I'd like to think I ruined a few people's night by being at The Dickies / D.I. / New Cold War / The Pluralses gig last night @ The House of Booooo's. Fuck that place. Seriously. The petty, insecure bearded long hair jackoffs working there - both the Security on the floor and in the box office - all deserve every bad thing that happens to them. I can't say it enough. Fuck that place.

Everything was going great. I got my tickets, got a photo pass (Thanks Cody!), lots of old friends and people I haven't seen in 5-10 years were in attendance, and the amount of stink eye I was receiving from ex's and enemies in attendance was comedic. They act like I care, they act like they're gonna do something to me, when we all know all they're gonna do is sit back and talk shit because they're too pussy to actually do anything, but I digress.

It started during The Pluralses opening set. Some longhair Security doosh comes up to me as I'm in the photographers area directly in front of the stage. There's a few other photographers there, shooting away, but this asshat comes up to me and stands in front of my camera and asks if I have a photo pass. I point to my left shoulder where my plainly marked photo pass is sitting right in front of his face, and he goes 'Oh, well you should have it in an easier spotted place.' Where? I told him? Right on my forehead? 'Smart ass' he mutters as he walks away. Whatever. I shot about half of the Pluralses set before heading back to the bar where my drink and my girlfriend were.

He comes up to me again as I'm about 6 songs in to the New Cold War set. Same long hair bearded Security dooshbag taps me on the shoulder and tells me I can't shoot with a flash. I'm not shooting with a flash, I tell him. He points to the flash sitting directly on top of my camera and says 'What's this then?' It's not even on, I tell him, and he again reminds me that I can't shoot with a flash in the venue. I point my flash, which, again, isn't on, and obnoxiously point it straight into the air and ask him There? Are you happy? Or would you like me to break it off my camera? He calls me a jerk and walks off.

It's one of the last song that the Dickies are playing, If Stuart Could Talk, and I've been shooting pictures during the bands entire set, when this little dick bastard comes up to me again and tells me I've been shooting too many pictures, and that I need to stop. I start busting out laughing and tell him Oh, is that right? I didn't know there was a quota on how many pictures you could take here. Is that what you're telling me, that this pass is limited? "You can't shoot pictures after 3 songs" he yells back at me. "Nobody's allowed to take pictures after that." He's directly in my face as I motion with my hand to some guy on the actual stage, taking pictures of The Dickies, as well as everyone against the barricade taking pictures and videos of the band with their cell phones - some using their flash. What about them? I ask? You gonna do your job and tell them they can't take pictures as well? He looks me in the eye and goes "Oh, well they're friends and family. They're allowed to." I'm laughing even louder at this point and tell him Yeah right? Where do you dream up this bullshit dude? He growls at me and says if I take one more picture he's kicking me out of the venue. I mock him by going Ooooh noooooo! Please Mr. Security Man! Don't kick me out during the bands last song! Oh woe is me, I don't know what I would do if the big jock-o-rama kicks me out of the shitty venue during the bands last song. Oh whatever will I do then? LOL He walks away, telling me to keep it up and see what happens. I laugh as he walks away and yell at him Wouldn't give you the satisfaction sweetheart!! He turns around with murder in his eyes and sees me standing there with arms extended going What? and laughing. He glared at me angrily and then went back to his perch near the side of the stage, and I could see him and his other bouncer friends talking among themselves, pointing in my direction and giving me dirty looks like I give a fuck... hahahaha Losers. Then the Dickies were over and so I left, with Erika being more pissed off with the situation that I was! haha.

I guess the moral of the story is that there's always gonna be somebody somewhere who's gonna try to fuck things up for you by goading you and pushing your buttons - whether by their own choice or the influence of others. The secret is to not let it get to you, which pisses them off even more. To paraphrase Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway from the movie Heartbreak Ridge, never give the pricks the satisfaction. ;)

I finally met Tommy! My life is now complete! ha ha ha ha Very cool guy he is. :)

Yeah, I drug my diseased carcass to the Bacon Bar on Sat. night for Tommy's B-Day party. The food there was amazing!! Peanut butter and jelly bacon cheese burgers? Get the fuck out of here!! LOL Nice spot, but I'm sure they'll never have Punk Rock shows there again. Not because anything was getting trashed or fucked up. No, it was more like it was just an awkward situation to have a gig in, seeing bands playing in the corner of the pool area / rec room of the establishment. Whatever.

