Concerned Citizen - 45 Grave

The Jagoffs R.I.P.

     When I woke up the other day and read the announcement from The Jagoffs on social media that they were calling it a day, I can't say it was a shock. It's a bit of a bummer for sure but it's not a shock. Nope. It wasn't that they weren't a good band, because they were, mining a fundamental Punk Rock sound that they mixed with some subtle Metal sensibilities for all it's worth, but it was more like because I saw them get sucked into that never ending vortex of playing the same shitty bars over and over again, opening up for every touring band that played here on a Thursday night, and if you're in a shitty band that only cares about drinking beers in the parking lot on the downlow, then that's great but if you're a band that actually wants to do more than that, like tour and record and support the scene, well then that vicious circle is gonna lead to burnout and frustration. Not saying that's what happened here, but I bet that I'm close to what the story is.
     I caught an early Jagoffs gig at the Dive, saw some potential in the band, took a few pictures of them playing and left it at that, figuring that I'd see them play again somewhere down the line but I never did. Oops. They put something out, a release they called Smear Campaign, and promised to get me a copy of said release but never did, and by the time I had found out they put out a 2nd release called Class War and then gave it a review a month later (read it here) they announced they were broke up. Ugh. The bands posting listed a pseudo version of creative differences among other things as the reason for breaking up but I'm sure that even if the Gage father and son duo who make up the bass and vocals of The Jagoffs weren't moving away the band would still be finished. Vegas is a small town and the pool of musical talent here is more like a puddle. Very slim pickings indeed. Listening to the recordings of The Jagoffs shows a good band that cared about putting quality stuff out there and contributing to the scene whenever possible, which is exactly why they floundered here. The Vegas  scene doesn't like those type of bands. We don't support them. Vegas doesn't want good bands that play good music, they want cool bands that are cool to be seen with and to say that you know, and if you don't know the difference I feel sorry for you. Yeah, The Jagoffs had their moment in the sun while they were here, opening up for some good bands in the process and ultimately falling victim to the Vegas curse of band burnout and it's a shame they're finito. Either that or the losers curse of the shitty places they played here in Vegas rubbed off on them like King Tut's curse did to those who discovered it. Le sigh. As they themselves said in that Facebook posting, it's not the end of the story but just another chapter and unfortunately for us, The Jagoffs Las Vegas chapter is now officially closed, and we're the worse off because of it. Good luck guys with whatever you chose to do, wherever you choose to do it. Salud! 

---