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Credit: Autumn de WildeSmokey Robinson kicks off a three-date Las Vegas engagement tonight at the Wynn resort’s Encore Theater. The Motown legend’s Live in Vegas! show will feature classic songs spanning four decades that Robinson recorded with his old group The Miracles, solo, or wrote for other artists.
“We just come and we play everything,” Smokey tells ABC Radio. “I play all the old stuff, all the new stuff, all the in-between stuff. You know, many times I take requests from the audience. It’s just, whatever happens there happens…We have two-and-a-half hours of fun.”
The many memorable tunes the concert likely will feature include “I Second That Emotion,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Ooo Baby Baby,” “My Girl,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Being with You,” and “Cruisin’.”
Robinson has played multiple-night stands in Sin City before, but not for many years.
“The first time I played an extended engagement in Vegas was in 1980…so I used to do it all the time,” Smokey explains, “but then Vegas stopped having…residencies for a while. You know, they kind of went to a family town situation and started…making theme parks and…things like that.”
The 79-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who lives in Las Vegas part time, notes that residencies are popular again in the city, “And so, I’m back in.”
He adds, “Vegas is a great show town.”
Meanwhile, Motown Records is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and Robinson will co-host a CBS special commemorating the milestone that’ll air on April 21. However, he tells ABC Radio that his Vegas show won’t “dwell upon” the anniversary.
Smokey’s other Live in Vegas! performances are scheduled for this Friday and Saturday, March 1 and 2. Visit WynnLasVegas.com for more details and to buy tickets.
Here’s Robinson’s full concert schedule:
2/27 — Las Vegas, NV, Wynn Las Vegas — Encore Theater
3/1 — Las Vegas, NV, Wynn Las Vegas — Encore Theater
3/2 — Las Vegas, NV, Wynn Las Vegas — Encore Theater
3/30 — Atlantic City, NJ, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
4/6 — Battle Creek, MI, Firekeepers Casino
6/15 — Del Mar, CA, Del Mar Fairgrounds
6/27 — Costa Mesa, CA, The Pacific Amphitheatre
8/3 — Fishers, IN, Conner Prairie
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