 First off, Happy Birthday to my Brother from another Mother Jesse Amoroso. This guy and I have been through some crazy stuff together, 75% of which can's be or never will be publicly revealed. You see, we weren't always the law abiding, distinguished gentlemen that were are now. ;-) Anyways, today is his birthday, and I just wanted to give the ol' guy a shout out on his special day. Our lives together have certainly been interesting, to say the least... heh heh I love ya Bro! I hope you have fun with Charlie Daniels today at the shop... lol Many Happy returns to ya on your Special day! Speaking of Cowtown Guitars and Fun, how much of a blast was their inaugural First Friday celebration?? Sponsored by Sailor Jerry, it was definitely a fuel soaked bacchanal of depravity, that's for sure, especially once we all headed over to Artifice, where things got even crazier. Why was everyone giving me all that free booze for anyways?? LOL At Cowtown, there was free booze galore, and some amazing rum flavored cupcakes, and the entertainment was provided by a video with barely audible sound starring Jesse A., ranting and raving about something to do with guitars I'm assuming, and then his new band Crazy Chief played to the delight of everyone in attendance. They overcame some major technical difficulties and still managed to rock out while doing so. I tried to shoot a few photos, but my leg and back were killing me, so I had to go back outside by the bar and soak up some more free booze to kill the pain. At least that's what I told myself anyways. The few pictures I took that weren't over-lit or out of focus too badly can be seen here. As soon as my photographer extraordinaire Ashley Chance gets her photos edited, I'll post those up as well. Thanx to everyone for helping me out and hanging out with me, and Thanx to Sailor Jerry for all the free booze. Oh, and Thanks to that Sailor Jerry girl Tas (I think that was her name) for being a good sport about that slagging off I gave her on the website a while back when she did a few songs with Life's Torment during their set opening up for Melt Banana @ the Bunkhouse... heh heh Saturday night it was all about American Buckshot practice and Hockey @ the Orleans Arena. Dean's friend Andy from Reno was in town for the weekend, so after we tortured him with our performance at band practice, we loaded up and took a taxi cab mans route to get to the game, where the Wranglers beat Stockton 4-3 in a double overtime shootout. We had seats like 5 rows back from the glass, and it was a good way to end a Hell of a weekend. Even though I felt stupid wobbling around with my cane like a decrepit old man, it was good to be out and about and among Friends and Family. A few people were noticibly absent, and, of course, others were definitely being discussed, but overall, it was nothing but Good feelings and Positive vibes all around, which was perfectly matched up with the Hippy music being played by Crazy Chief... heh heh
Ugh! It's Sat. morning! WTF am I doing up so early? LOL Fuck it. Lemme get some thoughts down before I forget them.
If you know, you know, and I'm not gonna get too much into the details, but the thing with Ainjil is over. They found him Guilty on all charges. Maybe there is hope for believing in the system? Who knows. It won't bring those that she Loved and Lost back, but I'm Thankful that this aspect of the ordeal she's been dealing with is over. Now she can move on to the Healing process and maybe become Happy again. Not as Happy as she was, of course, but maybe just a little Happy. She deserves at least that. <3
 So does anyone wanna tell me what happened at last nights Mapes gig? LOL Horn players? Really? Wowsers. Sounds like I missed out on a really fun time! I heard the same thing about that Fat Dukes Of Fuck gig @ the Double Clown. I heard they did some damage to that piss hole place they played at, and sprayed the crowd with a toilet paper shooting air gun. Again, sounds like I missed out on some good clean fun!! And is Turbo the new official drummer for the Seriouslys? Do I wanna know what happened with Emma? Was she sick or something? Bob was there taking pictures for the website, so look for those to be up here by sometime next year or whenever he gives them to me. Tonight is the Waste Your Life Family Barbecue shindig going down @ the Bunkhouse, but I don't think I'll be going to that. Too artsy for me. Holding Onto Sound, Deadhand, Highdro, Left Unattended and One Pin Short are playing, which is cool, but then you have like 300 Indie bands that I've never heard of playing as well, so yeah, I'm gonna stay away from that thing, even though I'd like to hang with Her while she's there working the place. We could make fun of the Ho's like we did at the Jesus And Mary Chain show! ;-) And besides, I would only go to the Bunkhouse tonight to see Deadhand, but I'm totally seeing them on Monday. With Valient Thorr.
