Oh, how sweep it is! :-)
Who's the first team to advance into the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs?
Oh, why that would be the San Jose Sharks, that's who, and they did it in a decidedly dominant fashion, destroying the lackluster Vancouver Canucks in a 4 game sweep that, hopefully, will result in the burning and looting of that city by a bunch of crybaby Canadians with nothing better to do with their poutine stained appendages. I dated a chick from Vancouver once, and the less said about that the better! Yeah, fuck you Vancouver. Enjoy your golf game, you bunch of cheating fucks you.
 This weekend's past excursion to the Reno/Lake Tahoe area of Nevada was quite the event. It was weird being thanked for playing gigs up there, and told how nobody ever plays around there and stuff. Whatever. We ran into some Scene Drama with some Promoters up there as well, but did our best to avoid getting involved with it. The scenery was gorgeous. Winter chill was heavy in the air, even when it was 80 degrees outside. The Autism Matters Benefit we played on Sat. got cancelled because it started raining and the wind was blowing like crazy, and various points it was lifting the entire stage that it was anchored to up off the ground. Crazy. Only 3 bands got to play - Vegascendents, The Liver Scars, who were a pretty sloppy Punk Rocking group, and the Riptide Bandits, an instrumental Surf band that did Black Sabbath covers. Gee, where have I heard that shtick before? LOL The bands that didn't get to play - The Deadly Gallows, a local Beardcore band, Infecto Skeletons, local Skunk Punx extraordinaire, and Melvin Makes Machineguns, local Punk Rock Legends that we heard all sorts of crazy, drunk ass stories about. Even if only half of them were true, it would still be impressive. Yeah, Sat. night was alright. There are worse ways to spend an evening in Reno, that's for sure.
 Fri. wasn't any slouch in the Fun Dept. though. Nope! After a nice and leisurely 8 hour drive up North, we arrived in Lake Tahoe just in time to check into our rooms, do a little sight seeing around town and then some pre-gig dinner grubbing at some fancy pizza place. Whatever. After a round of mini-golf with the Blues Brothers (don't ask), we headed back to our hotel rooms to watch Hockey and relax. Jeremy's flight out of Vegas had been delayed for a few hours, which gave Mike and Tyson fits, of course, but when he arrived in his douche bag red Mustang convertible, with the top down mind you, in 40 degree weather, well, we knew then that everything was going to be alright. :-) It was a good turnout for the gig, with even Danny, who I hadn't seen since the Ditch Dust BBQ with J.F.A. a few months back, in attendance. He had just moved back to Lake Tahoe a few days before, and didn't even know the Vegascendents were playing. He just saw me standing around in front of the bar while he was riding by on his bike. How cool is that? LOL We played 2 sets for some reason, and the 1st one was a dazzling display of musicianship from 4 fat guys who had nothing better to do on a Fri. night than rock the fuck out of some Descendents tunes, and the 2nd one was a chaotic mess that is best avoided being remembered. After the bar closed at like, 1 in the morning, we headed to some place called Mont Bleu, which the Locals told us was the happening after hours hot spot. The only problem was that it was a casino, and being from Vegas, we weren't impressed with this small, dumpy place. We grabbed some food and killed time by Bro watching and laughing at the Bro-ho's that were stumbling around drunk. Keeping it classy in Lake Tahoe!
The drive Home on Sun. was quiet for the first few hours, as I think everyone was a we bit, oh, how shall we say, "under the weather". After passing a lake in the middle of nowhere that host submarine testing for some reason, and checking into a creepy clown motel in downtown Tonopah, we got back to Vegas just around sundown, unloaded, unwound, put things back the way they were with the van, and headed off to our respective vehicles and called it a day. Reno is a cool place to play. I'm looking forward to going back there again sometime soon.
Everything is updated. I'm going back to bed. Smell ya later.
I got this a few days ago, and I can't stop laughing about the absurdity of the wording. I know press releases are nothing but hot air and hype, but whoever wrote this one is a fucking Shakespeare! LOL
This year, we are very excited to announce our initial lineup for the 15th Annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival which will feature one of the first full performances of none other than the godfathers of west coast punk rock themselves! Taking their cue from the black flag of anarchy, let us present Flag. Long may they wave. Featuring original members Keith Morris (vocals), Chuck Dukowski (bass), Bill Stevenson (drums 1981-1985) along with SST label mate and Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton (guitar) performing the music of Black Flag. Morris (whose post-Black Flag career includes fronting the Circle Jerks and, most recently, hardcore revivalists Off!), Dukowski (who, after exiting Black Flag in 1983, founded SWA, Würm, United Gang Members, October Faction, and, his current outfit, the Chuck Dukowski Sextet), Stevenson, and Egerton decided to extend the legacy, working up a repertoire of 30 classic Black Flag songs with an eye toward future live performances.
