The Tribune

By Cara Bethel

cbrennen@tribunemedia.net

WHAT happens when you pair a musical legend like Tony Bennett with the flamboyant talent of Lady Gaga? A concert that is pure magic.

The Grammy-award winning duo have been wowing the crowds since last December with their one-of-a-kind tour, which is scheduled to play a total of 31 shows across Europe and North America during the first half of 2015.

And now the two mega star singers will make their stop in the Bahamas for an intimate concert at Atlantis, Paradise Island.

On June 13, Bahamians and visitors to these shores will get to experience just how magical the combination of Bennett and Gaga is when the pair perform as part of the resort’s Summer Live concert series in the Imperial Ballroom.

The show will feature songs from their chart-topping “Cheek to Cheek” album, which won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammy Awards.

According to Anthia Butler, assistant director of special events at Atlantis, Tony Bennett’s and Lady Gaga’s “Cheek to Cheek” tour is a perfect fit for the resort’s annual summer series.

“We are always looking to remain on the cutting edge with our concerts, and when you see just how successful this tour has been, it is a great opportunity for the Bahamas to see this world-class duo right here, especially given the fact they have been selective in the venues that they are performing in. They have deliberately chosen to perform in smaller, more intimate venues which seat less than 10,000 people, and so that makes our ballroom a perfect fit for this concert.”

Atlantis will join other venues such as the Royal Albert Hall in London, Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver in playing host to the “Cheek to Cheek” tour. The duo are also scheduled to appear in music festivals in Monaco, Switzerland, and Spain to name a few.

Ms Butler said that the Imperial Ballroom will accommodate about 3,600 persons and already they are almost at full capacity.

“The interest in this concert has been amazing; we have had amazing traffic. We are sold out of platinum seating and are very near sold out of gold and silver seating. We have had tremendous interest from both locals and hotel guests,” she said.

Ms Butler said that one of the reasons interest may be so high is that the concert is really for an intergenerational audience.

“You have Mr Bennett, who at 88 is the oldest recording artist to hold a number one record with his style being jazz and traditional, and then you have Lady Gaga whose style is more eclectic pop, so the combination is amazing and has generated a huge response,” she said.

The “Cheek to Cheek” album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 20 with 131,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has since sold 583,000 copies in the US.

It became Gaga’s third consecutive number-one album in the US; she became the first female artist in the 2010 decade to have three number-one albums. Bennett also extended his record as the oldest person to achieve a number-one album on the chart. The album also reached the top ten in Greece, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Australia.

The concert will be held in the Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis on Saturday, June 13, at 9pm and will run about 80 minutes. Doors will open at 7.30pm to allow concert-goers the opportunity to walk the blue carpet and take pictures for a chance to win prizes.