 Yeah, Valient Thorr. Pretty cool band. Monster guitar riffs and fat, loud and fast paced music all fronted by a guy who's seriously a disturbed motivational speaker or a demented Preacher or maybe both, I dunno... LOL They're big among the Hipster Elite, which makes me wary of the band, because if those type of people like them, then something must be wrong with the band, right? heh heh Of course, there was a shitload of those Downtown Dooshbags at that Melt Banana gig @ the Bunkhouse a while back, and there's nothing wrong with that band, so maybe I'm off in my assessment. I'm not good at guesstimating why Hipsters like what they do. Maybe it's the Beard thing. I think every guy in Valient Thorr sports a beard, but that don't make them Beardcore - oh no! Valient Thorr are a fucking kick ass Punk Rock and Roll band, combining the best of bands like Turbonegro, AC/DC and early Metallica, and they're capable of laying waste to a venue at any moments notice. You do not wanna miss these guys. It's gonna be a sick gig. And the chance to see Deadhand on a big stage just sweetens the deal. I haven't seen those guys in a while, so yeah, I'm definitely overdue for a Deadhand fix. It's gonna be a great night. Come on out. You won't regret it. Promise. ;-) Speaking of regret, how funny is that thing about Harley from the Cro-Mags stabbing his replacement in the band? hahaha I've been pretty fucking pissed off about being kicked out of a band I've been in but never enough to stab someone! LOL Beat the shit out of, sure, but stab? Nope! hee hee hee Anyways, you can read all about it by clicking here or looking it up via Google yourself, you lazy bastards. :-) Everything is updated. I just added the Pictures I took on the 4th of July up to the website, and you can click here to check them out. Only interesting if you were there or if you're a nosy ex trying to keep up on what I'm up to... heh heh
Shit talking? Me? I'm down! Let's go!! hahaha Somebody on Facebook posted a link to a story about 2 Local bands that got signed by some label out of Oregon called Squid Hat Records. The 2 bands are the Gashers and The Dirty Panties. You can click here to check that story out. I can understand the Dirty Panties getting signed, because they've been around for a while now and have definitely paid some dues, but the Gashers signing is a bit odd, because they haven't played that many gigs or released anything yet, but I was told by a member of the band that they were signed on the strength of the Peccadilloes, who I guess are officially finished now, and that's where the Gashers all originally came from. The label has an interesting perspective as far as associating themselves with the Double Clown and Punk Jock Bowling, but other than that minor annoyance I think what they're up to is pretty damn cool. I'm looking forward to hearing the Product that comes from those 2 bands and that label. It should be pretty good, considering how much Talent both those bands have. Become a Friend of Squid Hat Records on Facebook by clicking here and Support a couple of guys who believe in our music scene. Somebody has to, right? ;-) Oh, if you need tickets to that Casualties / Lower Class Brats gheyness that's happening @ the Bunkhouse Saloon this Saturday, you can get them directly (and cheaply) from the Civilians, who are opening along with Vihan Rytmi, by clicking here. I will be nowhere near that lame ass gig, and I have no comment on the bands opening and why they're playing the gig. I guess when you have a soft spot for a band you had a hard on for when you were a kid looks a bit silly 20 years down the road when you're not such a Poseur anymore... heh heh  Hey! Did you hear that Cody from The People's Whiskey is now playing bass for Surrounded By Thieves? Hell Yeah! That's pretty cool. The hardest working man in Hendertucky will make a great addition to that band, but I heard that the previous bass players leaving wasn't too amicable. Oh well. It's not really a Punk Rock band unless their is Drama involved somehow, right? LOL The new line up is making it's grand debut tomorrow night @ Yayo Taco with a couple of bands from California, The Bogarts and Moonraker, and Local darlings The Dirty Panties, who released a track from their upcoming release on Squid Hat Records called I Am A Robot on their Reverb Nation band page, and you can click here to give it a listen. The song is called Figment Of A Girl and it's really fucking good. Congrats ladies! :-) If you're not a Friend of the band already on Facebook, you can click here to make amends for that. Shame on you! I'm sure they'll be playing some songs off of their upcoming release, so come on out and Support Local Music and help out some bands who are on Tour and in need of money for gas and Del Taco burritos, and not the type of gas that you get from eating Del Taco burritos! The Facebook event page for the gig is right here. It should be a good time.
