God gave rock ‘n’ roll to you. Rock clubs, however, require a middleman.

Rock ‘n’ roll on the Strip. No, really, they mean it this time.

Smokin’ Hot Aces, the 4,500-square-foot venue nestled on the second floor of The Venetian, just around the corner from Palazzo’s First and Barney’s, promises that like Fatboy Slim, they can’t stop the rock. Unlike Fatboy Slim, it will be actual rock music.

“We’re committed to the rock ‘n’ roll from the moment we open to the moment we’re closed. If I had to equate it to another bar in town, I’d mention Coyote Ugly,” General Manager Marty Helfand said.

“We’ve hand-selected our DJ staff. I’ve talked to them and they all know we are a rock ‘n’ roll club and we are going to stick by our guns. Part of the problem with a lot of the nightclubs in Las Vegas is there’s a lot of cookie-cutter stuff,” Assistant GM Dean Ronson, who worked with Helfand at New York’s Crobar, added. “What we’re trying to do is create our own identity. Our identity is a rock ‘n’ roll club.”

Two of those DJs include Michael Toast and Mikey Swift, who figure to be part of the lineup when Aces doesn’t feature live music. It all starts Dec. 30 with a SpyOnVegas.com Open Bar, but have the grand opening is New Year’s Eve with VJ cb shaw and Lake Effect Mud — a hard rock act from Upstate New York that’s opened for Sevendust and Godsmack and includes in their repertoire a heavy cover of newly installed Encore headliner Garth Brooks’ “Thunder Rolls.”

The club will offer seating up on the stage itself, for those of you not content to spend your evening with your head more than eight feet at any given time from a Marshall stack. In front of windows looking out over The Venetian’s Grand Canal is a row of VIP booths — up for grabs for anyone who wants to sit (so long as you get back on your feet when bottle service customers come). A center counter for go-gos and shot girls dominates the middle of the floor.

Two entrances — one for happy hour during the day and one at night — will be used, the latter opening near a private party space that will add another 2,000 or so square feet when it opens in several months. Coming in from that entrance, you stroll past walls sporting a poker motif and get a long look at the dark red, black and gray color scheme.

There won’t be a dress code, Hefland said, and covers will only be on the weekend, varying depending on the act. In a true showing of egalitarian spirit, the mainstay of hipsters and cheap beer aficionados alike, Pabst Blue Ribbon, will be offered in three sizes. Although no one who orders a small PBR has any business being in a rock club in the first place.

By Jason Scavone

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