Music at Revel: all over the map

    I was surprised to get a notice in my inbox yesterday that the Eagles will be playing Revel on September 1 and 2. 

    Last weekend was all about Kayne West and the opening of HQ, the mega-casino’s new night club. Where the heck do the Eagles fit in?

    “It’s no secret that casinos target to very different audiences,” says Rehan Choudhry, CEO of Aurelian Marketing Group, an entertainment strategy consulting firm. Choudhry created events for Caesars Entertainment’s Atlantic City properties before launching entertainment at the Cosmopolotican in Las Vegas, after which he started his own company.

    With the Eagles, he says, “they’re targeting their traditional casino customer— the slot customer out of Philly, Delaware, and New York.” An act like Kayne West is booked to attract non-gaming, cash-paying 21 to 28 year olds from the region who would then order bottle service at HQ after the show.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    This variety will bring people from all walks of life to the casino, but the pitfall of this plan, says Choudhry, is that Revel could be missing an opportunity to further its brand message by booking acts that line up with that message.

    With artists like Beyonce and the Black Keys as their first bookings, I thought they were going for superstars in different areas of music. But then they added Bret Michaels, Duran Duran, Seal, Reba McEntire, Stone Temple Pilots and Barry Manilow. Don’t get me wrong — I hope to go to the Manilow show because, well, he’s BARRY MANILOW — but he doesn’t have that “wow they got him?” factor, at least not at this stage in his career. These artists seems more a musical mash up than anything else.

    I’m going to Revel on Monday and bringing a friend from Texas with me. I’ll report back on what I find now that the casino’s in full summer swing, and her impressions.

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal