I woke up this afternoon to this link in my email: an intelligent story written by my friend Jarret Keene about Curl Up And Die and their most excellent album from like 10 years ago We Are All Robots that reflects a bit on the bands legacy and the whole awesomeness of that seminal release. It's on the Punks In Vegas website, which is a whole contradiction in terms that I don't even wanna get into, but it's definitely worth a read and you can click here to check that shizzle out. It's really good.

Oh, I remembered what I wanted to bring up here - the Madness stuff! :-) As you can see, the Pictures are already posted, and you can click here to see those, and I finished the Show Review for the gig too, and you can click here to read that if you're so inclined. I'm no Jarret Keene but I do alright with the words. LOL I'm not a Writer, nor am I a Photographer. I'm just a music fan who wants to let people know about all the cool things that go on here in Vegas, and to give you an opinion on things I know about and observe, that's all. Take it or leave it, I don't give a fuck. Anyways, yeah, the Madness show review is the 1st one of the year that I've made public. I write lots of them, but I don't publish them because they're just gonna cause Drama with whatever band I'm critiquing, and really I just can't be bothered. I got better shit to do. Too many people take what I write seriously. It's pretty funny.

Everything is updated. New stuff added, old stuff taken off. I fixed the Videos page and linked everything up to my YouTube channel, which you can find by clicking here. I made Public some videos that I had no info on or didn't hear back from the band about, like the Pigasus @ the Cheyenne video, the Dirty Panties @ Vamp'd video, The People's Whiskey @ Motor City Cafe and a few others I can't remember about right now. Anyways, they are all linked up and available on the newly updated Videos page, and you can click right here to check all of those out. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon at work, or so I'm told... heh heh. I gotta get ready for band practice. Go to that Deer Tick gig @ the Aruba tonight to support Zach Ryan & The Renegades, a bunch of cool guys that now feature Danny, the Prince of Drummers, on keyboards. He may have to relinquish that title pretty soon if this keyboards thing keeps up... heh heh heh

I hate that I missed this on Friday. Fucking HATE IT!! :-( Deadhand @ the Royal House playing that Nirvana tribute thing.

Yeah, I missed out on that awesomeness because I was at band practice. Another day, another band apparently. The count is now up to 5. Yeah, I think American Buckshot is back and ready to Bring The Thunder © like we used to do, which is awesome. Another set of songs to learn. I think my left hip is deteriorating at a much more rapid pace than it should be, because it has been in constant pain as of late but oh well. I'm having fun. LOL Saturday I had band practice before playing my debut gig with Pigasus @ the Bar & Bistro for Bobby Frank's Birthday get together (I never saw Mr. Franks all evening), and I think we did pretty good, based on what everyone was telling me after we were finished playing. I was nervous, broke a couple of sticks in half from bashing them too hard on the drums and I made a few mistakes and miscounts but I think I did OK overall. Besides the 'you sounded good' sentiment that was being shared by alot of the attendees, I think just as many people were tripping on me playing at a much slower pace than they're used to seeing me play! LOL Hey man - I'm versatile, I swear! There was too many fantastic people at the place for me to focus on anyone in particular (yeah right), and I Thank all of you who made the effort and came out, especially Dean, fresh from his trip somewhere overseas doing something he probably shouldn't of been doing somewhere he shouldn't of been. Good to have you back Brother. You have no idea of how good it is to see you. XOXO

Shit. While I'm thinking about it, I never shared this Madness video I shot with my trusty iPhone when they played here a few weeks ago. It's for one of my favorite songs off of their debut album, Bed And Breakfast Man.

I also forgot to bring up the fact that Sham 69 had cancelled out of their appearance at Punk Rock Bowling this year, due to Jimmy Pursey's father deteriorating health, so instead, the Cockney Rejects will be taking their place. Now I had heard that the Cockney Rejects were the 'Secret' band playing that Civilians / Youth Brigade gig, so does that mean that there will be a new secret band taking their place? Who knows? The last time I saw the Cockney Rejects was back in the 90's and they were just dog shit terrible. The time before that was sometime in the mid 80's after they went Metal and gawd, they were just fucking horrible then as well, but every time before that, they were fucking incredible, playing most of the songs from their brilliantly titled first album Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. The band is supposed to have a documentary film and a new album out this year called East End Babylon, but I don't know what's up with that. I'm sure they'll be playing few, if any, songs from that album though. I'm sure they've smartened up by now and realized that people only wanna hear the 'Hits' and they'll play just that and all the little tossers can run to the merch booth and buy the swag and post on Facebook how they just saw the Cockney Rejects and me being the old dude that I am will correct them by saying No, you did not see the real Cockney Rejects, much like seeing a Danzig / Doyle thing is not seeing the real Misfits. What you will get at Punk Rock Bowling is the Geggus' brothers latest musical project, and if it was anywhere else, like at a club, I probably would of checked it out, because I'm a HUGE Cockney Rejects fan, but it's not worth just standing around like cattle in a pen tolerating all the shitty bands just to see the ones you like, and therein lies the crux of why the whole Punk Rock Bowling thing sucks shit balls. Oh well.

