What time do Las Vegas concerts start and end, and is there an opening act?

Most residency shows start at 8 or 8:30 p.m. with no opening act and finish by about 10:30. Arena and stadium concerts behave like anywhere else: doors 60 to 90 minutes early, one or two openers, the headliner later, done around 11.

By venue type

• Sphere residencies: no opener, on the dot. Metallica and the Eagles at 8:30 p.m., the Backstreet Boys at 8. Doors open well ahead because security is slow; two hours of music, out by 10:30 or 11. The Wizard of Oz screenings run from 10 or 11 a.m. through the evening and admit nobody late.
• Casino theaters (the Colosseum, Dolby Live, the Encore Theater, the Venetian Theatre, Resorts World Theatre, BleauLive): usually an 8 or 8:30 p.m. curtain, mostly no opener, 90 minutes to two hours. Tim McGraw's Colosseum run lists a 90-minute set with no opening act; Santana's House of Blues nights have doors at 7 and the show at 8.
• Production shows and magic: earlier, 7 or 7:30 p.m., with a 9:30 late show at some.
• Arenas (T-Mobile Arena, MGM Grand Garden Arena): doors 60 to 90 minutes before the printed start, openers from the printed time, the headliner 60 to 90 minutes after that, finished around 11 to 11:30.
• Allegiant Stadium: sometimes as early as 4 p.m. with several openers; the Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean date on December 11 lists a 4 p.m. start.

Checking a specific night

Look at the venue's own event page for "doors" versus "show", or the artist's social accounts on the day for set times. Residency times rarely change; tour times do. Our pages list the printed curtain for every show in the catalog: concerts and residencies, with the dated calendar at events.