Jinxy Bear, Pale Antique, Water Landing and 3d6 at the Adrenaline Bar, Nov 22, 2014

I always liked the Cheyenne Saloon due to its location (just a few minutes away from my house!) and its large stage, good sound and strong drinks! But, the type of bands that would normally play here - mostly new metal groups - were not my cup of hemlock, so I wouldn't venture out too often. It is now rebranded as the Adrenaline Sports Bar - I know, as if Vegas needed more sports bars! - with a slightly improved stage, still good sound and still strong drinks! But this evening there were a  number of interesting acts that got me out of the house to check it out.

Acoustic maestro Jinxy Bear opened the festivities and for this gig he included a drummer - I didn't catch his name, though I see he goes by the FB moniker Billdozer - which added to the dynamics and funkiness of the songs and allowed Jinx to stretch things out a bit more and even drop down to just vocals and drums, which was a nice touch. He did several of his regular hits - "Elevator Bob", "Discounts for Locals", "Bananas" and a newer one, "What the Hell", in which he utilized a second vocal mic with effects that he could control. Jinx is a unique talent and he shows are always varied  and ya never know who's gonna be on stage with him. Check him out!

Up next was Pale Antique, who was simply Josh, the lead guitarist from Candy Warpop, doing a solo thing - just him and his guitar presenting some kinda drone-y Psychedelic Furs-ish tunes. The guitar tone would vary from clean strumming to noisy fuzz and his voice was a low monotone (he admitted that he's not really a singer). I could imagine the songs working better with a band, but he kept the folks entertained.

Water Landing is a relatively new group that I seem to just keep missing, so made an extra effort this time to catch this unique combo. The line-up is interesting - Eric on guitar/lead vocals, Daniel on bass, Ron on drums, then things get a bit different - Ellen taking the instrumental leads on keys and violin (zebra striped, matching her dress) and Jules on backing vocals and laundry! Yes, she folds and irons shirts as she sings - but I was disappointed to see that the iron wasn't even plugged in! Or is it wireless?!

There's a lot of silliness in the set, from the airline jokes (where the band name comes from) to goofy songs like "Ball Pit", "I'm Special" and "Water Landing is Punk Rock" (which they are not, really). Highlights for me were the duet that Eric and Jules did (didn't catch the title) and the Modern Lovers/Violent Femmes-esque closer, in which the guys tumble to the floor and Jules throws panties from the laundry basket at them before dumping the whole hamper on them!

Not sure how to describe these folks - but see them for a humorously rockin' diversion!

Self-proclaimed nerd-punks 3d6 followed with their set of geek-themed punk pop tunes about Dungeons and Dragons, video games, comics, sci-fi and masturbating in space! They performed a number of the songs from their CD - "Star Wars", "I Killed a Dragon", "Whore of Enterprise D" (you can see their animated video for this one here ), "R.P.G." and more, as well as newer ones - not sure if I caught the titles right - think there was "Masturbation Station" and "Robot Overlords" as well as one where they did a binary breakdown! Everyone's playing is solid - some flashy guitar licks from Dave, solid bass from Anthony and fast'n'furious drumming from Rudy (who they share with the Time Crashers). If you are a punk rock geek, then this is the band for you!

Hopefully, the Adrenaline Bar will have more cool nights like this one so that it gains a reputation as a fun place to see bands. People came out for this and it would be nice to have a r'n'r hang-out on our side of town!