Everything is updated. I added a bunch of simply fucking AMAZING gigs to the Gig Calendar page, including the almighty Freddie McGregor's return to Las Vegas, as well as a return visit from Don Carlos himself. Oh, I am sooooooooo at both of those gigs. You have no idea. There's some other good one's coming up too, but I forget what they are. I'm just spazzing out on Freddie McGregor and Don Carlos. Wow. <3 I posted those Pictures of The Lost playing at the Double Clown Saloon up last week, so click here to check them out if you're so inclined. I'm gonna go play some Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and work on winning a Tournament. :-)

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.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I give to you, Madness. <3

Words simply cannot do Justice to how fucking cool Madness was. Both on the stage and off. Here's an example. It was like 5 in the morning, and I'm sitting at a bar with the band, and nobody's even paying them any attention. Here's Madness, drunk and lounging around, and they're being treated just like another group of Europeans in town for the Scottish Highland Games... LOL It was a bit surreal but funny. Not as funny as what happened when the band went to visit the backstage green room of Steel Panther, who played for some reason right after Madness. So the lads knock on the door and walk into their dressing room, introducing themselves as Madness and saying that they wanted to wish the guys well in playing their gig tonight, all in a very prim and proper and polite British way. One of the guys in the band (I later found out it was the Singer) says 'Oh, Thank You, that's very nice of you, but we're in the middle of a band meeting, so if you wouldn't mind, could you leave our room.' ha ha ha I fucking howled with laughter as I was the first one out of the room, and I'm standing outside as Madness are like, 'Oh, sorry. We didn't mean to bother - carry on.' and they leave the room. As soon as the door was closed and they're all outside, then it was like "Fucking tossers! Not a bit of talent in the lot of them." ha ha ha ha Those fucking egotistical dooshbags in Steel Panther... LOL Yeah, and then when the band started off their set, they were like, thanking Madness for opening up for them... ha ha ha As if, right? I thought that bit was funny, but the dressing room thing, that shit was priceless. I just had a blast. I don't know why i turned down the free trip to go see Madness in L.A., but I did. 1 night of my Life with those lunatics is enough. I don't think my liver, brains or ears could take any more from them lot! LOL You ever try to make sense of a drunken Englishman at 5 in the morning? It ain't easy, let me tell ya! ha ha ha Thanks to Chrissy Boy, Lee, Chas, Suggs and the Manager of Madness for all the hospitality and good times. See you guys next time! And I hope you enjoyed your Ihop - I went to Maple Tree! ;-)

I got tons and tons of Pictures coming from all these past days shenanigans. More Madness videos too. I made it to the mixing session @ Camel Hump, and gloriously afterwords me band mates in Pigasus had mercy on me and cancelled practice and we had a BBQ instead. A guy can definitely get used to this... heh heh After a straight 20 hours of sleep I feel great! It's time to be productive! It's time to head down to MDV and practice!

It's all a blur. Can't stay up. Can't eat. Can't drink anymore. It's like 11 in the morning and I got to be at Camel Hump in like 2 hours to go and try to salvage my drum sound on that Aluminum Falcon recording. And after that I got Pigasus practice. Somebody help me... ha ha ha I wish I could write down all the amazing stories and things that happened to me and the things I saw at the Madness gig last night, but I can't. Maybe it will come back to me later, I dunno. What I do know is that I had the most fun I've had in a long, long time. Telling stories, listening to stories being told, sharing drinks, having a laugh, catching up, getting lost, you know, just having fun! :-) Anyways, I'm passing the fuck out. Go see The People's Whiskey tonight at the Bunkhouse. I don't think I'm gonna make that gig... heh

