Blake Shelton to ‘Bring Honky-Tonk Neon’ to Las Vegas Residency

Et tu, Blake? ? The Ancient Roman-themed Colosseum venue at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will welcome Blake Shelton for a residency next year. The performances will take place Feb. 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, and 15. The Colosseum, which opened in 2003, holds a little more than 4,000 spectators. Tickets for what is officially known as “Blake Shelton: Live in Las Vegas” will go on sale Aug. 16 at 10 a.m. PT, but fans with presale codes will be able to start buying tickets on Friday at the same time.

“We’ve been talking about a Vegas residency for a few years, and all the pieces just came together for a run next year,” Shelton said in a statement. “The Colosseum is such an iconic venue, and I’m excited to bring some honky-tonk neon to the Palace.”

In an interview with People, Shelton explained that a clutch of Sin City dates was his way of getting a boot through the town’s batwings so he could legitimize the Vegas location of Ole Red, his Nashville-based watering hole, which opened its doors last year. “If you’re going to have a stake in Las Vegas, you got to do a residency — also if you’re an artist,” Shelton said. “I’ve just been kicking the can down the road because I wanted the Ole Red to be open before I did it.”

Apropos, he told the magazine he planned on splitting his time between the gladiator-themed Caesars and his own personal honky-tonk. “While I’m there doing the residency I may end up over at Ole Red jumping on that stage one night,” he said. (Ole Red seats a little less than 700 people and has standing room for more than 1,100, according to Eater, so Colosseum gladiators should expect to wrestle lions and seethe like Russell Crowe if they find out too late that Shelton’s making a surprise visit.)

Shelton first got a taste of the Vegas residency life when he joined his wife, Gwen Stefani, onstage at hers for a rendition of “Happy Anywhere.” He told People he watched her perform 15 or 16 times. The experience taught him the ropes of audience expectations for these types of shows, balancing unexpected moments with hits. “I never want people to leave my shows going, ‘Shit, man, he didn’t do ‘Austin,’ or I wanted to hear ‘God’s Country,'” he said.