I was thinking about this lineup as I was remembering some crazy times i've been to concerts at USF such as Fall Out Boy, Kelly Clarkson, Pitbull (multiple times), Macklemore, Dan + Shay, Fifth Harmony, to as recent as artists like Marshmello and Khalid just last year. It really makes this year's lineup that much more meh and seems like they are going to Eat to the Beat route with this going forward. What's the main thing that makes me say that?
We seem to have forgotten that Maroon 5 did a three night event (August 25-27) where they performed on August 26th, sold packages to a bunch of their fans to come down to FL, and had the parks rented out on other nights that included Meet & Greets with the band and other events.
What's my point here? I obviously don't know for sure, but it sure seems like the Maroon 5 event must have been a success and they now plan to hold big ticket acts behind a paywall for huge fans. Why have Maroon 5 or any high profile act perform during the Mardi Gras concert series? It's a concert series that offers nothing really special in terms of concert experience, ruins the night for vacationers not looking to watch a concert, and really only draws in APs and some locals to buy a day pass.
By doing the paid after hours event, Mardi Gras concert crowds are smaller and non-intrusive to the average guest, the band/artist gets an easy pay day plus a vacation, and Universal gets people who would've never come to the resort before to come because of the unprecedented access to the band that's normally only seen when bands do fan cruises. I don't personally like it if this is the route they're going as it takes a big thing away from Mardi Gras, but at the same time, if this is their plan, I get it from a business perspective.