I am soooooooooo in Love with Squeeze right now - even more than I ever was, if that's possible. They were incredible last night, basically playing everything from the Singles - 45's And Under release, with a few obscure songs that were definitely treats for us fans, stuff like In Quintessence, If I Didn't Love You, Heaven and Bang Bang from their very first album. My fucking jaw dropped as I haven't heard them play that song in like 30 years. Fucking Wow!!! In the early days, sure, but now, not really, as the band pretty much sticks to a give-the-people-what-they-want aspect of playing the Hits, although the band gets to stretch it's musical muscle on some newer, latter day material that's almost jam band, Rolling Stones like shit, but I forgave them for that little hippy-ish indiscretion. The crowd was tame, but the waitress service was fun, with the old folks in the crowd standing in nicely organized rows, allowing the waitresses to keep bringing me those splendid 32oz. drafts without any trouble. The more I drank, the better the band sounded. Go figure, right? ha ha ha There I was, a big dude in a Sharks jersey, jumping around and rocking out to Squeeze, singing along to almost every gawd damn song they played and just having the time of my Life in a crowd where there was seriously no one under the age of 30 in the place. Ha Ha Ha Ha I did not give a FUCK because sometimes it's good to be an old dude because you can appreciate the songwriting Genius of Mr's Difford and Tilbrook and the Music that they have created. The band was incredible. It was the same line up of players that I saw when Squeeze played the Crown Theater inside the Rio a few years ago (click here to see the photos I took that night) and like a fine wine, they've only gotten better with age. <3 Gawd damn do I love me some Squeeze. I bought all kinds of swag as I left the place. It was gaudy and all over-priced and I didn't care. :-)

Right before the gig I was watching the live feed on YouTube of Coachella 2012, and I gotta say, it was pretty sweet. I watched Jimmy Cliff's set, which was fantastic, despite the presence of that dooshbag Tim Armstrong in Mr. Cliff's backing band. It took me a while to recognize that Jimmy Cliff was doing a Rancid cover, but once I did... BARF!! ha ha ha I Can See Clearly Now was great, with the storm clouds off in the distance over the mountains, and, of course, The Harder They Fall, which is a Spiritual fucking classic. The set ended too quickly for me. The crowd seemed to dig it though, so that was good. And then came Madness. They sounded a bit ruff during the opener One Step Beyond, and they were missing Bedders on bass, but I gotta say, they sounded GREAT!! Suggs voice was in fine form, Woody is always on the beat, Chrissy Boy was playing Johnny Thunders riffs in between songs, Mike was pounding the keyboards in the back and Lee is just a madman, coming out dressed like some Chinese citizen from 1792 and just acting like the lunatic that he is, jumping around and up on the monitors, and mugging for the camera whenever possible. Best line of the night came from Chas, who said "I'm too old for this shit." LOL Second best was Lee asking the crowd "Does anyone have any drugs?" ;-) The highlight of the set was when they did Night Boat To Cairo, with the dual horn intro that sounded SICK, and that fucking crazy kid in the audience who was dressed up like the band were in the video for the song, crowd surfing with the biggest smile on his face while Madness played. That's what going to gigs is all about - having FUN!!! Oh my gawd I cannot wait to see Madness tonight. <3

If you're not going to the Madness gig tonight (I can't imagine why you're not though) there's other stuff going on. I had the date wrong about the Seriouslys gig @ the Motor City Cafe. It's tonight, not yesterday. If you're not going to that you should go to the Ignite / Guilty By Association / The Happy Campers / N.E. Last Words gig at the Aruba. Deadhand dropped off the gig because they don't do Pay to Play. Good for them. I couldn't be prouder. :-) And oh, I lost that video I shot of them doing Singing For You @ the Double Clown on Thurs. My iPhone took a shit, and when I took it down to the Apple store for them to fix it, they said they didn't know what was wrong with it, because it didn't show any signs of abuse/damage. It just couldn't be accessed, so I lost everything on it. Oh well. I got a brand new iPhone out of it, which will be majorly used tonight at Madness. I got Pigasus practice beforehand, so I'm gonna go try and get some sleep. These past few days have been AMAZING, and tonight is just going to be the capper of it all. It's always good seeing your old Friends. :-) Have a great weekend everyone. I know I am! Oh, and go see The People's Whiskey and the Hard Pipe Hitters tomorrow night @ the Bunkhouse!

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!! :-)

So I get this call at like 3 in the morning from a really good friend of mine, who was a bit shaken up after dealing with the Police and Paramedics. Her boyfriend had just beaten her up pretty badly, and she was in a bit of a state of shock. She said she called me because she knew I would be up at that time in the morning. I talked her off the ledge she was on, calming her down and assuring her that everything was going to be OK, and just did my best to be there for her in her time of need. Catch me on a good day and I'm the greatest guy in the world. Catch me on a bad day and apparently I'm an asshole - or a prophet. ;-)

Is it Thursday yet? LOL I'm anxiously awaiting Game 1 of the Playoffs and to see Deadhand. :-) They're playing that crazy ass Ignite gig this Saturday, but I can't go to that gig because I'm gonna be at Madness  that night, so I'm gonna sneak into the Double Clown tomorrow and see them and then get the Hell out of that sullied establishment. After all, I can't have my stellar reputation degenerate any lower than it already is, now can I?

