It's certainly come a long way from its souls-of-the-damned-broiling-in-Hell conception, circa 2005. Now for some eyewitness LVA observations ...

Oscar Goodman got started by asking, "Can we skip all these boring speeches?"

"Yes, the 'boring speeches' that the poor Mayor was forced, reluctantly, to endure (luckily for him, he'd started drinking earlier than normal, he informed the crowd, although he still looked fairly nonplussed) included a socio-political rant from Mickey Hart about the (agreed) unacceptability of removing the arts from school curricula, which concluded with an apparently unironic gush about the beneficence of MGM Mirage's contribution towards Clark County's school music program. The Mayor perked up when Terry Fator brought out a scantily-clad and pouting female puppet, but Robbie Knievel pretty much stole the show with some bizarre ramblings about his dubious relationship with his estranged father, whom he was nevertheless glad had found God before he passed on. He failed to tell the crowd what his planned New Year's stunt was going to be, although presumably he's going to jump over the volcano, but he did randomly break into song a few times. And his bike was very big and very shiny, and even louder than the volcano.

"As to the show itself, it's kind of Bellagio Fountains meets Blue Man Group meets Cirque du Soleil. There's a lot of drumming and a lot of fire and it's quite dramatic, although more than one observer commented on the fact that the climax was, well, just a bit anticlimactic. But that's just probably an unhealthy dose of Vegas ennui and if the final flameshooter had been any higher it might have ignited a couple of palm trees."

It seems that Mayor Goodman's travails weren't quite over ...

"Oh, and Oscar was very good-humored when the Mirage's valet-parking attendant failed to recognize him and asked the Mayor what his name was. 'Goodman,' he responded."

Now, for a contrarian view, head over to Two Way Hard Three, wherein Robert Earl's favorite casino pundit, Hunter Hillegas, offers a spirited defense of Volcano 2.0, including: "Not only is there more fire and better music but the entire structure just looks much cooler - the rock is more natural looking and 'veins' of lava even show up when it's blasting ... this is now near the top of the list of recommended things to check out on your next trip."

Not only are there some entertaining eyewitness comments by readers, but also a spectacular, eight-page, 120-photo image gallery that kicks the ass of anything else you've seen so far. (And which should make it clear, noted pyrotechnic authority Robin Leach to the contrary, why this couldn't have been built indoors.)

P.S.: Is it just my imagination or could other people see Terry Fator moving his lips during his act?