‘You have to put your phone down’
They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
But apparently that doesn’t apply to Usher’s sold-out “My Way” residency, which led to him scoring the biggest gig in music — the headlining spot at the Super Bowl halftime show — at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas last Sunday.
After his epic halftime show — featuring all-star support from special guests Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Lil Jon, H.E.R., will.i.am and Jermaine Dupri — Usher married longtime love Jennifer Goicoechea, and then said goodbye to Sin City, which had been their homebase since his residency started at the Dolby Live — Park MGM in 2022.
But Usher is planning to bring the Vegas experience to his upcoming Past Present Future Tour, which kicks off Aug. 14 in Atlanta — the city that started it all for the 45-year-old superstar when he made his self-titled debut at 15 in 1994.
“The reality is that, naturally, I want the rest of the world to have access to what people felt from these theater shows that I had here in Las Vegas,” Usher told The Post.
“I’m going to curate it in a much different way because now I’m playing, obviously, bigger spaces, but I get a chance to immerse people in this experience and bring it live directly to you.”
And even going from a theater to arenas — including four shows at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Sept. 6, 7, 9 and 10 — Usher plans to make it still feel like an intimate, interactive experience.
“You have to put your phone down … because I completely try to immerse you into the experience,” said Usher, who, in addition to performing classic chart-toppers — from “Nice & Show” to “Yeah!” to “Love in This Club” — will showcase tunes from his new album, “Coming Home.”
“I’m in your face. I’m connecting with you. I want you to sing … These songs, these words, they mean something.”
Still, Usher will always have a sweet spot for Vegas and his residency, which — before ending in December after 100 shows — helped him launch a killer comeback.
“It’s important for artists who are 40 and up to understand, OK, wait a minute, this doesn’t have to be over for you in Vegas, doesn’t have to be a place that you go to die or you go to just play your classic records,” he said.
“No. You can completely remind people of the wonder that you can offer as an artist.”
Read the full article Here