October 16, 2010: Zeke - Pigasus - The 7 Outs - 1/2 Ast @ the LVCS
We were coming from the Riviera, where Jeremy and I had just watched an Estrogen fueled roller derby battle royale to the Death. Some cute girls in roller derby this year, that's for sure. It was almost Jeremy's Birthday, and instead of spending it with his Family, he decided to head off downtown to hopefully see Zeke play. I say hopefully because we've both been burned by the Legendary band from Seattle a few times, who were well known for awhile there for not showing up to gigs for various drug fueled excuses and reasons. Anyone remember when Zeke pulled into the Castle in Henderson, grabbed their guarantee and left, saying that their singer was sick and couldn't play? Yeah... funny stuff. Anyways, after finding a place to park we walked in just as 1/2 Ast had finished playing and with the 7 Outs setting their gear up to play. The place looked much less full than I would of thought it was going to be on a Saturday night for Zeke. Booooooo. I saw Roxie walking by and after thanking her for putting me on the Guest List I asked her 'Is Zeke here?' "Yup, I picked them up from the airport myself", she replied, and Jeremy and I both breathed a sigh of relief. We were going to see Zeke tonight! Woo hoo! We bellied up to the bar and ordered a round of something cold. I was ecstatic that the band was going to play, but a bit peeved that there wasn't more people in attendance. Fucking Vegas, I swear. After a flying hug welcome from Ainjil from Pigasus and a nonsensical story from Hank!, about gawd knows what, I headed up to the lame ass barriers directly in front of the stage to secure a good spot to watch the 7-Outs. Wasn't that hard to do since there was hardly anybody there.
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I had heard a few good things about the 7 Outs going into tonight's gig, but knew nothing of what they sounded like. Saw their name on a few flyers around town and after Cap'n Jesse had told me about them, I was mildly intrigued. The Cap'n generally has good taste in music, and he told me I'd like their 'Old School' sound. There's not enough old school Punk bands gigging around in Vegas, and with Dirk and Turbo from the Vermin in the band, it was almost guaranteed that their music was going to be rocking. So the band starts playing, I'm digging it, real heavy Stooges / Saints vibe going on, almost reminding me of the Dead Boys in certain places, all being fronted by a well dressed man with great stage presence and a pretty good sounding voice. Not bad stuff at all. Dirk is doing his thing on guitar, supplying jokes and back up vocals when necessary, abusing the crap out of his effects pedal, and the bass player is bouncing around and smiling and laughing and looking like he's having the greatest time of his Life up on the stage. It was great to watch. Whatever he was on, I wanted some of it too! LOL Turbo sat behind all this on his kit and just kept the beat steady beat, looking like he was thinking a bit more than he was used to while playing drums. The combination worked, and the 7 Outs played a really enjoyable set of tunes. The band had a killer sound, the songs were short but sweet, and I think they did a cover but I'm not sure by who. David Bowie perhaps? Who knows. Anyways, the 7 Outs were really Ace and I'm looking forward to hearing more from them in the future.
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I'm standing around watching the various members of Pigasus setting their gear up, getting ready to play. They're pretty much wordless because they're all lost in their own little worlds. They all know what they have to do, and they're getting mentally in the zone to handle business. 1 member is noticeably absent during all of this though - Danny, the Prince of Drummers. Once the gear gets put into place and level checks are run, Danny comes out from straight behind the bar where he's been slinging booze the entire evening, and as soon as he situates himself behind the kit, WHAM! Pigasus kicks off their set with a boom crash fire and a level of enthusiasm that I've never seen them display before. It's excellent! I think they're trying to blow everyone else who has played before them, or who will play after them, right off of the stage, and if they weren't successful in that endeavor, well then they came pretty damn close! LOL Pigasus as a whole is a formidable Rock 'N' Roll unit to be dealt with, but with something to prove and a chip on their shoulder, they are downright scary! They're playing the songs fast and loose, putting on a dazzling display of Rock 'N' Roll showmanship that is slowly enveloping everyone in the LVCS and bringing all the punters closer to the stage to watch and learn and witness what playing for the Love of Music is all about. The crowd is definitely digging it. Midway through the set the band launches into Kick Out The Jams, and as a rule I usually walk away from bands when they play covers in the middle of their set, but the way Pigasus was playing it was just soooooo damn good, I couldn't tear myself away from it. Nope! No by-the-numbers stale, generic cover, they were playing it like they wrote the fucking song, and by the time it all came crashing down at the end, the crowd was won over, and I think that was the appeal of tonight's performance from the band. Every song played was from the heart, 100% given, and every song played was because it's what they like to play. It truly shines through. Rich is a Madman with a mic in his hand, Roxie looks at home rocking the denim and her Thrasher Magazine bass, Jack is throwing his guitar around with reckless abandon, Danny is just in Heaven pummeling his drum kit and Jesse just soars and wails and runs wild on his guitar, screaming back up vocals whenever the music moves him to do so. Combine all 4 of these parts into 1 and what you get is Magic. Pigasus never fails to disappoint, and tonight they set a very high standard for every performance that will follow. Excellent shit.