Taking their cue from the black flag of anarchy, they’re calling themselves Flag. Long may they wave. hee hee hee That "black flag of anarchy" line is forever going to crack me up. Anyways, again, for those of you who think you're finally going to see Black Flag play live, I love to burst your bubble by telling you that you're not. What you're gonna see is a band called Flag, who are a Black Flag cover band, and they're headlining Punk Rock Posing this year. You all should be so proud! ;-) But don't worry! If you can't make it out to the fleecing, just wait until the fleecing comes to you! They're gonna play other gigs in other places. You think they'd learn 30 Black Flag songs if they weren't? ;-)
And since they were mentioned in the press release, why isn't Off! playing? Are they not Punk enough? They're basically Black Flag part 2, right? And why isn't Greg Ginn's new band (with skateboarder Mike Vallely on vocals) Good For You playing? I'm sure they're going to try to sound very Black Flag like, and they got a new album coming out next month. And why isn't the Chuck Dukowski Sextet playing? They're basically My War era Black Flag with a chick on vocals. Well, I guess the answer is that nobody gives a shit about the present; only content to roll in the nostalgia of the past like pigs in shit. How sad. All these new bands carrying on the Black Flag legacy, and they couldn't get booked to play Punk Rock Posing if their life depended on it, but yet Old Man Markley and shitty bands like that play every year. Pathetic.
Speaking of pathetic, you can come out to Favorite's tomorrow night and watch a band I play in, American Buckshot, play mop up to a bunch of other bands, including Agent Orange and Surrounded By Thieves. According to Dean, loads of people are going to hang around after the headliners are done performing, and I, of course, say that we're going to be playing to an empty room, so come on out if you can and see which one of us is right! LOL And on Sat. the Vegascendents are playing some private party somewhere with open bar and free food. This could be interesting... ;-) Everything is updated. Have a great weekend.
It's Tuesday morning, I'm catching up on emails that I'm like a few months behind in answering, and I'm checking out the video of the Queen concert that went down this past weekend in Russia somewhere. The band had Adam Lambert, some homo that's apparently only famous for being gay and being on American Idol I think, standing in for Freddie and the bands performance is just terrible. Everything is played too slow, the 2 founding members Brian and Roger who took place in this farce look terrible, and yeah, it just sucks. That dude Adam Lambert can sing, but he sounds more like Tim Finn from Split Enz than the fabulous Mr. Mercury. Ugh. Oh well. Sometimes it's just sad to see a band you adore look so out of place. The smell of Desperation is deep. 14:58 and counting... My last post included a new video from The Dirty Panties, and today I have a new video from Demon Lung to talk about! :-) I shared that Dirty Panties video on the onethirtyeight.org Facebook page, and was surprised that I got those 2 negative comments about it. Oh well. I dunno how people will react to this video after seeing it, but it should be interesting, because this video is twisted! ha ha ha It's from the just released album called Pareidolia by Demon Lung, and it's for a song called Lament Code. I have no idea what the song is about, but it sounds slow and heavy ala later day Corrosion Of Conformity or even Type O Negative, I dunno. The video for the song is just nightmarish, and a great job of using CGI effects and cool puppetry to create one amazing looking video that I'm almost sure was not too expensive to make, although it sure does look like it. Kudos on a job well done on this one Demon Lung. You've certainly set the bar very high for the next Local band who does a video, that's for sure. :-) Speaking of videos, the Gashers are going to premier their new video Panic, from their upcoming Squid Hat Records release called Law Is Not Order, next Tuesday @ 11 am on Facebook, and you can click here to go to the Events Page for it and get yourself in the loop. I'm told I won't be disappointed. I doubt that I shall be. ;-) Hey! Did you see the piece that Jarret Keene did on Battle Born in last weeks Seven magazine? Click here to read it if you haven't already. It's a pretty good piece on a hard working band that definitely deserves it. And like it says at the end of that write up, there is a little bit of a 4th of July shindig going down there on Weds., and you're all invited. BBQ, Beer, Bands, and they're gonna be filming a promo video too, so get your ass down there and have some fun and get drunk and blow stuff up. The view of the strip from there is pretty sweet, so you can watch those fireworks too if you're sober enough to remember to... heh heh heh hahaha OK, just one last thing from the emails before I go. Apparently, a few weeks ago the L.A. Times posted a fluff piece by some dooshbags about the 20 Greatest L.A. Punk Rock Albums of All Time (click here to read it for yourself), and their choices were more than a bit baffling, to say the least, and just as a point of reference, I jotted down their Top 20 list and then made one of my own, and here's what I came up with. Took me all of 10 minutes to do so. I think my choices are pretty good. Of course, I'm nothing but a Homophobic, Bitter Old Poseur, so take anything I say with a huge grain of salt, because what do I know, right? ;-) L.A. Times List- Black Flag - Damaged
- X - Los Angeles
- Germs - G.I.
