How do you gauge a rock band’s success? Well, if you’re from an older generation, you lean on things like longevity, album and concert ticket sales and magazine covers. For millennials, it’s about digital downloads and social media follows. Or you can ditch the calculator and use a different tool, one that crosses generational lines: your ears. Simply put, if an artist’s songs elicit smiles some two decades after they’re released, odds are that artist is mighty successful.
Which brings us to Gin Blossoms. Since emerging from the Tempe, Ariz., club scene in the late 1980s, the quintet has produced a slew of recognizable pop-rock tunes—“Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” “Til I Hear It From You”—that remain as radio-friendly as when they first hit the airwaves.
Gin Blossoms broke up in 1997, reformed in 2002 and have since been touring regularly—and not just to support old material. The band released its fourth and fifth studio albums in 2006 (Major Lodge Victory) and 2010 (No Chocolate Cake). Those discs yielded such popular singles as “Learning the Hard Way” and “Miss Disarray,” songs that are likely to be part of Gin Blossoms’ Las Vegas set—along with, of course, all the hits.
Golden Nugget, 8 p.m. May 19, starting at $31.61 plus tax and fee. 866.946.5336