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I didn't even move from my spot when Pigasus was finished. I was perfectly situated right up front, with nothing but that stupid barrier between me and the Zeke-sters, who I could see mingling about in the darkened, side area of the stage. I was as giddy as a child on Christmas, because I could see Zeke. They were all present. They were actually about to play! hahahah Roxie came running up next to me, sharing in my enthusiasm about the fact that we were about to see Zeke play. I couldn't even recall the last time I saw them? The Casbah? Thomas and Mack? The Junkyard? Fuck if I know, but it was all going to be alright because the members of the band were now up on stage, setting things right with the equipment Pigasus left for them to use, and now the wolves are calling out to the band. Song titles are being screamed at random, I don't see any set lists on the stage, and after a bit Marky finally acknowledges the crowd by saying something - what it was I have no idea, because he said it so fast that it came out sounding like backwards gibberish being barked out by a drill instructor speed freak! LOL It didn't matter what he said, because as soon as he was done, the band launched into West Seattle Acid Party and that was it. It was on. Bodies start piling up and getting banged around, the floor starts to shake from everyone jumping around, elbows, knees, fists and kicks are being thrown around, various liquids of what I hope are alcohol infused drinks are flying above my head, spraying anything and everything in their path, and calmly in the middle of all this is Zeke, providing the Music that is causing everyone to lose their shit. I am in HEAVEN!! The band is melting my fucking face off and instead of getting away from the source of the Danger, I am compelled to get closer to it, drawn like a moth to a flame, compelled to feed off it it, compelled to feed into it. Zeke is pulling no punches tonight and taking no prisoners, giving no quarter and expecting none in return, playing songs one right after the next, barreling through them like a runaway locomotive train coming down a 15% mountain grade. The few times they do decide to take a break to breathe or tune up, the songs are chatted up with those same, drill instructor on speed staccato Gatling gun delivery that's completely indecipherable, and completely incomprehensible. Songs like God Of GSXR, Chiva Knievel, Arkansas Man and Twisted are thrown out to the crowd like chunks of bloody meat to a pack of starving dogs, and are quickly consumed and devoured as such. Donny Paycheck is just killing it behind the drum kit, bashing the ever loving shit out of the drums and raising the Devil Horns at every chance possible while in the middle of doing so. Marky is still one of the fastest, most hardest riffing guitar players that I have ever seen, and if it wasn't for the occasional rubbing of his hand and arm, you would never know what a physical toll playing so fucking phenomenally takes out of him. I remember seeing the same 2nd guitarist and bass player with Zeke the last time I saw them, and those 2 add a Hell of a lot to making Zeke sound just as deadly live as they do on record. Plus they're a couple of maniacs, running around everywhere on the stage and getting the crowd more crazed then they already are with their stage antics. It all came crashing to an end after a bit, with the band calling it a night and heading off stage with the screams and howls of the crowd baying for more in their ears. The band came back up on the stage to run through a few more, including Lawson and Zeke You, and then they called it a night. Yeah, what Zeke had just done inside the LVCS to all of us in attendance was life affirming, historical, and the high I walked out of there with was gonna stay with me for weeks to come. Incredible.
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For more Pictures of Zeke, please click here. For more Pictures of Pigasus, please click here. For more Pictures of the 7 Outs, please click here.
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