At Formula One's inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, music takes a front seat

DAY TWO: TRACK DAMAGED BUT THE BEAT GOES ON

On Thursday, at a Sinatra-themed restaurant in the lobby of the Encore casino, Colombian reggaetonero J Balvin emerged in all black leather.

He'd performed the day before at the Las Vegas Grand Prix opening ceremony — the only artist to perform a song not in English, his Usher-sampling “Dientes.” On Saturday, he'll close the race weekend with a longer performance, making him the only musician to take the stage at this inaugural Formula One race twice. In many ways, it is fitting: F1 is a global sport, Balvin is a global artist, and music has become increasingly integrated with the sport.

“No matter where you're from, your language, people just love it, you know?” he told The Associated Press about his connection to the motorsport. “It's really cohesive — my vision and Formula One.”

“On the business side, it's good exposure,” he says of why artists are motivated to perform at F1 events. “Other things relate to it, but personally, I love fast cars.”

The sentiment echos something will.i.am told AP in advance of the opening ceremony: "Every producer, every DJ wants to play F1. Why? Because it's a (expletive) of money they make,” he said. “Every band that's any band wants to play the mainstage at F1.”

Las Vegas is the most expensive F1 race of the 2023 season — and the money is felt.

At night, countless concerts overlapped with what was supposed to be the first two Formula One practice sessions — a loose water valve cover canceled the first, and the second was delayed two-and-a-half hours for track repairs. Dedicated spectators were removed from viewing areas ahead of the 90-minute session that ended at 4 a.m. local time — the deadline for F1 to return the roads to Las Vegas commuters.

But for a large population of Vegas tourists, it was as if nothing was amiss. Jack Harlow played an abridged and charming set at a private SiriusXM + Pandora Concert at The Cosmopolitan. (Liberty Media, which owns Formula One, is also the majority owner of SiriusXM.) The Chainsmokers hit the stage at the Wynn. (The luxury club and casino is a founding partner in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.) Travis Scott performed at Zouk Nightclub located in Resorts World Las Vegas, another partner of this particular race.

For the music fan, it was a remarkable night of all-star performances. For the racing fan — not so much.

DAY ONE: A MICRO ‘OLYMPICS’-INSPIRED OPENING CEREMONY

It was raining in the Las Vegas desert on Wednesday night when Thirty Seconds to Mars emerged atop a giant, custom-built LED platform on the Formula One racetrack that, in just over 24 hours, will host the first ever F1 practice session.

For the inaugural Vegas race weekend, the Grand Prix hosted an Opening Ceremony — not too dissimilar from the star-studded event that launch the Miami race in 2022. Jared Leto and his brother Shannon Leto wore matching race suits, launching into a medley of 2005's “The Kill,” their biggest hit," and 2023's “Stuck,” their most recent one.

Then, in less than half an hour, there were abridged performances from Keith Urban, Andra Day (with a rich cover of the Beatles' “Come Together”), Kylie Minogue's summertime smash “Padam Padam,” Bishop Briggs, Journey, Steve Aoki, J Balvin, and will.i.am, each musician appearing atop their own LED platform.

Tiësto and John Legend performed together from the roof of the exclusive Paddock Club, where top-tier tickets could set attendees back $40,000. For the audience in the grandstands, tickets ranged from $100-$200.

The event reflects Formula One's accelerating influence on the music world — and vice versa.

“Anyone who hasn't been to an event like this can't conceive of the level everything is at,” Keith Urban told AP the morning of the performance.

“It's much closer to an Olympics opening ceremony than anything I've ever seen,” he added.

For his set, the country star performed “Somewhere in My Car,” a clever gesture to the automotive theme — and promotion for his continued Las Vegas residency.

The eclectic lineup reflects a shift in the F1 audience, which has grown in popularity among young Americans over the last half decade. The inclusion of Grammy- and Oscar-winning actor Day, for example, is a welcomed surprise in a bill stacked with dedicated artists who frequently perform at these events: Tiësto, Steve Aoki, and F1 Global Artist in Residence will.i.am among them.

"The Formula One world is new to me,” she said, adding that the global reach of the sport was the “biggest draw” for her to join the event. “There's such a variety of people from all over.”

“At the same time, it is nostalgic for me. It reminds me of being a young girl, and how cars can bring people together. Just like music.”

For the EDM DJ and Las Vegas resident Steve Aoki, the F1 Opening Ceremony is indicative of Vegas' growing appeal. “I think of Las Vegas as the entertainment capital of the world,” he says. “And to be the entertainment capital of the world, you have to have it all.”

He also believes that there is a shared energy to F1 and live music.

“People love F1 because of the sound and the energy. People want that adrenaline and excitement — there is that synergy. And I think a lot of drivers are really big music fans as well,” he says. “I connected with (Mercedes Driver) Lewis Hamilton almost ten years back. We went to Michael Jackson's studio in Bahrain and hung out there. There's a lot of synergies between the drivers and music.”

Just don't except a musical collaboration between the two anytime soon. It was more of a hang.

And later this week? Between the musical performances from elite talent, there will be a race.