 If you got nothing better to do today you could head out to East Side Joe's (yeah, remember that place) and see, again, a couple of touring bands that could definitely use your help with anything and everything you can give them money wise. Summer is the time for touring and these two bands, In Defence and Wartorn, are playing with that one band who foolishly stated that they were breaking up a few months ago, Vihan Rytmi, so bust out your butt flaps and put on those clothes with all the band logo patches sewn onto them with dental floss (mint of course), because it's a good day to get Punk as Fuck at East Side Joe's with a couple of bands who came all the way from the upper midwest area of the States to play for you. Seems the least you can do is go and check them out. Not that I'm going to be there, of course, because I got American Buckshot practice to do, but still, if you're in the area, or if you're just a diehard, stop by and check out the gig. Who knows, you might even have fun. :-) The Facebook page for the band In Defence, straight outta Minneapolis, current home of Profane Existence, can be found by clicking here. The Facebook page for Wartorn, who hail from Wisconsin, can be fond here. And just for shits and giggles, here's the link for the Facebook page for Profane Existence. They also have a Twitter acct. if you can believe that. They don't print the fanzine anymore, but they have Facebook and Twitter accounts, to keep all those Crusty Street Punx informed as to what's going on. Oh how the mighty have fallen. ;-) OK, I think I've rambled enough for today. I'm getting sleepy... very sleepy, and this 7 Seconds I'm blasting at a ridiculously loud volume just ain't cutting it anymore. Everything is updated. I re-added the LV Local Music Scene .Com Compilation Vol. 2 to the Tunes page (click here to re-associate yourself with it), and I made it available for download too. I did the same with the Public Humiliation posting I did before as well. I also re-added a couple of old Show Reviews too, one from the Die Laughing / Vihan Rytmi / Nests / Internal Corrosion gig @ The Arts Factory a while back (click here to read that) and one from the Melt Banana / 400 Blows / Life's Torment gig @ The Bunkhouse from a while ago, and you can click here to read that one if you want. I got a bunch of Music Reviews coming up too, so yeah, things are getting better around the ol' website. So far so good I say.
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. ;-)
 Oh...
My...
Fucking...
GAWD!!!
How incredibly amazing was Melt Banana last night? Seriously? Pretty fucking Epic and if you missed this one just go shoot yourself in the face now.
YOU FUCKING BLEW IT BIG TIME BUDDY!!!
Melt Banana were monumental, and they brought everybody and their Mom out of the woodwork to see this Legendary band from Tokyo perform. Old Punk Rock Legends, Ex-Scenesters, Cool Guys, Dirty Punx, Crusties, tons of Dooshbag Hipsters, Metal Dudes, Stoners, Freaks, Drunks, Foreigners and representatives from every cool band in town came out to watch the band perform. Watching the singer Yako just work the salivating, packed beyond belief Bunkhouse Saloon crowd into a frenzy just by waving her hands was soooooooooo fucking amazing. She sounded incredible, as did the rest of the band. They played my favorite song Mind Thief. I was happy. ;-) I was also happy when they did this melody/barrage of some of their short songs all played back to back, with Yako saying 'Thank You!' in her uber-cute voice in between each and every one of them. I missed the first 2, but caught the last 4. ;-)
Yeah, Melt Banana were the shit. You can check out the Pictures I took by clicking here. Life's Torment were really good as well, commandeering a big chunk of the early attendees into become fans of theirs by putting on an intense, in your face display of manic Punk Rock anger that had me grinning from ear to ear. And as for 400 Blows, well, the less said the better. I'm just gonna say that they're aptly named and leave it at that... heh heh. This shit was Epic man, and if you missed it, fuck, I don't even know what to say. Better Luck next time perhaps?? ;-)
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