Aerosmith launched their Las Vegas residency, “Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild,” at Park Theater at the new Park MGM resort in early April, combining visceral rock with high technology to bring to life their incredible story of a struggling group from Boston who became America’s all-time top-selling rock ‘n’ roll band.
The centerpiece of the show was the 90-minute live performance from the original Aerosmith band members—Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer. The band goes beyond the average concert by taking fans on a deep dive of their groundbreaking career with exclusive, unreleased audio and never-before-seen visuals from Aerosmith’s archives featured through a 12-screen media presentation (including a 140-foot x 40-foot high-definition screen) produced by Oscar and Emmy-winning global visual effects studio Pixomondo. Using cutting-edge technology, Pixomondo also brings to life Aerosmith’s infamous logo—the wings—which unfold to herald the band’s arrival on stage.
Every vantage point in the intimate Park Theater, the first THX Certified live performance venue featuring L-Acoustics L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound, will bring fans face-to-face with the band, including the world’s first THX On-Stage VIP experience and walkway that stretches from the stage to the balcony seats.
With over 230 high-performance L-Acoustics loudspeakers and nearly 300,000 watts of power, L-ISA surrounds the audience in a sphere of sound to convey the band’s setlist in hyperreal detail, wrapping fans in the ultimate 360-degree rock ‘n’ roll experience.
THX provided independent analysis of the venue and sound system performance within the venue. As a part of the THX certification process, the technical team evaluated the L-Acoustics system design and its implementation, and verified the alignment of the acoustics systems and the seamless integration the equipment and technologies. Fans who attended the show knew they were getting a THX Certified experience when they heard the THX Deep Note trailer play. This deeply resonant chord, which people will remember hearing before any blockbuster movie in a THX Certified cinema or home theater, was remixed specifically for the immersive audio system used during the “Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild” residency.
In the THX On-Stage VIP section, fans will have privileged access to studio-quality audio direct from the Aerosmith mixing board via MIXhalo’s audio technology through their own pair of THX Certified 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones. Expertly tuned by Grammy Award-winning Sound Engineer Luca Bignardi, these are the world’s first headphones to be THX Certified. To become THX Certified, 1MORE’s Triple Driver headphones passed hundreds of tests. The rigorous certification program ensures the headphones provide a well-balanced frequency response with minimal channel imbalance, premium level audio output and minimal distortion at the required sound pressure level, and a high degree of isolation to effectively attenuate external noise.
Pixomondo packs motion graphics, animations, stream of consciousness imagery and flashback moments of the Band’s colorful past, all woven together in a tapestry of visions expressing the emotions of Aerosmith’s iconic 50-year road trip. Additionally, Pixomondo’s 20-minute pre-show takes the audience back in time, as they’re treated to the sights and sounds of the band’s historic journey, beginning with Woodstock and spiraling forward to the present, complete with mind-expanding abstract imagery and the iconic Aerosmith van. Sixty minutes, and two encores later, the graphic animated imagery culminates with an explosive visual display, as the band disappears into the massive wings for good.
Aerosmith also teamed up with veteran show director Amy Tinkham (Paul McCartney, James Taylor), show producer Steve Dixon (Guns N’ Roses, Justin Timberlake) and Grammy Award-winning producer Giles Martin, known for creating the soundscape for “The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil” in Las Vegas. Production design studio Fireplay and Pixomondo are also part of the creative team.
