Shit. In all my spazzing out about Madness I forgot to mention the gheyness of the club shows for Punk Rock Bowling that were just announced last Sunday. How silly of me! Well, where to start? Hmmm... Youth Brigade reunion of all 3 original Stern Bros., ehhhh. Whatever. Last time I saw a reunion of all 3 Stern Bros. it was a drunken mess. Dr. Know reunion with Kyle - that just happened in Ventura a few months ago. Municipal Waste just friggin' played here, same with Agent Orange and the English Beat, and the rest of the bands play here all the time, like the Dwarves or the Adolescents. Good Riddance is cool, but opening up for No Use For A Name? GHEY That line up should definitely be reversed. Union 13, cool, same with the Aggrolites but again, nothing to brag about really. The club shows are just as lame as the big shows, and the scheduling of it all is terrible. You're gonna have to commit to one gig per night really, as trying to bounce from place to place is gonna be a logistical nightmare. Choose wisely and good luck. Unlike a few other jealous assholes that I know, I'm happy that a few Local bands made some of the opening spots. Congratulations to the Vermin, the Seriouslys and the Civilians for representing Vegas in all of this. No offense to you all, but I'm not gonna go see any of the gigs you're playing during PRB weekend. I'd just rather see you when you play your regular gigs here in town when there's a lot less drunken assholes and Poseurs around... heh
Hey! Do you have a beard? Do you think Punk music sounds good played through acoustic guitars? Well, if you answered 'Yes' to both of those questions, then do I have a show for you to attend - it's the Punks In Vegas 1 Year Anniversary party being held at Alternate Reality Comics on Maryland / Flamingo tomorrow night. A collection of Local Singer / Songwriters, not quite as rocking as Jim Croce, but a little more rocking than John Denver will be there pulling at your heartstrings with tales of Woe and Love Lost and being unaccepted by Society. Bring your hankies and make sure to Congratulate the bearded clan of Punks In Vegas for doing a job well done and making it for a year. May your next year be just as fruitful as this one was. Cheers! And buy some comics while you're there, you cheap bastards!
Band practice as of late has been killing me, but it's coming along nicely. Everything is updated, and everything is great here in Las Vegas. Ya know, I think the reason why something as lame as Punk Rock Bowling thrives here is because all these Tools and Sheep that come here by the plane full and car load are coming here for that Vegas thing, that thing of Debauchery and Drunkenness. It's kind of a cliche, but it's also very true to a certain extent. Those of us that live here get to do the Vegas thing 24-7, for 365 days a year. We're Professionals at this shit! LOL This town is our town. It is so glamorous. I bet you'd live here if you could and be one of us... ;-) Punk Rock Bowling... fuck off.
Yeah, look at what you missed out on... heh heh
I know! A new Mapes song! And it rules!! ha ha ha It's worth watching just to see Haywood J. putting his mouth around a beer can and guzzling it down with no hands involved! LOL Now that's Sexy times 12! ;-) Oh man, Friday night was sooooooooo much fun. Yeah, I know everyone and their Mom went to that Adolescents / Youth Brigade / Vermin gig @ LVCS (sheep), and I heard it was a pretty OK show (what was up with TheCore cancelling?) but the gig @ the Arts Factory had better bands and a record swap meet, with lots of crates and boxes full of colored vinyl goodness! I was in Heaven!! ha ha ha I easily blew hundreds of dollars stocking up my vinyl collection with stuff I used to have and stuff that I never had before. F-U-N. Phooey to the elitist record collecting scum dogs who wouldn't take my money for their records. I lost out on a few choice pieces of vinyl because of it, but that's OK because it was their loss. :-) All the Bands that played were cool. Vanish Twin from AZ. were easily the highlight of the night, playing some twisted Neurosis type ambient noise grind-core shit. Here's a video of them doing a song called Looking For Flames. I stopped recording at the end of the video because I thought they went into a different song. ;-) They continued playing for like 3 minutes after I stopped filming... heh.
