street performers will entertain on those streets as the music carries over the event. A zip line running across the Main Stage and a Ferris wheel are two of the attractions complementing the live performances.
Baldizan looked on from near the back of the room as Medina rolled out all those new acts. He said afterward, “This lineup is pretty unbelievable.” Soon, those acts, like the Rock in Rio USA rendering, will illuminate the Strip.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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