- Descendents - Milo Goes To College
- Bad Religion - Suffer
- Circle Jerks - Group Sex
- X - Under The Big Black Sun
- Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
- Wasted Youth - Reagan's In
- The Dickies - The Incredible Shrinking Dickies
- Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies
- Vandals - Peace Through Vandalism
- T.S.O.L. - Dance With Me
- Circle Jerks - Wild In The Streets
- The Nerves - One Way Ticket
- NOFX - Punk In Drublic
- Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster
- Despise You - West Side Horizons
- Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
- Angry Samoans - Back From Samoa
| onethirtyeight.org List- Germs - G.I.
- Black Randy And The Metrosquad - Pass The Dust I Think I'm Bowie
- The Plugz - Electrify Me
- X - Wild Gift
- Circle Jerks - Group Sex
- Black Flag - Damaged
- Descendents - Milo Goes To College
- Fear - The Record
- Wasted Youth - Reagan's In
- Bad Religion - How Can Hell Be Any Worse?
- Infest - Slave
- Flesheaters - No Questions Asked
- CH3 - Fear Of Life
- Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies
- The Dickies - The Incredible Shrinking Dickies
- NOFX - Ribbed
- Angry Samoans - Back From Samoa
- Butt Trumpet - Primitive Enema
- Youth Brigade - Sound & Fury
- The Mentors - Live At The Cathay De Grande
| So yeah, if you ignore the fact that the L.A. Times list has bands from Orange County on their list, and a few compilations from bands that were comprised of singles and live tracks, and a couple that weren't even albums, then I guess it's a good list! LOL Honorable mentions go to Slayer - Reign In Blood, Red Kross - Born Innocent, 45 Grave - Sleep In Safety, Cryptic Slaughter - Convicted, Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime, Christian Death - Only Theater Of Pain and everything the Screamers never recorded. :-) I can't wait to do another list for the Top 20 L.A. Punk Rock Singles of All Time - now THAT would be fun!! :-)
Everything is updated - the Peter Murphy gig is happening at the LVCS and not the Beauty Bar as I falsely reported last Friday, all sorts of shit is getting added all the time, so keep coming back. And if I don't post anything tomorrow, I'll wish you all a Happy 4th of July now! Try not to blow any appendages off it at all possible! ;-)
Wow. I fucking heart Deadhand!! Last night at the Double Clown they played such a great set that I'm still grinning about it from ear to ear hours later. The new songs sound fucking fantastic, and all the songs from their self-titled release are played with reckless abandon and razor sharp ferocity. I love watching my friends play songs that I love. It's just fucking joyful to watch, it really is. And they finally played Singing For You - just for me!! Oh I was swooning! ha ha ha ha I fucking Love that song, and I had to bust out my iPhone to record it for posterity's sake. I wish I could show it to you, but for some reason my iPhone won't connect to my computer, so I can't access it right now, but when I can, that shit will be up here pronto! I hope it sounds good... heh heh Yeah, Deadhand were great last night, and that band Success was pretty good too. I was totally digging their sound until they played that Descendents cover in the middle of their set. It sounded horrible and I just walked out of the place cringing. I hate when bands play covers, and I hate when they don't play them right. Phooey. I did go back in and buy a CD and some vinyl from them though. Like I said, I was digging them until they played that damn cover. Oh, and they ended their set by playing a Melancholics cover from the Tony Hawk video... boooooo. I guess it was as an homage to that Local band I think. I dunno. I didn't like that band The Lost too much either. Generic Screamo pop music with a shitty drummer. Ugh. The front man was entertaining at least. He was trying, ya know? Yeah... great night, but maybe not for the guitarist from Deadhand? LOL Brendan fucked his finger up during the set pretty gnarly. He had blood spewed all over his guitar, and it looked pretty PFR man. The other 2 members of the band suffered no visible injuries. ;-) Ya know, I've turned down requests from my Friends in National, well known bands who are playing the Double Clown to see them play there, always telling them that I don't go to that place and I don't support it and I don't see bands there but for a Deadhand fix, yeah, sure, I'll go there... heh
I was sporting my Sharks jersey while hanging out last night (of course) and everyone was talking Hockey with me - it was great! Aaron from Deadhand is a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, so I was talking to him about the Pens - Flyers series, there was a handful of Ducks fans that I was discussing the whole Selanne thing with, and then there was that kid from AZ who was a Coyotes fan, and, my personal favorite, the drunk French speaking guy from Vancouver who kept talking to me about the Sharks game that went on just hours earlier, and telling me how Vancouver sucks and a whole bunch more stuff I sort-of understood when he was saying it... ha ha ha And about that game, what a fucking game it was!! Double overtime! Havlat with the game winner. Desjardins getting it all started. It was a treat to watch. I love Hockey!! GO SHARKS!!
