Legend set to bring ‘intimate, acoustic’ show to Smith Center

Sorry, rest of the world. Las Vegas — or at least everyone who saw the Jabbawockeez at the Monte Carlo — already knew all John Legend needs is a piano.

The singer-songwriter defied all current pop conventions by scoring a giant hit with the simple piano ballad “All of Me.” It now is the apparent inspiration for Legend’s new tour of the same name, billed as “intimate, acoustic and stripped down” on Thursday at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

For a couple of years, though, the breakdancing Jabbawockeez exposed nightly audiences to “Selfish,” an acoustic rarity by Legend, accompanying a cute moment in the show when the masked dancers pulled a woman from the audience onstage to woo her.

A few other show business synchronicites prove there are a lot of interconnections along Las Vegas Boulevard, even if it’s hard for everyone to land here at exactly the same time.

■ Legend’s “Love in the Future” album had been out a long time, but “All of Me” really took off when he sang it on the Grammy Awards in January. The Grammys are directed by Ken Ehrlich, who also helms Celine Dion’s Las Vegas show.

“By all rights, I shouldn’t have gotten that slot to perform by myself,” Legend told Billboard magazine. “But producer Ken Ehrlich believed in the song and thought it was special enough to deserve its own slot.”

■ Those who just can’t hear a song without a beat can find Tiesto’s remix of it. Tiesto is back at Hakassan on March 29.

■ Legend recorded an amazing album of R&B covers called “Wake Up!” with The Roots. But the “Tonight Show” house band will miss Legend by more than a week here, having played the Brooklyn Bowl last weekend.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.