Metallica, LISA and the Backstreet Boys: The Las Vegas Residencies Worth Booking a Flight For This Fall

Photo Credit: Justin SeguraThe best Las Vegas residencies of fall and winter 2026 start with Metallica, whose Life Burns Faster opens at Sphere on October 1 with no song repeated across each weekend’s two shows. LISA follows with VIVA LA LISA at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in November, the first K-pop residency in Vegas history. The Eagles return to Sphere for November and December weekends, and the Backstreet Boys close the year there from December 26 through January 2. In between come Josh Groban, New Kids on the Block, Barry Manilow’s Christmas shows at Westgate, Earth, Wind & Fire at the Venetian, Mary J. Blige at Park MGM, Santana at House of Blues and Jeezy’s black-tie New Year’s Eve at Planet Hollywood. That’s eleven headliners. You’ll need a longer weekend.

There is always a concert happening in Las Vegas. This fall, though, the question is less who’s in town than which show is worth building an entire trip around. Sphere is handing its enormous canvas to Metallica while welcoming back the Eagles and, just after Christmas, the Backstreet Boys. At the Colosseum, Josh Groban opens October before LISA makes her Las Vegas residency debut in November. Across the Strip, Mary J. Blige, Jeezy, Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire give the season an impressive range of sounds, and several very good excuses to stay an extra night.

These are the residencies to have on your calendar between now and the end of 2026.

Metallica at Sphere

Sphere · October 1–November 7, continuing into 2027

Metallica’s Life Burns Faster is the fall’s biggest Vegas opening, full stop. The band is bringing its No Repeat Weekend format to Sphere: Thursday and Saturday shows each weekend, with not a single song played twice. For fans, that makes a two-show trip considerably more tempting, because the second night promises an entirely new setlist, not an encore of the first. The run opens October 1 and plays every October weekend plus November 5 and 7 before picking back up in January 2027, 24 shows in all. Sphere’s scale adds a new visual dimension to a band whose live reputation was built long before immersive venues existed.

Haute Living Verdict: Book both nights. One show is a concert; two is a pilgrimage.

Josh Groban at the Colosseum

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace · October 2, 3, 7, 9 and 10

Groban returns to Caesars Palace with GEMS, a five-night engagement built around career favorites alongside newer material. His voice is the attraction, and the Colosseum gives this run the setting it deserves: grand enough for the music, intimate enough to feel the force of it.

Haute Living Verdict: Five nights, one voice, zero need for pyrotechnics. Bring a date.

New Kids on the Block at Park MGM

Dolby Live at Park MGM · October 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16 and 17

The New Kids on the Block close out their currently announced 2026 dates for The Right Stuff in October. It’s a natural friends’ weekend: big choruses, a room full of people who know every word (and every dance move, whether they’ll admit it or not), and eight chances to catch the show before this run ends.

Haute Living Verdict: Group chat, meet group trip.

Earth, Wind & Fire at the Venetian

The Venetian Theatre · select dates October 16–31

Few catalogs are better suited to an exuberant night out than Earth, Wind & Fire’s. Their October return to the Venetian pairs the group’s dance-floor legacy with a theater setting, making this one of the season’s best choices for anyone who wants the concert to set the tone for the whole evening.

Haute Living Verdict: Go early, dress up and don’t make dinner reservations you can’t push back.

Mary J. Blige at Park MGM

Dolby Live at Park MGM · October 23, 24, 28, 30 and 31

Mary J. Blige’s My Life, My Story returns for five October performances, an extension prompted by demand for her first Las Vegas residency. The show spans her career with a live band, dancers and the songs you came for: “Real Love,” “Family Affair,” “Be Without You.” Few residencies manage to feel deeply personal and like a room-wide celebration at the same time. This one does.

Haute Living Verdict: Halloween with the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Costume optional, singing along mandatory.

Santana at House of Blues

House of Blues at Mandalay Bay · November 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 15

Santana’s Greatest Hits Live offers a different sort of Vegas night. House of Blues puts that unmistakable guitar in a far smaller room than the Strip’s arena-scale productions, which is exactly the point.

Haute Living Verdict: The most intimate way to see a legend on the Strip this season.

Photo Credit: Will Sterling / SterlingPics

Jeezy at Planet Hollywood

PH Live at Planet Hollywood · November 6, 7, 13 and 14; December 18–20 and 30–31

Jeezy absolutely belongs on this list. The Legend of the Snowman returns to PH Live in November, then picks back up in December for a stretch that includes New Year’s Eve. The production is billed as a black-tie experience, which gives a hip-hop residency a sense of occasion that feels exactly right for Vegas. His earlier orchestral residency set a Guinness World Record with a 101-piece ensemble, so this is an artist who treats the Strip as a stage worth reinventing.

Haute Living Verdict: Black tie, hip-hop and midnight on December 31. That’s a New Year’s Eve plan.

The Eagles at Sphere

Sphere · November 13, 14, 27 and 28; December 4, 5, 11 and 12

The Eagles’ Sphere engagement continues across two November and two December weekends. For anyone who missed the earlier shows, or wants to hear this catalog again with Sphere’s visuals and sound wrapped around it, it remains one of Vegas’s strongest music-led reasons to travel. January 2027 dates are on the books too, but December 12 is the final 2026 show.

Haute Living Verdict: “Hotel California” inside a 366-foot sphere. You’ll know it when you hear it.

LISA at the Colosseum

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace · November 13, 14, 27 and 28

LISA’s four-show VIVA LA LISA is one of the season’s genuine milestones. Caesars bills the BLACKPINK star as the first K-pop artist ever to headline a Las Vegas residency, and she arrives fresh off a Best Pop win at the 2026 VMAs. Two weekends, bracketing Thanksgiving, bring her solo music and formidable stage presence to the stage where Celine and Adele reigned.

Haute Living Verdict: History is being made, and there are only four nights to see it. Move fast.

Photo Credit: Justin Segura

Backstreet Boys at Sphere

Sphere · December 26, 2026–January 2, 2027

Vegas closes the year with a trip back to the millennium, literally. The Backstreet Boys’ Into the Millennium returns to Sphere the day after Christmas and runs into the new year, pairing the album with the group’s other major hits. For a holiday trip that rolls straight into New Year’s celebrations, the timing could hardly be better.

Haute Living Verdict: Tell me why you wouldn’t.

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