I am beyond excited to see Squeeze tonight. You have no idea of how ghey I am for this band. Once on a trip to Philadelphia to see Pitt, he took me to a couple of the better record stores in the city, and the majority of the stuff I bought were obscure Squeeze 7". I was in Heaven!! <3 Squeeze tonight, Madness tomorrow - I am indeed very lucky! Thank you Allah!! :-)
Year End Lists - you know I love them! ;-) Seems like everybody and their Mothers were putting out lists, either about the best musical releases of 2011 or the best gigs they saw that year or the biggest shits they took or whatever, and after reading the Las Vegas Weekly's pathetic attempt at year end lists (which you can read by clicking here) I was inspired to attempt my own lists, so here they are! Top Ten Best Releases of 2011:1. Jesus Lizard - ClubOne of the most frightening live shows ever recorded. All killer no filler. The sound quality on this is phenomenal! Nothing released this year even comes close to how powerful and amazing this record is. Nothing. 2. Deadhand - DeadhandThe song writing, musicianship and emotions on display in this release still give me the chills. Scary good, and it still makes the hair on the back on my neck stand up every time a song off of this comes up on shuffle on my iPhone. 3. P.J. Harvey - Let England ShakeSimply astounding in it's musical brilliance. The best thing she's done since Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. The woman is a genius. 4. Naked City Romeos - Naked City RomeosIf this CD came out in the classic Punk Rock era of yesteryear, it would be considered a legendary record alongside other releases by the Sex Pistols, 999, The Dictators and the Damned. Yeah, it's that fucking good. 5. Unfair Fight - A Constant StruggleAgain, if this CD came out in the classic Punk Rock eras of yesteryear, it would be considered an essential part of any Hardcore music collection alongside other releases by Agnostic Front, SSD, or the Cro-Mags. This release is incredible - enough said. 6. The Dwarves - The Dwarves Are Born AgainThe fact that the Dwarves are still around is to be commended. The fact that they put out this CD full of such kick ass music is just icing on the cake. A great release that gives you exactly what you'd expect and deserve from this seminal band. 7. Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape ArtistGoing back to their Nothing's Shocking drawing board, the band juggled bass players while coming together to create what is undoubtedly the best thing they've done in a long, long time. 8. The People's Whiskey - Eight Tracks And Dub SacksThis CD came straight out of Hendertucky to hit a home run with this raw, melodic presentation of some of the better songs the band has been playing around live for a while now. The impassioned vocals and musical stylings on here are just fantastic. 9. Faith - Subject To Change Plus First DemoThis often overlooked classic band finally gets the recognition they deserve by having all of their material remixed and remastered, and it sounds better than it ever did. For this material to come out this year is a godsend. 10. Napalm Raid - Trail Of The WorldOne of the heaviest, crustiest recordings to come out this year. This 4 song EP highlights the bands musical muscle in short, brutal blasts of fiery anger. Amazing stuff. And while I'm in the mood for it, here's another one: Top 10 Best Gigs of 2011:1. Melt Banana @ The BunkhouseIf you were there, then you know why this gig was the best one to go down this year. How amazing was the band? And the crowd?? Wowsers!! Definitely in my Top 10 list for the best gigs I've ever seen in my Life. Seriously. 2. Shellac @ The Beauty BarI don't know why they played, but I'm glad I was there! I stood directly in front of the band with my mouth agape in bewilderment as they just pummeled the crowd with one incredible song after another. This gig was soul cleansing. Fucking brilliant.3. Freddie McGregor @ Reggae In The DesertWowsers. I still can't believe I witnessed the King of Lover's Rock deliver a set of musical brilliance to an amorous and appreciative audience, who were hanging on every note the Man sung. 4. Deadhand @ Hypnotic LoungeThe band played a residency at this pool hall in September that highlighted their just released self titled EP, and to be able to see them perform live every weekend was a mind blowing treat. 5. Barrington Levy @ The Bunkhouse To watch this dance hall Legend up close and personal in this downtown dive bar, 2 days in a row no less, was akin to seeing Peter Tosh at the Double Down. Just. Fucking. Incredible. 