Wasn't digging too much on the bands though, but it was a chill vibe in the place. As Erika and I were stuffing our faces and chatting with Matt, we watched as the cops were pulling people over left and right on Rancho, including stopping one guy right in front of our window. We thought for sure he was going to get arrested, but the cops let him go. Score one for the good guys.

I stuck it out as long as I could. The Hard Pipe Hitters opened up the night with some fast and loud obnoxious Punk Rock with a drummer that kept speeding up and slowing down, which got irritating after a bit. 3 words - levels on stage, that's all I'm saying. Oh, and maybe more practice and less drinking/drugging? I dunno. That band Bad Advice was OK, nothing spectacular Punk Rock. The band was basically some dude from Germany playing guitar with the guys from Dead Lazlo's Place backing him. Weird. I don't think that band For Sale played (I heard they cancelled) and I didn't see a note of Glue Gun, because the band on directly before them, the Midnight Staggers, from my hometown of Whittier, CA, kept playing one cover after another - granted, they were great covers by bands like The Humpers and The Rip Offs, but still, covers. My belief is that if you're a band playing a gig, and not a party, and you're playing a bunch of covers at the beginning of your set, instead of your own original material, then you probably suck and I have no use for you, so I left.

It felt good to get out of my house for something not medical related... LOL Happy Birthday Tommy!! Hope it was a good one. Can't wait for the next one!! Cheers!

Ermahgerd!! The Punk Rock Posing club shows were announced!! Ermahgerd!!

Absolutely sickening how people I know fawn and gloat over it.

Not only is it, again, a rehash of bands that have just played or who have played PRP before, but it's also taking place Downtown, where everybody Locally complains about going to see shows at the LVCS on a regular basis. Is that boycott of the Beauty Bar still a thing? LOL Sure, you bitch about paying $10 for parking and then paying $11 for a PBR tall can every other time of the year, but when the annual Stern Bros. fleecing comes 'round, you all trip over yourselves to participate.

Why not everyday? / Are you so afraid? / What will people say?

I mean, damn, look at this farce. Ministry? Really? And people I know have been trying to get Excel out here ever since they got back together and started playing, but those Rockstars sucked off and got the Stern Bros. offal, so fuck them. I like how they're now a bunch of spiky hair tattoo'd Hardcore looking motherfuckers, when back in the day they were a bunch of sissy long haired surfer boys sporting tie dyed tee shirts and Vision skate shorts. And when did mariachi music become Punk? When did white boy mariachi music become good? And does Good Riddance only play final farewell shows at PRP? Is that their shtick now?  Poison Idea and Slapshot on the same bill? Boy, talk about selling out! Are Choke and Jerry A. going to get into a bleeding forehead contest? Will that guy in the Local band with a cause that does that as well at every gig they play get up on stage and show them how it's done? LOL And I'm not even gonna comment on that Infeshit band opening. Seems ol' Harold Blanco found himself a mixture of old and new suckers to follow him down that rabbit hole again. Good luck girls - you're gonna need it. Make sure to watch out that your gear doesn't get stolen! LOL Leftover Crack was just here, so was Agent Orange, and D.I. is playing here in a few weeks with The Dickies. Yawn. Beardcore runs rampant, D.O.A., Dayglo Abortions, Anti-Nowhere League and Angelic Upstarts keep selling nostalgia to gullible fools looking to check bands off their 'must-see before they die' list. Teenage Bottlerocket, just like their idols in KISS, don't let a little thing like a brother dying from stopping that money making machine from running on, and the token Reggae / Soul whatever gig would be dead empty if happening here on any other night of the year. Gawd, I can go on and on and on with this public proctocolectomy, but what's the point? You know you're gonna go, just like you did last year, and you're gonna bitch about it, just like you did last year, and then when it's all said and done, you'll swear that you're over it, that you're not gonna support it and attend it anymore, because you're sick of getting ripped off and taken for granted by the powers that be in the upper PRP echelon - just like you said last year.

Pathetic.

