When I think of intriguing live music encounters of the ’80s kind, I don’t usually consider The Monte Carlo. My opinion changes with this week’s lineup of former new waver/Men at Work frontman Colin Hay (July 30) and L.A. glam-metal act Ratt (Aug. 5).
Read More »Portland punkers Attack Ships on Fire have performed at Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas more than a few times in recent years. The band loves the bar so much they included a terrific tribute song called, well, “Double Down”—in honor of the world-famous watering hole—on the 2009 album Punches Are Free. (My favorite lyrical couplet: “The Ass Juice is tempting/Insurance I’m taking.”) Actually, there’s been several Double Down songs written and recorded over the years by punk bands, but even the bar’s owner and published author P Moss recognizes that the one composed by Attack Ships on Fire is “definitely the best.”
Read More »I love it when an obscure, kickass band attempts to sneak in and out of Vegas, only to be caught in the white-hot spotlight of yours truly, the Soundscraper. So trust me when I say the first of four bands (which include Thrice, Kevin Devine and Bad Veins) playing House of Blues on July 18 (all-ages, 6 p.m., $17-$21) should not be missed. They’re called The Dig, and their 25-minute set of dark, brooding, synth-punched rock will be tighter than a gnat’s chuff. Here’s why:
Read More »It’s weird and kind of cool: Whenever I sit down to work on this column, I always worry there’ll be nothing to write about, that the Vegas music scene will suddenly reveal itself to be a stale puff of machine-generated fog. As soon as I examine the calendar, however, intriguing shows abound. Here are a few.
Read More »My editors gave me a ribbing for an earlier column in which I urged readers to get their “doom metal” on with the exhausting Doom in June festival at Cheyenne Saloon a few weeks ago. Well, they’re going love this edition of Soundscraper, because nothing less than the pioneers of American doom, Saint Vitus, arrive in Vegas on July 1 to crush the eardrums of anyone inside Wasted Space in the Hard Rock.
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