6. Manic Hispanic @ Diablo'sTo see Jefe, fresh out of the hospital, lead El Hoakie Loco and their primos through a blistering set of old and new material was incredible. One of the best bands to play live you'll ever see.7. Zeke @ The LVCSThe high revving, nitrous burning Rock N Roll machine known as Zeke just fucking slayed everyone in the place when they played here, leaving no doubt that these guys are no one to fuck with when they play. Sheer genius. 8. Napalm Raid @ Yayo Taco These crusty Canadians played the most brutal set of D-Beat Noise Not Music that Vegas ever witnessed, and there wasn't more than 10 people in the room when they did it, and the intensity level was through the roof. Fuck yeah!!! 9. Descendents @ Punk Rock Bowling I only watched a little bit of it from the outside, because I wasn't stupid enough to pay to get in, but what I saw was pretty impressive. Not from the band, who have definitely lost a few steps along the way, but more from the crowd, who just showered the band with nothing but Love L-U-V while they played nearly every song that the people wanted to hear. Pretty great to see. 10. The People's Whiskey @ The Royal ResortI love these guys, and on this particular day they delivered a set of songs that was so fucking punk rocking, so memorable, that it was stuck in my mind for months afterwards. It was like seeing Nirvana when they played Al's Bar to like, nobody. This was one for the History books. Yeah, that's pretty good for off the top of my head. :-) While I'm reminiscing about the last month of the year, lemme publicly acknowledge one of the worst kept secrets in all of the Las Vegas Music Scene by Congratulating Ministry Of Love on their signing to Negative Progression Records. The band certainly deserves it, and I look forward to hearing their tales of no label support, no money, shitty touring situations and all the fun, fun times they're gonna have. :-) Their debut for the label, Party Animals, will be released in February. Again, Congratulations to Ministry Of Love for finally getting signed. Gives me hope that a record label out there might actually 'get it'. Yeah, First Friday tonight. I'm thinking about going down to see Pigasus and The Dirty Somethings tear shit up, but I dunno if that's gonna happen. Obligations, ya know? ;-) Tomorrow night it's all about The People's Whiskey / The Dirty Panties / The Quitters @ the Motor City Cafe, after I take care of some personal business in the morning. I don't have anything to do on Sundays now that football is over for me. :-( I was gonna go to a birthday party but it got cancelled, so, anyone wanna hang out and jam on Sunday? heh heh heh Everything is updated, I finished off all the Pictures for 2011, with the last sets being from The People's Whiskey, The Mapes and the Naked City Romeos. You can find them all to the side here. I also added all the photos to the Me And My Me And My Me And My Me And My Me And My Friends page as well as the Vegas - The City I Live In page too, which is weird, because those pages get a lot of views for some reason. I can't imagine why. ;-)
Ace Frehley is coming to the Santa Fe Station Casino in February!! HYPED!!! <3
Yeah, I didn't go to any of the Gigs I was hyping up last week. It wasn't that I flaked, per se, but I just chose to spend my time this weekend with the most Beautiful, Awesomest girl EVER, so yeah, sorry to all the Bands I was supposed to Interview and hang out with. Trust me when I tell you this that as much as I love going to Gigs, I love hanging with this chick even more, so I'll probably have to cut down on my going out on the weekends. Maybe. ;-)
Yeah, my fucking Raiders choked on the big one yesterday, losing a real winnable game against the Miami Dolphins, and I didn't even give a fuck. Hanging out with Her all night was worth everything. Sharks choked this weekend too, giving away an easy 2 points to Florida. Bad weekend for my Sports teams, but no matter what, I still laugh at the Anaheim Schmucks firing their Coach last week... ha ha ha ha
Speaking of stuff I'm laughing about, what happened to Roid Rage playing that Verbal Abuse gig? I guess Promoters here in town don't realize that Roid Rage have a notorious problem of booking gigs and then cancelling, but I'm not even sure if that's the case here - it's just my assumption. The Hard Pipe Hitters took over the Opening Slot and definitely made it a better gig because of it. Once those guys ditched that asshole from Infestshit, they instantly became a band worth supporting - go figure! LOL So how was the gig anyways? Did anyone go? I know I didn't. I was drained from the weekend, and it didn't help that I twisted my knee at Del Taco... heh heh How were any of the gigs that happened this weekend? Anyone?
