BILLBOARD: James Taylor Preps Las Vegas Residency

By Gil Kaufman

James Taylor is getting ready to kick-off his first Las Vegas residency on Wednesday (April 17). The 71-year-old folk rock icon will set up shop for 12 shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, which has hosted everyone from Celine Dion, Elton John, Bette Midler and Cher in the past. “Garth Brooks recommended that I give it a try,” Taylor told EW about the idea that’s been kicking around for a decade. “He thought I’d love it and he had been really surprised by it [during his residency].”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has never played a string of shows in Vegas, where he said he’s going to be hitting a custom-built stage that will include the return of his One Man Band drum machine. “I was a Vegas snob forever, for sure. Back in the day, Vegas definitely had a very specific connotation for us, and it was something [that folk and pop artists] in the late ’60s and early ’70s, were distancing ourselves from,” he said. “For one thing, it’s now a town of two million people. It’s not just the strip; there’s an actual population there, and it’s just an excellent place to put on a show.”

Taylor said his all-star band won’t shy away from playing the hits — “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Your Smiling Face” — but is most excited about the chance to put on his most elaborate stage show to date. “This particular staging that we’re going to present is something we’ve essentially been perfecting over the past couple of years.”

The show is slated to run 12 dates, but Taylor said it’s possible he could add some more gigs in the future. The dates for Taylor’s Las Vegas residency are: April 17, 19, 20, 24, 26, 27 and May 1, 3, 4, 8, 10 and 11.

source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8507123/james-taylor-las-vegas-residency