There's always something mundane and boring going on with the Local music scene here in Vegas, and this upcoming weekend is a prime example of the mediocrity and banality that's taking over this town's music scene faster than the syphilis thing is, if you can believe that, right Local band guitarist friend of mine? hahaha

First off, you have this farcical Neon Reverb festival, back from the dead after 3 years, because failure the first time around means nothing in this town - just ask the Bunkhouse or the Artistic Armory about that. It will be better this time, we promise! The powers that be at the Neon Reverb festival tried to remedy the fact that nobody Locally supported the thing the last time it was here by including some Local bands on various bills, bands who were all too quick to drink that cup full of Kool-Aid IMO, but really, it was only the kiss ass bands who were friends with 11th Street Records who were asked to play the thing which again, shows it's not how good a band you are here in Vegas, it's who your friends are that will get you on the big, cool shows because, contrary to what is the public perception, your band will get signed to a major label by playing these type of shows and then all your troubles will be over. Your band can become the next Crocodiles or Walkman or any other band that went on to bigger and better things after playing the Neon Reverb festival. I mean, any festival that has that one pussy band that plays to an empty venue once a week as a headliner is pretty clueless, don't you think? Yeah, I'm not gonna lie - I lost a little respect for the Local bands that jumped on the bandwagon to play this "prestigious" event, and I get the 'it's fun to play with your friends' aspect of the gig, but still, when will bands here in town learn that it's OK to turn down a gig. Are your narcissistic tendencies really that strong? Is your urge to be accepted as one of the cool bands here in town and have everyone know how cool your band is really that overwhelming? Sad. It was lack of Local support that killed this shitty music festival the first time around. I was hoping for a repeat performance.

Bands that aren't that good shouldn't be crowing about being asked back to play Vinyl on Facebook... just saying. And posting a video showing how much you suck doesn't help you out. Your singer looks cute in a dress though. I'd do him.

Thanks to everyone in AZ for the well wishes. Apparently, the rumor going around Tucson was that I was too sick to play the Tucson Takeover gig, and that's why The Civilians didn't play. That, my friends, is a bald faced lie. The truth of the matter was that the old guys in my band didn't wanna make the trek to Tucson to play what was basically an East Side Joe's Up Da Punx spikey hair studded denim vests type of festival, preferring instead to spend time with their families here in town and doing extra curricular activities that they actually enjoy doing instead of playing gigs out of town. Whatever. I'm fine. I personally didn't wanna play the gig because that shitty band Revolt was on the bill, so a cover story was concocted that made me the victim. Funny how a band can go play Japan in real clubs/venues and then come back to Reality, USA to play the front rooms and backyards they deserve to be in. Meh. Whatever. It's getting a little old. Maybe the thing has run it's course.

I spent the weekend chillaxing. Missed Leather Lungs on Friday @ the Dive, because that was just too much Stoner / Sludge rock for me to handle, and besides, I'll just wait to see them play the Neon Reverb festival like all the cool kids are. I went out to dinner on Sat. with friends, which was nice and relaxing, and then went to see Ace Frehley @ the Brooklyn Bowl on Sun., which was terrible. He played everything slow. The drummer sang the KISS songs. Ace never could sing live, and it's only gotten worse. Did the bass player really need a solo? I left in disgust about halfway through the set. Ugh.

Speaking of things that have only gotten worst, that thing going on next weekend Locally (sort of) is the mass exodus of mediocrity bus, totally filled up with the pond scum "bands" that make up the laughable part of our scene, and they're all headed straight out to Lake Havasu to play under the bridge there because why? I dunno? Someone told them it was cool and they believed it. Idiots. You can see almost any or all of these "bands" (dirty crackhead hobos playing acoustic instruments are not a band) in some "secret" front room or backyard somewhere here in Vegas at any time of the month, and like Neon Reverb, the bands I like that are playing this thing have lost a little of my respect but whatever. Integrity and Morals and Beliefs mean nothing anymore. And don't let that dooshbag "drummer" from that joke band that keeps breaking up and getting back together convince you that this was all his original idea. Let's have bands play under the bridge! What a great idea! No one's ever thought of that before! Truth is, they've been having concerts under that bridge in Lake Havasu since forever. His only genius was getting the stupid gullible bands here in town to believe the BS that comes out of his mouth. Fools.