Well, there's some cool Shows and Concerts coming up this week, like Jane's Addiction @ the Joint, but I'm not going to any of them. I have some surgery scheduled this week, and I'm kind of nervous about it but not really. Doctor's seem optimistic about it, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be, ya know? It was caught early enough and hopefully this will take care of it and I'll never have to deal with this ever again. It really fucked my head up something fierce, but thanks to my Friends and Family I was able to get through this with a generally cheery disposition. It was a false front, but I didn't wanna let too many people know about what I was going through. I'm stubborn like that. ;-) So anyways, I won't be back around until Friday, so things will slow down here for a week or so. December is generally a really bad month for me, but I'm gonna try to get through it like I always do by putting on the best fake front you've ever seen. It always works and rarely do people notice, which is how I like it.
See ya around somewhere. :=)
If I have to hear one more dooshbag football announcer say how "The Bills are for Real", or that "It's time to Bill-ieve", I think I'm gonna puke. Buffalo got majorly lucky catching Tom Brady on what was possibly the worst game of his career. Fucking Bastards. Fuck you Canadian Bills. And again, Fuck You Danny!! Enjoy it while it lasts motherfucker!!! hahahahahahahahahahahaha The Raiders looked good yesterday in beating the Jets. Sanchez had no time to be eating no hot dogs on the sideline this game... heh heh heh. People are calling it an upset. I never had doubt, but that's just me. I think the Raiders can beat anyone on any day, New England, our next opponent included. They're gonna be scary good once they get their starting receivers back. McFadden - leading rusher in the NFL - Yup! :-) And if this doesn't illustrate how out of control the Refs are in the NFL right now I don't know what does. Click here to watch the video. Where was the hold? Seriously?Criminal Trespassing? Vandalism? Really? Wowsers. You have GOT to be kidding me!!! I'm still waiting for some verification / proof, but if it's true, I'll be ecstatic to have been right about that idiot and his shitty ass Metal club.The last night of Deadhand's month long residency @ the Hypnotic Lounge came to an intimate end this past Saturday, in front of a group of Friends and Fans which ran the gamut from under age, over age, and middle age. I'll leave it to you to guess which one I was! ;-) hahahaha Deadhand played an amazing set, as always, but it was a bit awkward to see Brendan struggle with playing The Cowboy Song by Thin Lizzy, a song he's obviously bored to tears playing. Yuck. Playing covers sucks - trust me I know! hahaha Aluminum Falcon played some Descendents covers, which, of course, sucked, because we hadn't practiced them in a little while, but I think they came out OK. Bikeage and I'm The One I think. We played them for the Punk Rock kids that I saw at the last Deadhand gig @ Yayo Taco. They had come out to support, and they were jumping around and slam dancing while we played. Rad. Holding On To Sound sounded great from the outside of the Hypnotic Lounge, where I think there was more people outside just chatting and chilling than there were inside checking out the band playing. Booooooooooooooooooooooo. Oh well. There was Skittles outside. :-) It was still a fun as fuck night, with the gig ending early Da Falcon flew around the Naked City after dropping off the band equipment in search of Food, Music, Drugs, Drink, Debauchery and Guys with eye patches. We were successful on all counts. ;-) Friday night I was hanging outside of the Bikini Bar, enjoying a nice Chicago style Polish sandwich combo that I had scored from the Sausage Fest food truck, fighting off the urge to go to that Pussycat's strip club and get into trouble when my partner in crime George strolled up. After he made fun of me for eating and not drinking we ventured inside for beers and Babilos, a band that I've always promoted but never seen before, and now that I have, I gotta say they were pretty good. Old school Big 4 Metal ala early Metallica and Slayer played by a scary looking group of hombres who were either Mexican, or Indian, or Filipino or a combination thereof, just pulverizing the crowd with their brooootaaal ass Metal music. They brought out a lot of people, a lot of really good looking people, like, chicks in club attire and the Jersey Shore types they attract, who all immediately left after Babilos was done blowing the roof off the joint. Sad to see but whatever. Poor Tinglerz played right after them to a virtually empty room, which always sucks. It didn't deter them from