So long Bunkhouse.

You gotta figure that any place that would 86 Jesse & Roxie from being allowed in there, 2 of the nicest, most honest people you will ever meet, wouldn't last long in this dried up cat shit venue town. That incident alone was one of the many glaring signs that the venue was doomed to fail from the start. Tony Hsieh pulls up stakes here in town and suddenly the Bunkhouse shuts down. Their shoddy business practices and overpriced shitty drinks probably didn't help either. When they let the Punk bands in to play, you know a club isn't doing very well. I'm no Dipster, so I never had want or need to go there, and there was never a gig happening there that I wanted to see. Glad I didn't buy my Melt Banana tickets yet, because that was probably going to be the first gig I was going to see at the "new, improved" Bunkhouse. Oh well. Guess I lost my chance. Fuck 'em. They never really supported Local music anyways.

The best is reading the comments on Facebook, news websites and whatnot about the Bunkhouse closure, with the unexpected backlash and vitriol against the club and the Downtown mentality in general a refreshing sight to see. Has the Kool-Aid lost it's charm? Are you looking for an excuse to lose the beard? Are you finally seeing the whole Zappos / Downtown revitalization thing for the ripoff that it is? Gawd, I hope so.

In the LOLZ Dept., click here to sign an online petition to get Dean from Blue Tile Lounge Events to be considered one of the candidates to take over running the venue. Don't ask...

Catchup time:

Pictures of Teenage Bottlerocket playing @ the Beauty Bar are posted up, and you can click here to check them out.

Pictures of the U.K. Subs playing @ the Dive are posted up, and you can click here to check them out. I also posted a video from the same night of them doing C.I.D. and I Live In A Car, which you can see just below these words. If they would of done B.1.C. right after it would of been perfect. :-)

Pictures of We Might Be Wasted playing @ Kactus Kate's in Cottonwood, AZ. are posted up, and you can click here to check them out.

Music Review on the latest from Cerebral Ballzy called Jaded And Faded, and you can click here to read it. I know that there's a whole bunch of more stuff I'm forgetting to mention, but I'll remember it somewhere later on... hopefully.

What the fuck happened last night? Why did I decide to drink for the Hub City Stompers gig last night? And Irish Car Bombs, of all things - my kryptonite!! LOL Yeah, last nights gig was MAJOR fun, with lots of people singing and dancing and the Dive filled to the brim with good feelings and positive attitudes... well, except for that nutso psycho broad that went ballistic at Jeremy and Trueland for their comments / banter with Kirby while onstage! ha ha ha Who was that chick anyways?? I didn't see any of it - probably because I was off vomiting somewhere - but from what I was told, it was pretty spastastic. With everyone and their Mom carrying cell phones with the capability, why didn't anyone video tape it? Were you all that drunk? I know I was! ;-)

Yeah, the Hub City Stompers killed it last night, putting on a show full of heavy, heavy monster sounds and just kicking the proverbial ass of everyone in the Dive, and there was a lot of people in there for a Thurs. night. I think there might have been more people there for the Hub City Stompers than there was for the U.K. Subs. If there wasn't it was pretty close. Not bad for a band that hasn't played Vegas since the International Ska Circus back in 2007. Yes, the Hub City Stompers did Skins Don't Cry, probably around mid-set, and when they did, it got everybody in the place skanking around and singing along and having fun. It was cool to see. Mucho Thanx! to Viva Ska Radio and Josh and everyone involved with putting the gig on, because you guys threw one Hell of a party. :-)Thanks to everyone for coming out, new friends and old, including some people I haven't seen in 10 years or so. I had a chance to talk to that Scott kid, and got his side of the story and he told me about some things, and the more he told me, the more I despised the Nevada DIY Collective and all those involved with those ass hats. Chickenshit cowards.

