Muy Caliente: Casino Books Rod Stewart

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INTIMATE SETTING: The 2,000-seat venue at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa in Rancho Mirage, California, will host Rod Stewart on Aug. 17. (Courtesy venue)

RANCHO MIRAGE PROPERTY SCHEDULES ROCK LEGEND’S ONLY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GIG IN 2024

Rod Stewart is coming to Rancho Mirage, California, for a hot time in the desert this summer.

Considered rock and roll royalty, Stewart will play the 2,000-seat stage The Show at Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa.

Saverio Scheri, chief operating officer of Agua Caliente Casinos, called it “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” the property’s guests.

“We got very lucky,” said Monica Reeves, senior director of entertainment at Agua Caliente Casinos. “We have really built up our reputation both in the music industry and with our casino to be a great destination for incredible music and the opportunity came across with our CEO to really step up our offerings and opened up the door for me to go out there and find some legends and bring them in. And Rod Stewart, how much more legendary can you get? He’s knighted. He’s a sir.”

Reeves called Stewart “the perfect artist for us to start this new endeavor of legendary artists in our venue.”

“He’s very relevant in the music industry and notable in news,” Reeves said. “He just sold his entire catalogue to Irving Azoff. He keeps relevant in  both the music industry and in the pop culture.”

Reeves said the concert will “bring an energy like we’ve never seen to the property.”

“We have high expectations of being sold out,” she said. “We are usually at a 90- to 99% sold out rate every night anyway, but I think this is going to bring us a different caliber of players, a different caliber of guests that hopefully are visiting us for the first time, but not the last time. We have some amazing restaurant offerings here. I just I fully anticipa$te that week leading up to have this energy like we’ve not experienced here yet.”

Tickets go on sale on March 15 and range in price from $200 to $700. The top end tickets are for the first three rows, center stage.

“I would anticipate a sellout on either day of or within the weekend,” Reeves said. “Rod Stewart in a 2,000-seat venue in a high-level luxury resort outside of Las Vegas? It’s unheard of and we’re going to be the only Southern California play for for him.”

As part of Agua Caliente Casinos’ ACE Club program, the property will offer members an exclusive presale.

Reeves said the casino wants entertainment offerings that appeal to guests across the board.

“The strategy right now is we want to be able to offer to everybody,” she said. “We want to be able to have the tribute bands that are a lower ticket price, but also these phenomenal artists that are just drivers in the industry that we can cover the spectrum of our guests and what they can participate in.”

Stewart will be performing his usual show of hits spanning his career and will be accompanied by his full band.

“It’s everything that you’ve seen on tour, ” Reeves said. “It’s his regular tour set that he does in arenas, but in our intimate venue.”

The casino has an exclusive talent buyer in Billy Brill and promotes shows in house, Reeves said.