playing a great set though, but it just would of been nice if there would of been a few more people there to see it. Six Shooters To The Sky fared a little better in the opening slot, they had a few Friends there checking them out, and after watching them play I was a bit peeved that they broke up in the first place. They are sooooooooooo fucking good!! I don't remember them being that good, but then again, I can't remember the last time I saw them before Friday. University Theater? Slanted Clam? I dunno, but it's been too long. I hope they keep it together and do something with this. I was talking to them all before they played, and I asked them why they broke up, and they all gave different answers but all typical band shit - Sex, Drugs, Money, Drama. When I asked them why they got back together they couldn't give me an answer. But it was Liz, the bass playing Goddess, who after their set came up to me and said You know why we got back together? Honestly? It was because we were bored. That sentiment is the reason a lot of the great bands did it, and Six Shooters To The Sky may become one of the great Vegas bands, that is, if they don't kill each other first. Great little gig @ the Bikini Bar last Friday. That place needs some drink specials though... OK. I've on babbled long enough. Everything's updated, new Pictures of Unfair Fight, Tinglerz and Deadhand from their gig @ Hypnotic Lounge a while back are up, and I'm just getting around to doing those Motor City Cafe photos, which started off with the Seriouslys. Those chicks are kick ass and you should check them out whenever you get the chance. Lots of stuff coming up this weekend, so check out the Gig Calendar page and plan accordingly. I think I'm gonna go grab a pastrami sandwich. :-)
I'm currently sitting here @ 4 in the morning with my two lovely house guests Sidney and Murphy, watching Family Guy's Kiss Saves Santa Christmas Special, and languishing in the afterglow of a well played Aluminum Falcon set @ the Motor City Cafe. Add them as a Friend if you haven't already, because what they got going on down there is definitely worth supporting. And Thanx to everyone for coming out and getting all Punky Rocky in the place while we played. Eastside Joe, always good to see you, and Mad Man Zack?? Fuuuuuuuck. I haven't seen that kid since he got kicked out of that Loud Pipes gig @ Diablo's a while back. LOL I had fun tonight. People said we sounded good, and we did a flurry of Descendents songs at the end of our set for some reason. :-) I watched Surrounded By Thieves just kill it from outside through the window, because I had to set my kit up and gossip with George, the Man without Feelings, and some kid who said he used to go to all the Loud Pipes gigs back in the day. And now he was hanging out with me at a bar. Crazy. I can't wait to hear the newly recorded Surrounded By Thieves material. Their stuff is pretty kick ass. That song Red White & Fuck You (I think that's what it's called) is still stuck in my head hours later. They're one of the better bands treading the boards here in Vegas right now, and you could do yourself a favor by checking them out when you get the chance. Yup! And sorry to Xomby for missing out on their set. I blame Jeremy. Damn him for being responsible and all that shit. ;-) GO RAIDERS!!! FUCK THE BILLS!!!
Yeah, that game starts in a few hours, so I better kipper a nap before I start drinking and eating Buffalo wild wings, courtesy of the Prince of Drummers, Danny from Pigasus. He works at the Bikini Bar now, the old Sand Dollar Blues Lounge on Spring Mountain, so if you ever wanted to see him sporting a banana hammock, now's your chance. Head down there immediately and let him make you happy with generous servings of booze. After you get your football on today, head down to see that Give gig happening @ Yayo tonight. It's gonna be crazy good and if I'm not too cockeyed I just might see ya there. Them taco plates be a calling meeeeeeeee...  Punk Rock! Tacos! Beer!
So much for laying around and doing nothing. Tyson reminded me that I have some video stuff to post up, so here it is. Vegascendents Punk Rock Bowling 2011. Brad shot all 4 of them, because he's cool like that, and we love him for it. <3 The first one is Hurtin' Crue, played a bit faster than usual. Stupid drummers, I swear.
And then there's Silly Girl, which everyone loves and always dances around to when it's played.
Awwwww! Isn't that the cutest thing EVER! hahaha And then there's this one, Coolidge, which everyone REALLY loves.
And here's the last one, Good Good Things, which I think you kind of gotta be a real fan of the Descendents to be into, I dunno. I don't think it's considered one of their better songs, but I love it.
