Rascal Flatts Retool Setlist, Stage and Band Before Las Vegas Residency

Fans of Rascal Flatts will notice quite a few things different when the trio takes the Joint stage in Las Vegas later this month. It's a smaller venue then they're used to, so of course the production will be scaled down. But they're also going to be playing new songs, with new people.

Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney talked about replacing three of the group's longtime members late last year. "It’s what we felt like we needed to do to evolve with our sound live,” Rooney tells Taste of Country.

The new guitarist and mandolin player is a former national champion on the instrument, so musicianship won't be an issue. Other non-regulars will join the group on stage in Sin City, although the band played coy with the facts, mostly. DeMarcus admits they'll be playing a Bee Gees song that Michael Bolton covered, saying — perhaps out of turn — that a backing group would join them. A little research reveals that song as "To Love Somebody."

“I think country music is kicking butt right now and I think everybody is finally taking note of that, especially in places like Vegas,” DeMarcus says.

The Joint residency at the Hard Rock Hotel begins Feb. 25 and ends March 14. The smaller venue means less visual effects than you'd see from the "Riot" hitmakers at an arena show.

“The content is a little less … because you don’t want the show to dwarf the theater," LeVox says. "So it’s gotta be appropriate for the size of the venue.”

The show will focus on their long catalog of hits. They're the first country artist to play the Joint, and they worked in collaboration with the venue to decide which songs would work best. Before sitting down to talk, the group performed their current single and "Me and My Gang" for the media. In addition to those songs, "Mayberry" has worked its way back into the setlist.

Watch Rascal Flatts Perform Their Favorite Cover