Yeah, I was just hanging out and walking around doing my thing and observing the happenings and goings ons and whatnot. Life's Torment kicked things off with a blistering set of Noise not Music that was just broooootal as fuck. Why don't these guys just pack the places they play in with fans going ape shit over their music is beyond me, but whatever. I'm all about catching small, intimate performances with little to no one there, as opposed to big HOB corrals full of automatons and sheeple. Lame. Watching Bob play drums is a trip, because he's a lefty, but his technique is destructive and he's got a good sense of timing and fills which is cool to watch. Larry looks like he's channeling demons when he plays his guitar and screams into the microphone, and Travis acts like he's being tortured and mutilated while he shreds the bass and screams along. Life's Torment are fucking Ace and they just get better and better every time I see them. They're pretty fucking sick and you should check them out each and every time you get the chance. If you like your Punk music chainsaw fast and just as delicate, then look no further than Life's Torment. They bring it each and every time. I posted the photos I took that night already, and they're over to the left of these words. ------------------------>
Speaking of checking things out, check out this thing that Fuzz, one time bartender extraordinaire at the Legendary Cooler Lounge (R.I.P.) has going on. It's a solo project called Fuzz So Low (get it?) with Fuzz playing guitar while accompanying himself on a kick drum and set of high hats. It was pretty cool stuff and it's always fun watching Fuzz kick out the jams. Kick out the jams... get it? Oh, the puns are flying fast and furious today! :-)
Fuzz So Low played inside, and everyone else played outside. Good Greens ( a total Sublime rip off band) played inside, and Spotted Dick And The Love Stew cancelled. Again. Do those guys just sign up to play gigs and then don't play them or something? LOL Sabertooth Snatch (from AZ.) played, and they were pretty good, in a Victim's Family kind of way. I don't think they went over too well with the majority of the crowd, either because they were a bit different then what Die Laughing and Life's Torment threw down, or because everyone was inside checking out the Record Swap Meet. Either or, not a lot of people were checking out Sabertooth Snatch, which was a shame because they were pretty good. Check them out for yourself and see.
_And last but not least is Die Laughing. They were pretty good but their set kind of just meshed into the Life's Torment set, because they played back to back from each other and they're basically the same band but with a different bass player. How Bob pulled that one off I'll never know. ;-) The music they play is kick ass though, so it makes it worth it. Their set was short but sweet, ending with a Black Flag cover that brought Travis from Life's Torment back on stage to handle lead vocals. Check out the video and see how well they did thrashing out Gimme Gimme Gimme. So yeah, there's my little video wrap up of everything that was going on at the Arts Factory last Friday night. It was a great time and if you weren't there, then you're lame. And if you were at that gig at the LVCS instead of this one, then you're stupid - real stupid. :-)
Yeah, I realize the irony in protesting censorship of the Internet by self-censoring myself ON the Internet, but still, pretty funny stuff. It's also funny how the news about the censorship of the Internet movement was spread via the Internet as well. Oh the delicious irony! The fact that some people out there optimistically believe that they have any say in what the Government is or isn't going to do is laughable to me, although this little censorship issue apparently caused 30 Senators and Congressmen to flip-flop on their position on this, so who knows? Maybe the People can have a say in what goes on in their Government? Or maybe this is feeding the masses just enough to keep them from starving. Giving the dog a bone. Whatever. I thought it was interesting. I participated. The End.
 Hey! I don't know if you saw the flyer on your way in here, but there is this pretty fun looking gig happening this Friday at the LVCS: Adolescents / Youth Brigade / The Vermin / TheCore It should be interesting, to say the least. I haven't seen either headlining band in a while, so hearing them running through their 'Greatest Hits set seems like a pretty good way to cap off a Friday night. My Friday night is going to start at the Hellpop Record Swap Meet, where I'm gonna have a grip of cash to buy records with, and if I'm not too busy drooling over some pretty colored vinyl, I might check out some of the bands that are playing, which includes Life's Torment, Die Laughing and, of course, The Mapes. <3 There's some new band playing that's composed of members of 1/2 Ast, but those guys don't like me anymore, so phooey to them. Check them out if you're there though.
Speaking of things you should check out if you're so inclined, tonight @ the Double Down Deadhand are playing some AVN kickoff party or some shit. They're playing with some shitty bands that aren't worth mentioning, bands that think that sexual gimmicks and sloppy blow jobs will allow them to 'make it', whatever that means. The sad part is that some of my Friends like them... Jeesh! hahaha Whatever, go check out Deadhand tonight - you will not be disappointed, unless they decide to play some of their shitty acoustic covers they've been doing as of late for that other 'Punk Rock' website here in town. Acoustic guitars are NOT Punk Rock. Neither are beards, for that matter. Get over it already. Seriously.
 _Oh, Saturday night this band called Thousand Watt Stare is playing at the Bikini Bar. I'm told they're pretty good and that I might like them, but again, they're playing with some shitty band that's not worth supporting and because of that, I'll be staying at home. Man, I wish these people in these bands would just go away. You can't talk shit about people, run away without paying what you owed them, burning all your bridges in this town and then move away and then come back after a few years and just act like everything is OK and all is forgotten and forgiven. Just because you found new people to believe your bullshit doesn't mean that you're the 'Cool Guy' that those ignorant few think you are. Well, it's either that or maybe I'm just an asshole, I dunno... heh heh Bikini Bar is a cool place, and if you got nothing better to do on Saturday then stop by and check out Thousand Watt Stare and tell me how they were. :-)
Sunday! Sunday!! Sunday!!! Old School Metal comes to the House of Boooooo's when Anthrax, Testament and Death Angel tear shit up there. I've seen all 3 of those bands many, many times before and if I'm feeling all nostalgic I may just stop by and see how well they've aged. Anthrax's new album Worship Music is pretty good, so I may go just to hear how new songs like Fight 'Em Till You Can't and The Devil You Know sound live. And, to watch Charlie Benante play drums. <3
Everything is updated. See you around.
|
