Billy Joel is always great in concert, but the Mohegan Sun Arena is one of the smallest—and ... [+] best—venues he ever performs at. Mohegan Sun Traveling to attend “Destination Concerts” has become big business—just ask Taylor Swift, whose recent Eras Tour rewrote the financial history of the music industry. But Swift is not the only act fans are jumping on planes or making great efforts to catch in concert. For decades the Grateful Dead drew more attendees than anyone in music, many of whom traveled across the country or around the globe to see the band over and over again, while iconic performance venues like Denver’s Red Rocks, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium have become “must-see” arenas for music fans to catch a show just for their settings, acoustics and history. Most recently, Las Vegas rewrote the live entertainment rulebook with its long-term superstar residences and the world’s newest once-in-a-lifetime music venue, the ultra-high-tech Sphere, which I wrote about here at Forbes. The best casino resorts have a unique appeal for concert goers, with an unbeatable combination of great dining, nightlife and lodging under one convenient roof. But this is not limited to Las Vegas, and in fact one of the best casino concert spots on earth is about as far as you can get from Las Vegas in the Lower 48: Uncasville, Connecticut. This casino resort with world-class concert venue is worth a special trip. The 1,500 room Mohegan Sun casino resort in Connecticut is one of the best and most fully amenitized ... [+] outside of Las Vegas. The Mohegan Sun was one of the first Native American casinos in the country, and one of the first large full-service casino resorts outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City when it opened in 1996. In the three decades since, it has grown steadily and is now the second largest gaming venue in the country, according to industry website casino.org, with 364,000-square feet of casino space. Not only does this makes it a bigger casino than any in Las Vegas, no Vegas property even cracked the domestic Top10. But casino gambling is something you can do at more than one thousand places around the country, and not something I personally partake in (expect for poker and very infrequent betting on horses and sports, all of which are much less common than slots and table games in casinos, even big Las Vegas Strip casinos, and all of which the Mohegan Sun has marquee venues for, so no matter what your gaming style, you will find it here). MORE FOR YOU BlackRock CEO Issues Serious Warning Amid $1 Trillion Bitcoin And Crypto Price Sell-Off iOS 18.3.2—Update Now Warning Issued To All iPhone Users Northern Lights Alert: These 10 States Could See Aurora Borealis Tonight I first went to the Mohegan Sun a couple of years ago to do an assignment for Cigar Aficionado magazine (among many other amenities and facilities, it has a great cigar bar, The Clay Pipe) and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the place. I’ve been back since and it just keeps getting better. But let’s get back to music. With just 10,000 seats and the biggest music stars, the Mohegan Sun is constantly rated among the ... [+] world's best concert venues. Mohegan Sun One of the things that has made the Mohegan Sun so successful for gaming, lodging and dining is its location between New York and Boston, within easy driving distance for tens of millions of Northeasterners. This has also made it popular for touring acts who can easily add a stop when moving between the larger cities, filling in what would have been a night off, at a resort that is famous for treating its entertainment guests so well they want to come back. For this reason, the Mohegan Sun Arena, with just 10,000 seats, punches way above its weight class and gets acts who rarely play such small arenas and instead sell out the biggest stadiums. But as a spectator, smaller is better, and when I recently saw Billy Joel here, it was because I knew this would be better than all the big stadiums he was scheduled to play on his 2025 tour. There was not a bad seat in the house, and it could not be more convenient, taking less than 10 minutes to get from my room to inside the arena, without ever leaving the resort—no shuttle buses, no parking, no bad weather, no waits for car share, no hassles at all. It was even easy to get a cocktail. Even the smaller Wolf Den theater attracts big name touring acts Corey Kent for Mohegan Sun But it’s not just the Piano Man, the Mohegan arena has had Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, Bon Jovi and yes, Taylor Swift. Upcoming acts currently scheduled in just the next few months include Def Leppard, Alice in Chains, Blake Shelton, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Sting and Keith Urban. In addition to music, they frequently have sports and other live events such as the Amy Poehler and Tina Fey comedy tour, and are the home arena for the WNBA Connecticut Sun, the state’s only major league professional sports team. The Mohegan Sun Arena is consistently ranked among the top venues in the world by Billboard Magazine, Pollstar and VenuesNow: top three “Arenas in the World for its Size,” top 15 in the “World for All Size Venues,” and a seven–time winner