Rams Head Center Stage Opens At Maryland Live! Casino

By Darrell Mak

Maryland Live! Casino celebrated the grand opening of Rams Head Center Stage, a new 500-seat concert venue located inside the casino complex at Arundel Mills, with an invitation-only concert featuring The Charlie Daniels Band on August 30.

The new music venue opened to the general public over Labor Day weekend, and has already planned for some of the region’s top bands to take the stage for public shows including The Real Geniuses, Crazy In Stereo and Big Bang Baby.

“Rams Head Center Stage sets the new standard for live entertainment,” said Rob Norton, president and general manager of Maryland Live! Casino. “We are very excited to welcome one of the region’s most popular entertainment venues and collaborate with Rams Head Promotions to make Rams Head Center Stage the ultimate place to rock.”

Rams Head Center Stage will feature nightly live entertainment seven nights a week - from headline acts to popular local and regional bands, there will be a variety of music to cater to all tastes. The grand opening celebration continues through September with headliners including Sister Hazel, Chuck Negron, Foghat, Patty Smyth and Scandal. Ticket prices range from $25 to $30. All shows start at 8:00pm.

In addition, specialty theme nights will include Monday Night Football on the big screen, Ladies Night every Tuesday, Country Night on Wednesdays, Retro 80s Classics Night on Thursdays, and Classic Rock Night every Sunday.

With a central stage area, two full-service bars and a variety of eclectic seating groups and standing rooms, Rams Head Center Stage is ideal for many types of performances and gatherings. The stage features state-of-the-art lighting, sound and video systems. It features fixed seating in an intimate cabaret style design with several stepped viewing levels of the stage.

The new venue will feature live jazz, blues and classic rock acts and provide visitors the ability to interact with nationally and internationally renowned touring artists.

Completion of Rams Head Center Stage marks another milestone for the casino complex. After years of political wrangling and delays, the $500-million Maryland Live! Casino facility opened the first phase of the development featuring nearly 3,200 slot machines and electronic table games on the evening of June 6 to scores of thousands.

The casino lauds numerous nationally acclaimed restaurants such as Bobby’s Burger Palace, The Cheesecake Factory, Phillips Seafood, the multi-station Live! Buffet and Noodles, an Asian wok and noodle bar.

Other amenities still in the works for the complex include The Prime Rib restaurant, a bus lounge, the Shop Live! retail store and 1,550 additional slots and electronic table games, including a dedicated High Limit Slots Room.

The Cordish Companies, which owns, operates and is developing the property, planned to complete the project in multiple phases. In late July, it opened the Rams Head Bar and additional floor space with 531 more slot machines and electronic table games.

The company expects to complete the facility by the end of November, when it will become one of the largest gaming, retail and entertainment destinations in the country with a total of 4,750 slot positions.

“This is a culmination of a lot of work by the Cordish Companies and Maryland Live!,” said Norton. “I am hoping we hit on all cylinders, provide a refined level of service, and have eager customers.”

The casino started off with a bang, pulling in more than $1 million a day throughout July. August’s revenue, however, declined at Maryland Live! as well as at the other state casinos and was attributed to seasonal factors according to The Cordish Companies.

Maryland voters will decide on November 6 whether Maryland should add table games and 24-hour gambling, as well as whether to allow an additional casino to be built in Prince George’s County.

Rams Head Center Stage has released a full schedule of its September performances, which is available at http://www.marylandlivecasino.com/entertainment/rams-head-center-stage/entertainment-calendar.