The first annual Rock in Rio USA music festival has come and gone.
The festival’s acts of Taylor Swift, Metallica and many more drew more than 170,000 people over two weekends.
But with festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival drawing some 400,000, is it right to say Rock in Rio was a success?
And was the decidedly mainstream performance selection something that will help the festival grow?
Mikael Wood covered the festival for Los Angeles Times. He said the festival's biggest problem is a lack of identity.
I think it was something to scratch one's head at, to be honest. Rock in Rio was all over the place."
He said the festival was a success in that it brought in big name, mainstream acts like Taylor Swift, who kicked off her tour at the corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
"It shows the music industry is taking Rock in Rio seriously," Wood said, "But from the perspective of someone who attended the fest, I don't know if this festival sort of knows what it wants to be yet."
Music festivals are booming, and over the past 10 years, a lot more of them have popped up.
Wood believes this festival will stand out because it is taking place in a city that in itself is a destination, unlike Coachella in California and Bonnaroo in Tennesse.
"What might be sort of the saving grace for Rock in Rio is that you got people, who I assume, probably came to Las Vegas to spend a week on the Strip and this festival was two nights of that," Wood said.
He also believes holding it on the same weekend as the Billboard Music Awards helped the organizers get some of the A-list acts it had on the lineup.
Las Vegas Weekly music writer Mike Prevatt said his two biggest problems with the festival were the prices for food & drink inside, and that the acts were not ones that would draw a local crowd.
"I think being in Vegas, we get so many of these mainstream acts coming in so much," he said. "I think the allure sometimes is getting in these acts that don't come so often."
He said Bruce Springsteen is an example of someone who was rumored to be on the lineup but was never booked. Springsteen has not played Las Vegas since 2004.
Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times; Mike Prevatt, Las Vegas Weekly
