The Casino File
With all due respect to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Ocean Casino Resort, both of which are good for multiple blockbuster bookings every year, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City reigns as Our Town’s perennial show business top dog thanks to its “365 Live” blueprint that emphasizes daily, year-round live entertainment and various venues ranging from the intimate lounge at Council Oak Steaks & Seafood to Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena, the city’s largest performance space under a gaming hall roof.
As such, we figured we’d check in with the Hard Rock exec who oversees that end of the casino’s operations to get a feel for what’s on the 2026 show biz agenda. Not surprisingly, filling the arena with A-list headliners is Priority One.
Returning acts and newcomers
“We’re obviously very focused on providing some of the highest-caliber names in Atlantic City. There are a lot of iconic performers we plan on bringing back in 2026,” said Michael Woodside, the Rock’s vice-president of entertainment and marketing services, during a recent sit-down.
“Rod Stewart [who’s booked March 7] is one of the bigger names we have coming. And there are some other acts that have done really well for the property that we decided to bring back, including Rob Thomas.”
Woodside added that top-tier tribute acts including the Yacht Rock Review and Pink Floydians Brit Floyd will return as “they’ve done really well for the property.”
But there are more than encores on the arena schedule. Among the first-timers on the books are country titan Jason Aldean, who’s “Full Throttle Tour 2026” hits the Etess stage Jan. 31 and up-and-coming country act Treaty Oak Revival, which performs Feb. 6. It’s a booking that has Woodside particularly excited. “These guys are from Texas, but they sold 6,500 tickets,” he noted.
That the arena is an important stop for country artists is obvious: It was a 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards nominee in the “Casino Of the Year—Arena” category (alas, Harvey’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nev. Brought home the bacon).
Another new attraction that has Woodside jazzed is Yungblud, the 28-year-old British singer-songwriter born Dominic Richard Harrison. “We’re really excited that Yungblud sold out in about 30 minutes,” he offered. “He’s a modern-day rock star; there’s not many out there right now. We’re really excited about that opportunity.”
So far, there isn’t a preponderance of comedy on the horizon, but Woodside has locked in two topliners, Daniel Tosh, who’s booked for a June 20 Etess gig and Nikki Glaser (date TBA), who these days arguably ranks as the nation’s top female standup performer (she returns as host of this Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards telecast on CBS).
Looking at 2025 concepts
That Hard Rock perennially presents numerous headliners is primarily a function of venue size and budget. Where the property really laps the field is innovation; it’s not content with just the tried-and-true.
Last year, that quest for the new-and-different resulted in two successful concepts: The Balcony and Garden State Live.
The Balcony, the second-floor space whose patio overlooks the Boardwalk, provided a new wrinkle in casino entertainment with weekend presentations of a mini-production show for the over-21 crowd.
“The Balcony nightclub was a great project this past summer with the cabaret show that we hosted there,” bragged Woodside. “It did very well. There was a lot of great customer feedback.”
So, will it return this summer?
“We don’t have the details yet, so we’ll keep that a secret for now,” he teased. “But there are some plans for how this property approaches nightlife.”
The other program introduced last year was “Garden State Live,” a monthly concert series dedicated exclusively to (not-necessarily well-known) New Jersey artists who write and perform their own material. It marked the first time in the legal-gaming era that a local casino welcomed this type of entertainment on a regular basis.
“‘Garden State Live’ has been very well- received,” Woodside reported. “And it will continue into 2026. We’ve got a great partnership with the state, and together we’re committed to making sure that we support regional artists from New Jersey.
“I think that’s also representative as well in how we program our other ‘Vibe’ stages such as Lobby Bar and Council Oak and Hard Rock Cafe. We’re going to keep pushing really hard to support all those local artists.
“We’ll still give the folks that participate in ‘Garden State Live’ the opportunity to play original content. We still love that relationship. We love what they’re doing for us. And our customers seemed to really enjoy it. So that will continue.”
The bottom line, continued Woodside, is that entertainment diversity is the key for the only gaming company whose brand is built around show business.
“I think we’re really excited about what we’ve got planned for all of 2026; we’re probably going to eclipse the 120-show mark for headliner ticketed entertainment,” he said. “And we love having these diverse offerings. “We love to [accommodate] the different types of people that come to this market.
“We’re really looking forward to staying aggressive, listening to our customers and providing a great product. We’ve done really well in all the different genres, whether it’s classic rock or country music or it’s up-and-coming pop-rock. We’ve got something for everyone.”
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
