Las Vegas Weekly

April 22, 2010 · 2:05 PM

Photos: Sugarland begins 63-date U.S. tour in Primm tomorrow

By Robin Leach

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush of Sugarland at the Dr Pepper press conference at the MGM Grand on April 17, 2010.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Country music sensations Sugarland launch their 63-date nationwide tour this weekend here, and they promise that it will be packed with stunts and surprises. Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, who make up Sugarland, attended Sunday’s Click 45th Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena but did not perform.

They did, however, perform on Monday’s Brooks & Dunn tribute ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn -- The Last Rodeo, which was taped for a May 23 airing on CBS. Sugarland’s first tour was as an opening act for the 20-year veteran duo. They also performed for more than 1,000 Dr Pepper representatives at a corporate dinner party here, as the soft drink company is sponsoring their tour.

The Incredible Machine Tour promotes the single of the same name that drops in July and the album of the same name being released in October. They told me that they spent February in the recording studio for the project and then went directly into rehearsals for the tour.

“We have a whole new set. We worked with a new set and lighting designer, Steve Cowan. He has been around for many years. He’s done Billy Joel, Justin Timberlake and the Star Wars tour, so you know how elaborate this can be. It’s bigger and better than we’ve ever had before,” Kristian said. “It’s a fantasy version of the world imagining life if we had not evolved beyond the start of Victorian technology.

I reminded the two of them that every year I’ve seen them at the ACM Awards, they always risked life and limb with often-dangerous stunts. Three years ago, they did a complicated, risky, treadmill-run dance routine, two years ago they simply back flipped off the stage, and last year they wheeled themselves around stage from inside giant see-through balloons.

“That would make for good 3D if we film our tour,” Jennifer laughed. “But, yes, we’re going to continue that dicing with disaster. We do our own stunts, which is kind of our motto. We always like to keep surprises and try to keep our fans excited and give them something to look forward to. We don’t shy away from the physicality of the show, so there will definitely be stunts in this tour.”

Our contributing photographer Tom Donoghue was at MGM Grand with me for this photo shoot with Sugarland. They told me that the two of them wrote the majority of the new album cuts. “You will hear a lot of our journey on it,” Kristian said. “The live show is the album emotionally, visually and aesthetically. Both were conceived at the same time -- forward and backward, they inspired each other.”

The tour kicks off tomorrow night at the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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