Security, intimacy and money: why Adele is going to Las Vegas

Once a place where careers go to die', in Vegas you can see the big stars up close - and it makes sense for Adele

Las Vegas shows once conjured images of early-bird dinner specials, corny magicians and Cole Porter standards sung to happily clapping coach parties. But with another of the world's biggest pop stars signing on to perform in the city, namely Adele, the Vegas concert residency is further cemented as a glamorous and lucrative rite of pop passage.

Her fourth album, 30, released last month, became the biggest-selling album of the year in the US after just three days on sale. That is the kind of popularity that warrants a stadium tour - indeed, she played to nearly 3 million punters across the 120-show stretch of her previous 2017-2018 world tour.