And there you have it. Yeah, it was a fun gig and I can't express properly what a great night it was. People were jumping around, slamming around, singing along, just having fun and stuff, it was great to watch. And that chick that did the intro to Suburban Home was just perfect! hahahaha Again, Thanks to Brad for taping this shit. Without it, you'd be unable to see what a fun time you missed out on. :-)
All that separated the Fools from the Cools was a 5 foot high chain link fence! hahahaha I'll leave it to you to figure out which side was which. ;-)
It was while walking around downtown Friday night that I decided on really having nothing to do with this PRB fiasco. It was while watching them set up the stage in the middle of a parking lot and at the El Cortez watching the Sheep trying to get their tickets in the Fiesta Room that I realized how absurd this all was. Here you had a supposedly rebellion oriented little sub-culture of independent free thinkers all looking the same and acting the same and being nice and organized and obeying the rules and conforming to whatever was asked of them, all just to see some bands from hundreds of yards away and to be confined in a little corral like space where they willingly waited around for hours to be flocked and fleeced of everything and anything they had of value. Expensive bottled water? Check! Over priced beers? Check? $5 cover charge to use the GOOD bathrooms? Check! All that over priced liquid has to go somewhere, right? Right! Might as well make a buck or two off of it. There was no In's or Out's, no studded anything allowed in, stupid metal bleachers to sit on, all the band merch was visibly over priced, and that stupid Larry And His Flask band of attention whores was more than annoying with their playing everywhere they could around the event. Fucking dooshbag Scenester hippy acoustic Beard Core bullshit. I fucking hate it. Bite me. Yeah, the Descendents stole the event, and I heard good things about Cock Sparrer, but I thought the Singer was a bit "off" and the drummer was just boring and playing the songs without accents. Boooooo. N.J. Pete told me Stiff Little Fingers killed it, and he knows what's up, so I'll believe that. I didn't make it to any of the Club events, because I'm not a Tool, but I heard All was pretty good from Jeremy, who was drooling over Karl Alvarez all weekend like the sexy fan boy that he is, and Christian told me that Fishbone rocked it pretty good too. Heard nothing else about any of the club shows. Nothing. Oh well. The whole PRB thing was a giant clusterfuck anyways. I felt sorry if anyone paid to stand around in the parking lot and pose for pictures to post on Facebook of you and your friends looking stupid, when everyone knew that you could see everything just fine from various places around the place, like the Motel 8, or the El Cortez parking lot, or even just by standing on the sidewalk. Shit, people were giving away tickets, and the scalpers were selling them below face value. I guess that's what happens when you over sell all the events by 30%, because you anticipate people buying the tickets and not using them. Yeah, the huge battle I was anticipating didn't break out between the Crusty Punx and the Skinheads on the last day, but oh well. I guess that means Punk Rock Bowling will be back next year to fleece the sheep of Las Vegas and I, as always, will be on the outside looking in. Yup. Thanks to Monica and Rebecca for making me miss the gigs. LOL
The gig with the Loud Pipes on Saturday was a hollow victory at best. Beard Core was in full effect with the opening bands all sitting around playing acoustic guitars and singing Bob Dylan hippy shit while throwing in the occasional Punk band cover. Yeah, because I need to hear what Fuck Armageddon, This Is Hell by Bad Religion sounds like slowed down and acoustic. What the fucking fuck is wrong with people nowadays?? I might have to declare war on Beard Core, because this shit is getting out of hand. By the time we played, people were just dying to hear SOMETHING good, and we gave it to them, of course, even though we got out-shined by Rawkmom's band, who I think are called Lazer Wolf. Pretty fucking impressive they were. It was a good night. Thanks to Bree for all the jokes. How was that drumming again? :-)
The Vegascendents gig on Monday was CRAZY! I've never seen the LVCS so fucking full of people. They got rid of the Bull (awwwwww) and have more than 2 bartenders working there now, making getting a drink a breeze. The legal capacity for the place is 700, and the staff there said there was close to a thousand people there for Cock Sparrer the night before. Crazy. Anyways, we played pretty good and got a great crowd reaction from everyone, which was both weird and nice. I still don't understand the 'Covers' thing, but apparently a lot of people do, because by the time Punk Rock Karaoke got on stage, the place was primed and ready to go off. Who knew that the appeal of seeing drunken people warble along to and forget the words to songs that should be burned into their brains from years of overplaying was such a draw? LOL I mean seriously, how do you flub the 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go!' intro to Blitzkrieg Bop? hahahahaha Well, some guy did, and there were plenty other mistakes made, but who cares? It was all in good fun. Some people did good though, like that chick who sang Sonic Reducer without a lyric sheet! Dick Lucas from the Sub/Hum/Ans snarled his way through New Rose by the Damned. Shawn Stern totally flubbed Amoeba, and Amy Carrelli nailed it when doing Cherry Bomb by the Runaways without a lyric sheet! Like I said, it was a fun way to end an epic 4 or 5 day run of drunken, drugged out debauchery with Punk Rock Bowling as the background to it all. Thanks to Michaela for making me miss everything and nothing. :-)
There was no way I'm gonna make it to Guitar Wolf tonight. No fucking way. Like most people, it's gonna take me days to recover from this, so I'm gonna go pop some pills and go get some rest. Hibernation time, I believe it's called. Later.
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