Luxe Life Blog

New $25 million Mirage casino will include a 900-degree fireball!

Posted September 16, 2008 • 11:55 a.m.

Volcano rendering.

Photo: Mirage

The new $25 million Mirage volcano will explode as the Strip’s newest tourist attraction with 15-foot-high fireballs and 120-foot-high water jets starting Dec. 8. It will be so hot that visitors will warm up by 11 degrees from the 900-degree fireballs and eruptions during the nearly five-minute searing, steamy show!

MGM Mirage officials won special clearances and authorizations for the fiery ignitions and specially developed first-in-the-world FireShooters from our very cautious fire department. Now they have finalized plans with our Metro Police to deal with the mega-crowds expected to gather every hour to watch the volcanic spectacular and lava flow -- and the Mirage head-honchos may even build a new hotel tower to look right down on the fiery production.

I talked with several of the involved geniuses when they unveiled the newest Vegas Strip attraction -- and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, who co-composed the seven movements of the background concert with famed tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain for the "dancing" firejets -- confirmed that the premiere will be extraordinarily unique. He admitted they have even discussed creating a circle of celebrity rock drummers to wrap around the volcano or set a new Guinness world record for the most drummers performing in one concert! It will be so spectacular there is talk of a worldwide TV broadcast to showcase the debut.

The Mirage volcano originally was built in 1989 and overhauled in 1996. Resort executives began planning the new attraction in late 2004 and it took four years of design work and construction meetings to finalize the new Volcano draw. The $25 million attraction now completes the $110 million makeover transformation of the Mirage accommodations and joins the new Beatles LOVE show, the adult pool Bare, the Beatles Revolution lounge and a lineup of all new restaurant attractions.

Here are my highlight notes from my interviews with Mickey Hart, the MGM Mirage president Scott Sibella and Jim Doyle, special technologies director for the Wet company, who orchestrated the entire sensational production that ends with a 60-foot-high final exciting eruption atop the 35-foot tall volcano rock. Jim described the FireShooters as robots akin to R2D2 in "Star Wars," but with a brain! “We set the Valley of Fire as our goal and we exceeded that!”

Rock and Roll hall of famer Mickey told me first: “This has never been done before. A volcano is all about magic, power, spirituality and danger. How do you represent that in musical terms? Percussion is our strong suit. The union between the nature of percussion and volcanic eruption was a perfect fit. We used a lot of instruments from around the world that conjured these images. Conch shells from Oceania, the beautiful mandrills from south and north India, a Pythagorean beam which is a long 10-foot high beam with 12 strings on it. I electrified it. It made rumbles and bursts. Many of the instruments are one of a kind and then John Mayer came in with the finest sound delivery system you can imagine. It is a sonic payload of 60 sound cabinets strategically hidden throughout the lagoon because we wanted to make it a sonic wonder. It produces 104 sound decibels. You will hear the sacred chants of a multi-phonic Tibetan choir evoking power. The monks have the ability to chant three notes simultaneously.

“Before the volcano is unveiled for the first time we have discussed me leading a circle of celebrity drummers -- such as Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee. We also discussed trying to break the world record. First that was 4,700 American drummers, then the Chinese broke that and then the Indians broke that with 10,000 drummers. It would be a hassle to try it on the Strip for our opening but we’re still juggling that one.”

Zakir Hussain added: “Some of the instruments when they are played sound incredibly gigantic, but they are the size of my fist. We had to emulate what the volcano would sound like when it erupted, what the molten lava magma would sound like when it flowed, what the shooters in the lagoon would sound like upon firing -- and all that must come from the percussion and drums built to imitate everything from rainfall, or frightened deer running"

Scott Sibella commented: “The flames are 900 degrees so you will really feel the heat blast. Visitors will be just 30 feet away right on the Strip for the action but we have an intrusion system: If you try to cross it, the sensor will sound and shut the whole thing down once triggered. We’ve literally doubled the old running time of two-and-a-half minutes. It will be louder than the old show, because we’ve updated all the old equipment that was getting very tired.

“People will feel the earth move. They’ll experience it right in their chests and it’ll move their pant legs. It will be a physical and emotional experience. It will rock you. You can almost feel the rocks falling on you -- you may even duck as the sound comes at you. It’ll feel as if ash is on you -- very subtle but you’ll be inside the three-dimensional feel of the danger -- although not scary, but real.

“Worrying about crowd control has been a challenge. It is a concern and we are working on it. We realize there will be huge crowds and traffic jams but we have permission from everybody. Everyone is on board except for the folks directly opposite at the Venetian!

“We have always talked about adding 1,000 rooms and there is a location between us and Caesars Palace. We want to build a platform that will take you into valet and into the property after the show. When it is completed you can follow it through. We looked at building the lobby outwards and having the volcano in the conservatory but it was just very, very expensive. “

Mickey summed up: “I don’t gamble so that part of Vegas is not my cup of tea. I come to Vegas for the shows. I love LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. It's in the same resort as our volcano -- and that will be the best show ever right on the Strip for all the world to see for free! That even gives me goosebumps."

If you don’t want to wait until early December to see and feel the experience for yourself, go to www.mirage.com and click on the Mirage volcano link for interactive ways to discover it.

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