Friday, March 11, 2005 | 8:22 a.m.
"Greg Thompson's Erocktica Live! Sex, Sweat & Rock 'n' Roll" is loud, bold, audacious and irreverent. To say the least, many will be offended by the loudness of the music (which seems to have only one decibel level -- earsplitting).
Unsuspecting guests might be offended by the edgy sexual content of the production (which includes lots of bare breasts and some simulated oral sex).
Or audience members could be turned off by some of the language, found today on every street corner and apparently spoken fluently by the younger generations.
But if you are not easily offended, are a hard-rock fan and crave something other than Cirque du Soleil or some of the other standard fare of Las Vegas, this might be the envelope-pushing show you are looking for.
The music is almost nonstop, as one song segues into another, with only sporadic pauses in between (such as one space in which the band leaves the stage for a commercial break, which includes an announcement about giving away a Harley-Davidson, and remains absent during a particularly provocative number by the cadre of topless performers).
The list of songs includes numbers from a long list of rock legends, among them Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Kiss and Led Zeppelin.
A total of 36 songs are squeezed into the evening, which might be some kind of record for a production that lasts just 70 minutes.
The hits are great -- among them "Welcome to the Jungle," "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "Girls, Girls, Girls," "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Nite," "Devil With a Blue Dress," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Highway to Hell." They are performed by vocalists Raymond "Ray-J" Jones (who also acts as emcee), Bobby "Momo" Thompson, and Italian bombshell Gabriella Versace.
One of the unusual aspects of this show is that all of the music is live, which should be good news for purists who are tired of the canned stuff that dominates the entertainment scene in Vegas.
The band performing the music (U.S.U.K.) was assembled by Greg Thompson, who has an ear for good rock 'n' roll and beautiful women (he also produces "Skintight" at Harrah's).
Drummer Lez Warner (formerly of the English rock band the Cult), bassist / vocalist Wayne Carver (Celtic Rockers), lead guitarist Russ Letizia (who plays everything from rock to jazz to country) and "Momo" Thompson(lead vocalist, guitar and bass) do an excellent job covering the classic numbers.
While this is supposed to be a fusion of a rock concert and an erotic show, the music dominates.
The band is at the front of the stage's walkway. Behind them, through most of the evening, seven sexy dancers perform routines choreographed by Mistinguett, who also designed the eye-popping costumes.
Combining a rock concert and eroticism is not an easy task.
If the thinking here is that rock 'n' roll and topless women are a natural blend and that simply putting them together will make a great erotic show, that thinking is flawed.
While sex may be at the heart of rock 'n' roll, eroticism isn't.
There are moments of erotic brilliance in Thompson's production -- especially the scenes involving Versace.
But there also are a number of lame scenes, such as the one in which three volunteers are brought onstage, placed in straight-back chairs and tied up by three of the dancers.
There are jokes about bondage and S&M, but the scene goes nowhere -- petering out as Ray-J leads one of the volunteers back to his seat.
At times the performances are sterile, a paint-by-the numbers approach in which the girls simply go through motions that are suppose to evoke some sexual urges.
But if loud music and topless women are enough to turn you on, this could be your show.
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