Illuminarium at Area15
noon, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 p.m.
$39.99 general, $29.99 local, for the Dual Pass (two shows)
The latest digital show at Illuminarium, in a building adjacent to Area15, is Rolling Stone Presents Amplified — The Immersive Rock Experience. This is our third show at Illuminarium, along with Space and Lite Brite, and being rock fans for more than 60 years, we were excited to see what kind of justice this huge room, with its floor-to-ceiling Panasonic 50K laser projections and 3-D audio technology, could do with our favorite music.
This immersive attraction features 1,332 Rolling Stone covers from 1967 to 2024, 1,000 photographs, 200 videos, 300 iconic artists, exclusive portraits, album art, concert posters, live performances, and behind-the-scenes footage.
Actor and musician Kevin Bacon narrates the 50-minute presentation, interspersed with all kinds of music: “We Don’t Get Fooled Again” (the Who), “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” (Joan Jett), “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” (Janis Joplin), “One Way or Another” (Blondie), “Low Rider” (War), “Paved Paradise, Put up a Parking Lot” (Joni Mitchell), “In My Room” (Beach Boys, especially poignant, as we saw the show a few days after the death of Brian Wilson), “Shining Star” (Earth, Wind & Fire), “I Wanna Be Sedated” (Ramones), “Something in the Air” (Thunderclap Newman), “Fame” (David Bowie), and our favorite and the ostensible theme song of Amplified, “God Gave Rock n Roll To You” (Argent).
The rock story is told in eight “chapters:” Concerts, Artists, Message, Hair, Fans, Cars, Studio, and Rolling Stone itself. The show makes the point that rock is more, much more, than just the music. It’s been a cultural phenomenon, a revolutionary upheaval, more than just a lifestyle or style — a statement.
It’s all well and good, as far as it goes. We enjoyed it for sure; many of the images are amazing and the sound is unparalleled. But compared to the other digital “museums” we’ve seen and reviewed, particularly VanGogh and Arte Museum, this format is linear and static — mostly photographs, with perhaps a little too much narration. Only the Cars sequence infuses the kind of motion that the other experiences do so well.
Also, running through 1,000-plus photographs (the photo credits at the end take five minutes to scroll ), the show is extremely fast-paced, even overwhelming at times. In addition, none of the images are identified; you recognize some, but captions are sorely lacking. And of course, it’s a monster ad for Rolling Stone, now owned by Penske Media Corporation.
One more objection comes from having seen the other two shows here. You buy what’s called a “Dual Pass,” which allows you to see two shows (Amplified and Lite Brite or Space) for the price of one. This is new; when we saw the other two, they ran continuously, so you could come in at any point and stay through the end and you didn’t have to leave until you reached the point where you entered. But with the Dual Pass, the second show comes on afterwards, so you have to sit through Lite Brite or Space before you can start start at the beginning of Amplified or see it again. If you haven’t seen the other two shows (we recommend Space), it’s not a bad deal. But to us, it felt like a drawback.
If you love rock ‘n’ roll like we do and especially if you aren’t a digital immersive connoisseur, these are mostly minor quibbles. There’s nothing quite like Amplified out there, so it’s worth doing to worship at the altar of counterculture history.