Yeah, I'm totally gheying out on my 80's weekend but I don't care. There is other stuff going on, like this cool Seriouslys gig @ the Motor City Cafe on Friday night, and, yeah, like I said earlier, that Ignite gig on Saturday. Guilty By Association, the Happy Campers and Deadhand are opening. That gig is gonna be FUN! Steel Pulse is playing the Silverton on Sat. too. Man I'd love to see them, but I got a better chance of seeing them again sometime soon than I do of seeing Madness here ever again. Wasn't the last time in 1998 @ the Texas?? I know I was there... sort of... ha ha ha Whatever. There's that interesting gig @ the Bunkhouse on Sunday with The People's Whiskey, Holding Onto Sound, the Hard Pipe Hitters and some band called The Horn Prayer from Colorado. I just might check that out. :-) Anyways, everything is updated. Pictures of Nests @ the Arts Factory and The People's Whiskey @ the Motor City Cafe were just added. Click here and here to check those out. The weather has been beautiful as of late. It's Springtime. Time to start planning road trips, right? Right!

You really and truly reap what you sow. That's why I got nothing but love L-U-V all around me, and that's why others have to hide from the world and try to avoid the harsh words and questions of others and having to explain yourself. Look, just because you've made peace with yourself for your past idiotic drunken druggy actions doesn't mean that everyone else is just supposed to forgive and forget you - oh no. Karma is a mother fucker, or so I've heard, and for what you did, you got loads and loads more bad luck coming to you. Get used to it. :-) Go back to the Rockasilly scene where 2 faced raunch such as yourself thrives and blooms in the bullshit that's prevalent there. Go hide on Google+, stay away from the Drama that is Facebook, or create another Myspace profile like you've been doing as of late. Pathetic. Who the Hell makes a new Myspace profile in this day and age, fer Christ's sake??? LOL Why do people have so many online profiles anyways? I'm assuming it's because they're ashamed of what they are and running away and trying to hide from something they did, or trying to be something that they're not, where nobody knows the real them, but I could be wrong... heh heh. it's not like I haven't seen this exact same behavior before, right? ;-) Good luck with getting healthy and staying away from the bars too. Some people can handle their booze - you can't. Maybe you should consider growing up and taking care of your kids instead of whoring yourself around Viva like you did when you were younger and less responsible. Just a thought? LOL OK, I'm done chastising that cunt publicly. It's like beating up a retard at this point, and she's smart in keeping her profile low and staying away from the public. After all, it's not like I can stand to hear another story from her so-called Friends and Family about what a fuck up she is... ha ha ha Moving on! I will say no more about it or her. Sad to watch but whatever. We all make our own decisions and choices, right? :-)

Dude! I fucking slept through going to the recording studio on Monday, as well as the Gwar / Municipal Waste gig that night!! FAWK!! Fucking Heroin is one Hell of a drug! LOL I think I'm giving up on the Aluminum Falcon recording, because it's just turning into a Pennywise record, and my drums sound like shit, despite the input I give, so I'm just gonna let those guys finish it off and be happy about the finished results, no matter how craptacular they are. I'm bummed I missed out on Gwar, and I really wanted Municipal Waste to FUCK ME UP!!, but alas, it was in a proper venue, so I don't know how crazy it could of gotten. I heard it was an amazing gig though from those who went.

Damn the hits on the website have been going through the roof as of late. The Cowtown Guitars Grand Re-Opening Party pictures are the most popular page so far this month, with the San Francisco pictures a close second. And I'm always befuddled by what people put into Google to end up here. This Virus Makes Us Human? The Broads Suck? Really? ha ha ha And why have 15 people typed in 'Ashley Sandifer Las Vegas', hmmm?

Everything is updated. New Pictures of Internal Corrosion were just posted, and I'll see you at the Double Clown after the Sharks game on Thurs. for that Deadhand gig. You see, I like to check out bands before everyone else does, so that way, when certain people get into that band, telling me who amazing and awesome they are, like, years later, I can laugh at them with an air of arrogance and smugness while saying 'Tell me something I don't know you Poseur!' ha ha ha Deadhand Thursday night, Squeeze on Friday night, and Madness on Saturday. What a fucking treat!! What did I do to get sooooooo gawd damn  lucky? Is it my Karma rewarding me for what I've been going through as of late? Probably. Oh wait - I forgot - I don't believe in Karma, because if I did, then bad things would be happening to bad people - Oh wait... ha ha ha ha See you at the gigs! :-)