With the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry, residency shows are becoming increasingly common for bands as they step away from the traditional touring model and explore more innovative ways of getting their music out there.

A residency show is a form of performance that allows artists to remain in one place for an extended period of time as opposed to embarking on multiple short tours. This residency concept can be immensely beneficial both to the band and their fans, is it on track to replace touring?

We’ve seen residency-style shows on multiple occasions throughout 2022, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes recently did a London Residency at the Underworld, Spiritbox opted for two intimate shows at The Islington Academy over a bigger run and Metallica’s 2023 / 2024 tour is set up in a very residency like fashion, playing multiple dates in the same cities including even at Download Festival 2023.

Of course, a residency in itself is not new, originating in Las Vegas in the 1960’s / 1970’s when Elvis Presley began his stint at the International Hotel (now known as Westgate Las Vegas), the Sin City has become the go-to mecca for residency shows with some of the biggest names in music taking up residency there. Since Elvis, many iconic performers have done residencies at Las Vegas venues, including Aerosmith, Adele, KISS, Elton John, Def Leppard, and Journey. There has also been the recent development of the likes of the When We Were Young Festival.

Is residency the future of rock music?

Whilst residencies have usually been confined to bands with huge pulling power and stardom, are we about to see this change for bands of all sizes?