Wasn't enough to kill the vibe though. The opening bands were relegated to background noise, because everyone seemed intent on chatting and catching up. The Psyatics were good, but whoever that attention starved girl was that was dancing for them while they played distracted me from paying attention to the band. I was trying to take pictures of the band, and she kept getting in the way, insisting her way into the picture, no matter where I positioned myself, and it got annoying real quick. Like I give a shit about taking pictures of some girl in pasties. Whatever. I spent the majority of their set belly up to the bar, where The Psyatics sounded pretty good. Did the same for that band Drinking Water. I wasn't feeling them at all. People seemed to hate them, and I could see why. Hippy Ska BS. The drummer played with a mask on his face. Why? I'm not sure. Agent 86 didn't even play, because apparently they're not allowed to play the Dive anymore, which is funny. To me, it is anyways. I can only imagine the reason why, because the Dive lets anybody play there. And as for The Civilians? Well, if you were there, you seen it. You tell me. I thought we did great, we sold a lot of gear, made some new friends and reaffirmed the loyalty of a few more, but during our set I was sick from all that booze bouncing around my belly, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have, and plus they cut our set really short, which was odd, and I was told afterwords it was because that band Drinking Water ran way over their allotted time and took forever to get their gear off stage, so fuck them. But getting drunk and playing a rocking, short set is nothing to be sad about, though, because everything else about the night was nothing but PMA all the way. Except for that psycho nut job girl. Where did she go afterwords? Who was she with? WTF??

And here is more evidence as to why I weep for the future of the Las Vegas Scene... LOL

Introducing Vegas’ new Minor Threat tribute band

As if there was an old Minor Threat cover band here in Vegas? LOL Who the Hell wrote this? What favor did you guys have to pull to get that article published? ha ha ha I won't read it, just because I'm funny like that, but I can only imagine what's being said in there and what it's all about. What? Slow news day musically? Apparently there was NOTHING else going on this weekend worth hyping up and writing about? Dropkick Murphy's playing for free on Fremont St.? Immortal Technique @ Fremont Country Club? The Happy Campers hibernation gig @ Triple B's? Rum Rebellion @ the Bunkhouse? Nope! Apparently, the only thing going on this weekend musically worth writing about is a puff piece on a cover band. And I know it's a fluff piece because the band doesn't have a gig under their studded belts yet. Fuck I hate the Las Vegas Weekly. This rant is a dig at them, and not at my friends in the band. It's an embarrassment the coverage they give to Local music. How about we let a buzz develop about the band, let them prove themselves worthy, and then write about the band? Does that make too much sense nowadays, having to earn accolades instead of just asking for them?

Now, before the "Hater" comments come flying in, let me preface this all by saying I was a founding member of this group. I loved the idea, encouraged it, nurtured it, was there when it came together, and thought I was the drummer of the band, until I woke up one morning and saw an invite to like the Vegas Threat Facebook page, and I clicked on it and saw that I had been replaced. Oh well. Omar's a good dude, and with him in the band, Vegas Threat can play all the 'cool' places with all the 'cool' bands... cool bands like those shit talking cowards in False Fucks and 40 Oz. Feces. Yeah, calling those losers out by name, because of the threatening shit they're saying about Holly and Scott, 2 Local promoters who's only crime was trying to give some bands a chance to play Vegas. I don't even know either Holly or Scott, but the Interwebz threats and Drama they're trying to bring to 2 people who don't deserve it or want it is too much for me to bear to watch. It's easy to pick on somebody who don't want to fight, but like the cowards they are, those bands won't fight with someone who wants to. Someone like me. I live for this shit. I hate fucking cowards, and those 2 bands, and some of the "fans" who support them, need to be called out on their shit, like the fucking pussies they are.

I want it to get back to them what I said about them, that they're chickenshit fuckwads, so you nosy little spineless weasel fans or friends of theirs who are reading these words, go running off and text or tell them or send them a screen shot of what I've said about them - that they're chickenshit cowards and that their music SUCKS, and if they have any problem with anything I've said, we can discuss things on the Interwebz or personally and go from there, but I promise you things won't end pretty. Ask those hairless nut sacks Homeless Dyke And Chris Piss Stain about that. You want an internet fight, hey! I'm your man! I'm King of the Trolls. You wanna pick on somebody, pick on me you dickless wonders. I fight back. Either on the Internet or in person. So do my friends. What I don't want to do they will do gladly. :-)

Holy shit ballz... did Teenage Bottlerocket really open up their gig @ the Beauty Bar last Friday with the first 3 songs off their classic album They Came From The Shadows?

