Yo…
I’ve got an excellent Father’s Day gift suggestion.
Illuminarium, located in Toronto’s Distillery District, is a one-of-a-kind event venue that blends cutting-edge immersive technology with stunning design.
Head to the Distillery District and look for peace:
Illuminarium is where you’ll find ticket details, showtimes, and packages. (Click that orange link; though confirm you’re on the dot com slash Toronto page.)
There are three immersive experiences, each runs about 60 minutes. You can bundle two or more shows with their available packages.
The 3 productions are:
Space: A Journey to the Moon & Beyond: “In an out-of-this-world immersive experience, take an extraordinary journey across the galaxy. Fly through a technicolor nebula, kick up dust on the moon, see Saturn’s rings up close, and weave through an asteroid belt.”
Lite-Brite: Worlds of Wonder: “Guests will immerse themselves in the real-life magic of Lite-Brite, rekindling a sense of childlike wonder.”
Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified: “Step inside Illuminarium Toronto for an electrifying immersive experience that puts you in the middle of rock’s most iconic moments! Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified, the Immersive Rock Experience is brought to life through the images, sound, and legacy of Rolling Stone magazine.”
The AP recently previewed the New York City Amplified so while the setting is slightly different the format and the style remains universal. It’s the same Mission Impossible movie no matter which cinema you see it at, yeah? (You can see the Toronto show via IG.)
I participated in Lite-Brite and I experienced Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified.
Massive thanks to Henry Vanderspek for snapping photos—he joined me for Lite-Brite. As always, Henry makes me look way cooler than I actually am. (Seriously, follow him on IG.)
While I shot the Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified photographs.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin.
Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified
In the dense history of music, there are so many you-hadda-be-there quintessential moments:
The Beatles coming to America.
Woodstock.
Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire.
These are mind blowing…jaw dropping…earth shattering events.
Even for decades like the ‘80s (when you were around) you were still dependent on magazines like Rolling Stone to bring bombshell experiences directly to you.
Reading Rolling Stone became part of those historical experiences. (Especially if you lived in the suburbs, removed from most charismatic culture.)
That’s the unspoken and accepted truth of rock ‘n’ roll:
You’re never as cool as you wanna be. (And you’re definitely never as cool as you think you are.)
(I couldn’t be cool if I went out on a Fall day without a jacket.)
If I sound like Lester Bangs, it’s because Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified, the immersive rock experience—on now in downtown Toronto—is your Almost Famous “dare-to-be-great” moment.
Remember Almost Famous…the “incendiary” Cameron Crowe movie from 2000?
A high school journalist gets hired by Rolling Stone Magazine and is immediately parachuted into the thrilling world of rock ‘n’ roll.
This baby-faced yet talented kid is suddenly touring with bands, even interviewing them. They’ve got fabulous hair and awesome music. They emerge from dark studios with these bright songs…this soul stirring music. The Tiny Dancer scene in that movie? Yo, son.
Tiny Dancer was already a fantastic tune when Elton John first released it in 1972. It was good.
And yet…the movie makes it better.
Even when you’re not on tour with a band covering em for Rolling Stone…there’s that uplifting moment when you hear a song on the radio.
Especially in your car.
Windows down, system up.
You leave the dial where it rests and crank the volume.
Oh, and that rare dramatic magic when you can land on a song―your song―just as it’s starting. Those opening notes are your cue. Radio was always a sonic slot machine. “Come on, come on…baby: gimme something good.”
Tragically, Rolling Stone is never gonna to invite you to go on tour to cover The Who or even Led Zeppelin. (Or to sing Tiny Dancer on a tour bus with an emotionally exhausted band.)
Still, in Toronto if you head to the Distillery District you can engage the glorious world of rock ‘n’ roll with Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified, the Immersive Rock Experience.
From the moment you enter the Illuminarium space, you’re captivated by a sensory world where terrific technology is harnessed to tell a spectacular story. 4K projection, 3D audio, formidable flooring—it all smoothly comes together to create a truly immersive environment that spans over 7,000 square feet.
Amplified traces the scintillating history of rock ‘n’ roll while making it vibrate and feel alive. At one point, the floor morphs into a spinning record. Sweet: you know how hard it is “to stay on top” of music?
This stunning, powerful production covers six decades of music across eight chapters: Backstage, Bands, Cars, Studios, Political Messages, Hair, Fans and Rolling Stone Magazine.
Some sexy stats: “Amplified features over 1,000 photographs, 200 videos, 1,300 Rolling Stone covers, and highlights over 300 iconic artists whose music impacted the world.” It’s all narrated by Kevin Bacon. (mmm, bacon…)
Highlights include a rare Radiohead studio excerpt. (I miss Radiohead so much.) The voice of Aretha Franklin.
Clearly, this is a generational show. Like the Hair chapter spans Elvis to Justin Bieber.
The immersive installation opened in Las Vegas earlier this year and made its Canadian debut in Toronto this past May.
The soundtrack is incredible—from Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come to Still D.R.E. (one of the most iconic hip hop beats ever) to High and Dry by Radiohead.
The sensational soundtrack features over 300 artists.
You know these songs.
You know these lyrics.
This is the soundtrack of your life.
These songs have scored many marvelous moments and happy highlights.
The songs are your greatest hits.
And gloriously, the 1,300 Rolling Stone covers—arranged by decades—are astonishing.
I thought one cover was Jim Morrison but it was Val Kilmer for The Doors movie. Pee-wee Herman, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Muhammad Ali…Bono as the Fly from the Zoo TV tour.
So many covers, covering so much of our pop culture.
There are people we’ve loved…and lost. And there are people where no love is lost.
Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified is sensory overload. This is a theatrical experience that demands repeated viewings. You will miss things the first time you go.
(One suggestion? Before it all starts meditate on your favourites. If you dig Iggy Pop focus on him and you’ll spot him among the scatterings. You can summon Prince. Seek your favourites. Go in determined to Tool Time Salute your treasured bands.)
So Amplified is not only #PantsWorthy but it’s worth putting on pants multiple times. (The highest honour I can freely give. Recently, I was talking to a 10-year-old who was enthusiastically raving about the live action Lilo & Stitch movie. I joked with him: “So…2 thumbs up?” He replied: “No! 20 thumbs up!!” I believe we all have a personalized highest honour I can give award.)
For a deeper understanding of what’s happening, I sat down with Patrick Leavey, the General Manager for Illuminarium here in Toronto and a massive music fan.
Yes, the highlight of Illuminarium is Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified. If your Dad rocks then bring him for Father’s Day.
But do check out Lite-Brite—super fun for the kids. Of all ages…
There’s Space too. If Amplified deftly puts you Almost Famous like into rock ‘n’ roll, Space does the same thing only…in space. Rock ‘n’ roll or space…it’s all stars who shine brightly.
Attached is my conversation with Patrick who admits that while he finds the show thrilling, he confesses: “I could have used a little bit more Foo Fighters.”
That is amazing. And I concur.
Thank you Patrick and Illuminarium for the tickets.
Thank you Henry for taking photos.
#SetTheVCR: Becoming Led Zeppelin
“Zeppelin Rules!!” So says Otto on a classic Simpsons episode. (Das Bus the fourteenth episode of Season 9. An all time hall of famer.)
100% IN for Becoming Led Zeppelin: I can’t wait to hear the band Ramble On about Rock and Roll. This Last Dance needed to be on the record before they all take that Stairway To Heaven.
Becoming Led Zeppelin is now streaming on Netflix-US and Hoopla here in Toronto. Figure it all ties in nicely with Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified.
I Felt So Bright During Lit-Brite Ask Me Anything…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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