Production Profile

It took 12 weeks, and more than 90 truckloads of construction materials, but what was a dusty, forlorn corner of the Las Vegas Strip was transformed into the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll playground by Brown United. The company’s largest undertaking to date, Rock in Rio USA took outdoor festivals to a new level, incorporating not just multiple stages, but an elaborate VIP area, “Rock Streets” filled with shops and eateries and even a Ferris wheel and zip line.

It’s sounds like another teen novelty act — and in time it may turn out that way — but the American rock/indie band Echosmith is doing the work, writing great songs and putting on engaging live performances that seems to point that they are more than that. But they are young. The quartet is made of four L.A.-based Sierota siblings: Graham (drums/16), sister Sydney (singer/18), Noah (bass/19), and Jamie (guitar/22).

Held in Bayfront Park in downtown Miami from March 27 to 29 — and not-too-coincidentally taking place during spring break and the 2015 Winter Music Conference (the leading industry gathering of EDM and dance music artists and producers) — this year’s Ultra Music Festival continued its 17-year history of success.

Up-and-coming British pop sensation FKA twigs (Tahliah Debrett Barnett) began her career performing as “Twigs,” but after a dispute with another artist using that same name, changed it to FKA (Formerly Known As) twigs, and the new moniker has stuck with her ever since.

Sonny Maupin Helps Bob Anderson Channel Sinatra at the Palazzo Theatre in Las Vegas

There is no shortage of singing impersonators in Las Vegas, of course. But for FRANK The Man, The Music, which opened at the Palazzo Theatre in Las Vegas on Jan. 24, 2015, Bob Anderson is carefully made up to resemble Frank Sinatra in his later years, and the veteran singing impressionist also channels the nuances of voice and mannerisms for Sinatra, who died in 1998, to eerie perfection.

The North American leg of pop idol Enrique Iglesias’ world tour (with co-headliner Pitbull) picked up on Jan. 27 with two packed nights at the 13,000-capacity Don Haskins Center in El Paso, TX, before embarking on a long list of arena dates.

“It’s involved,” system tech Frank Sgambellone says, of Usher’s “The UR Experience” tour, in what appears to be an epic understatement. “It’s large, and definitely a show — that’s for sure.” By all measures, the 27-date North American arena tour was a huge success, kicking off from Montreal’s Bell Centre Nov. 1 and wrapping up Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. A well-deserved break ensues before starting up again in Europe and the U.K. in February and March.

When F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that there are no second acts in American lives, Garth Brooks wasn’t around to refute that assertion. After officially “retiring” from recording and performing in 2001 — with periodic, strategic breaks to drop a few new singles and one-off shows — he came part of the way back in 2009 with a five-year performance-in-residence at the Encore Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Now, with a new deal with Sony Music Nashville and the release of his catalog in digital — something he resisted doing for years — Brooks embarked on a three-year-long world tour in September.

Global rock heavyweights Five Finger Death Punch (5FDP) quickly rose to fame after the release of their first Album The Way of the Fist in 2007. Since then, 5FDP has sold more than 2.6 million albums in the U.S. and a new single, “Wrong Side Of Heaven” (on the plight of veterans suffering PTSD) has racked up more than 10 million plays on YouTube since Aug. 11.