I'm not sure, but I think they did? I dunno, I was buzzed, but I think they did... <3

Gawd DAMN were Teenage Bottlerocket amazing last Fri. night. To just watch them put on such a dazzling display of stage confidence and Punk music brevity to an amalgamated crowd of Dipsters, Music Fans, and horny old guys drooling over the chicks in The Bombpops, was just life affirming. I didn't wanna see Teenage Bottlerocket run through a standard 'Greatest Hits" set, not tonight, because they have an incredible new album called Wyoming out, and I wanted to basically hear them play it in it's entirety. It's that good. The band didn't do that though, but they did play a shitload of songs from the new album, mixed in with classics like Crashing and Mutilate Me and Freak Out. Watching drummer Brandon bash the ever loving fuck out of his drum kit is one of my guiltiest pleasures, and seeing the onstage interplay between Kody and Ray is pretty sweet too. The bass player Miguel has one of the the greatest jobs in the world, and he looks like he has fun doing it. It was a fantastic night and a great performance from Teenage Bottlerocket, that's from sure, and if it wasn't for the mediocrity and mundaness of some of the opening bands, I would of had an epic time. I mean seriously, what's a Frank Sinatra band doing on a Punk Rock bill? Is it seriously not OK to turn down a gig, especially a gig you have no business being on? Have we veered so far off course that the music our parents once listened to is now acceptable to us? It's not that way for me, of course, but for some of you, man, it's almost embarrassing at this point. There's a music scene for Frank Sinatra cover bands, but it's not in the Punk Rock scene. Nope. I think the lounges in the casinos would be more appreciative of that old peoples music, but what do I know? Same for Emo bands, same for bands with talentless girls in them. Girls in bands used to be well represented by talented women - The Bags, Babes In Toyland, X-Ray Spex, hell, I'll even throw in L7 to the mix, but The Bombpops? Bite me. If they were a band comprised of 4 regular dudes, nobody would give a fuck about them. Watching the horny old men and bearded boys drooling all over them during their set made me retch. Sometimes I'm ashamed to be male.

I got to the Beauty Bar while Guilty By Association was playing. Try as I might, I just couldn't get into them. It's hard to watch a drummer fuck up drum lines that you know by heart, drum lines that you can literally copy note from note off of any of the bands previous releases, drum lines that I had a hand in developing, it's hard to watch someone just plunk and thump and lightly hit their way through things. Is that Hulk Hogan schtick his thing or what? Oh well. Whatever. People just kind of stood there during Guilty By Association's set, which was kind of sad to see. I mean, 1 die hard was trying to get a circle pit going during their set but he failed. Maybe it was the heat? I dunno. I tried to muster up the enthusiasm to take photos of them playing, but just couldn't do it. It was too hot, and I was too sober. I spent my time at the outside bar, chatting up everyone that was there and who wasn't hanging out at that farce of a Vermin gig going on down Fremont St. at Triple B's. Ugh.

I've stayed away from commenting on the whole Vermin debacle, because I know the true story of why they're breaking up, from those involved and from friends of the band, and they preach mightily publicly about not breaking up because of the failed TV show they did, but that's EXACTLY the reason why they're quote-unquote, breaking up. Egos run amok, and butt hurt feelings because it didn't include everyone in the band. Whatever. It's not like they're not gonna come back in a few months to self inflate they're undernourished egos, Son Of The Vermin, The Vermin Returns, the puns on horror movie titles is endless, and boy, won't you feel stupid for buying into their schtick of "our last gig ever" and paying $100 for that drum head... LOL And I've never bought into their BS about being "the longest running band in Vegas" either, or the "Punk Rock Rat Pack" schtick they've tried to shove down everyone's throat. Vermin From Venus were a shitty Heavy Metal band, with songs like Lipstick Lezbian, Sex Kitten From Outer Space, and Bound To Please, a shitty ode to the joys of the subservient role in the BDSM lifestyle. Ugh. The Vermin didn't start in 1984, as stated on their Wikipedia page, nor were they one of the first bands to self-release an album in Las Vegas. Whatever. I for one am glad it's over. Fuck them. Maybe now we can focus on some bands that deserve the attention, bands that are actually doing something for the scene and contributing something to it, instead of just organizing public displays of self indulgent gratitude to stroke their already massive egos. I thought the scene was above that, I thought the Scene was better than that, but after seeing the turnout at Backstage Bar & Billiards for the gig, I'm now convinced I am wrong. Between Frank Sinatra cover bands, Emo bands passing themselves off as Punk Rock bands downtown, crappy Punk bands more Ego than anything, and, of course, Beardcore, Acoustic Punk, whatever you're calling it, I now realize your Music Scene is in a desperate, pathetic state. You guys should do something to fix it, make it better, or maybe just wait until Punk Rock Posing rolls around again to tell you what to do and how to do it. Yup. :-)