for “Casino Arena of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music. So, it is a great place to see a show, but it’s also a nice hotel, with 1,600 spacious rooms in two towers, huge by Northeastern standards but intimate compared to Las Vegas. The reasonable scale for a big-time casino resort makes everything from parking to moving around the resort manageable, and USA Today readers just voted it the Number One Best Casino Hotel in the U.S. for 2024—for the seventh straight year. The latest addition is a new outpost of NYC's ultra-trendy Beauty & Essex, serving creative small ... [+] plates like these Red Snapper tacos Mohegan Sun The resort also has a smaller live music venue, the Wolf Den, that has gotten acts as big as Run DMC, Queensryche and the Marshall Tucker Band, a third intimate performance venue, the Cabaret Theater, plus a full-time comedy club and several nightlife spots including bars, pubs, nightclub and ultra-lounge. For kids of all ages, there’s a fancy bowling alley with full bar. It’s hard to get bored here. The Mohegan Sun is also home to two branches of Bali’s Mandara Spa, a global award-winning brand with spas across four continents and on many cruise ships. There is one in each hotel tower, and the larger location features full wet lounges with steam, sauna and whirlpool, and a beauty salon. There is large fitness center with modern equipment, pool complexes in both towers, and a large outdoor pool facility for summer. The Mohegan Sun even has its own 18-hole golf club with restaurant and full indoor and outdoor golf academy, about 20 minutes from the resort. For kids and adults, there's even a cocktail-friendly bowling alley. Mohegan Sun But for me, the biggest attraction other than the great arena is the array of 40 dining and drinking options, including several standouts. The hot new highlight is the just opened outpost of New York City’s trendy downtown eatery Beauty & Essex, serving an array of creative sharable gourmet small (and not so small) plates along with impressive mains such as dry aged steaks and the signature individual Beef Wellington. A standout personal favorite of mine is Jasper White’s Summer Shack, an upscale take on the traditional New England coastal seafood shack. White was one of the original first generation celebrity chefs, famous for his command of New England seafood and an acclaimed cookbook author as well, and the original Boston Summer Shack has been an institution for decades. This is the only location outside of Boston, and one you won’t find at any other casino resort. It has great fried clams, oysters, shrimp and scallops, plus lots of other seafood and lobsters. TAO is a popular high-end Asian eatery with outposts around the world, including the Mohegan Sun. Julian Cassady Photography LTD The biggest culinary name here is not a star chef, but a star athlete, Number 23, who brings his Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, one of just three in the U.S., and again, one not found in any other casino. I have not eaten at this location but I ate in the (now closed) New York restaurant, and thoroughly enjoyed it. They serve up USDA Prime dry aged beef, including longer than industry-standard 45-day meats, and unusual for any top steakhouse, offer several varied high-end meat tasting flights. His Airness also has a fun causal venue here, MJ3 Sports Bar & Grill. Other highlights include James Beard Best Chef winner Todd English’s Tuscany, a standout Italian spot with d fresh made pastas, and TAO Asian Bistro, a hugely popular upscale brand with locations from Las Vegas to Shanghai to Dubai and many other locales around the globe. Among the casual eateries here easily the most notable is an outpost of Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, the New Haven coal oven institution that opened in 1925, invented the now signature Connecticut white clam pizza, and is frequently rated among the very best pizzerias in the nation. I have eaten at the original Pepe several times and this one, and nothing is lost in translation, they serve stunning, superlative pizza. Another beloved causal eatery with a creative spin on hearty southern fare and breakfast specials is Hash House a Go Go, and there is something for everyone in Uncasville, from Mexican to Sushi to sweet baked goods. As an urban escape from the nearby big cities, or a place to take in an unforgettable concert experience, it’s hard to beat the Mohegan Sun. But on top of this, there is also an impressive array of annual events, anchored by the late-January Sun Food & Wine Fest, a 4-day culinary extravaganza that I attended last year and really enjoyed, with a combination of special restaurant dinners and a huge ballroom of tastings of food, wine and spirits. This year featured guests chefs including Rocco DiSpirito, Todd English (who has a signature restaurant here), Scott Conant, Marc Murphy, Geoffrey Zakarian and Tiffani Faison, chef/owner of five Boston bars and restaurants, a four-time James Beard Best Chef Finalist and winner of Guy Fieri’s’ Tournament of Champions TV cooking show. Other annual festivals include a beer-focused brewery weekend and a one-day whiskey festival coming up soon, in mid-April. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades