Happy New Year! Recommended gigs

Thursday Dec 31 - Shanda and the Howlers, Royal Hounds, Rumble King at the Triple B
Thursday Dec 31 - Jello Biafra spinning discs at the Double Down
Thursday Dec 31 - the All Togethers at Boulder Dam Brewing Co

Friday Jan 1 - the Delta Bombers, Henchmen, Rumble King at the Triple B

Wednesday Jan 6 - Melanie and the Midnite Marauders with Frank'n'Deans at the Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 9 - the Super Zeroes at the Double Down
Saturday Jan 9 - Eddy Bear and the Cubs, Ditch Diggers, City Folk at the Bunkhouse
Saturday Jan 9 - Quantum, MIdnight Clover at Triple B
Saturday Jan 9 - DJ's Cromm and Dakota from the Astaires and Rex Dart at the Golden Tiki 

Sunday Jan 10 - Surfer Joe (Italian surf band) at the Golden Tiki with Rex Dart spinning discs

Friday Jan 15 - Time Crashers, Lambs to Lions at the Double Down

Friday Jan 22 - Squid Hat Records night with the Mapes, Dirk Vermin and much more at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 23 - Squid Hat Records night with Franks and Deans, Tartar Control and much more at the Double Down
Saturday Jan 23 - Unwieldies at the Dillinger
Sat Jan 23 - Go Betty Go, the Two Tens, the Negative Nancys and Kat Calling at the Dive Bar

Saturday Jan 30 - Franks'n'Deans at the Golden Tiki

Friday Feb 5 - the Blasters at Triple B with Shanda and the Howlers and DJ Lucky LaRue

Saturday Feb 6 - Time Crashers, Swamp Pussy, Sector 7G, Bitches'n'Dudes, the CG's at Pandoras Lounge
Saturday Feb 6 - The Lucky Cheats and the Ditch Diggers at the Sand Dollar

Friday Feb 12 - the Psyatics at the Dive Bar

Saturday Feb 13 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger
Saturday Feb 13 - The Electric Ferrets with the Super Zeroes at the Double Down

Friday Feb 19 - Toasters, Scoundrels at the Dive Bar

Friday Mar 4 - the Punknecks at the Dive Bar

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

dammit, I thought he would live forever - RIP Lemmy

R.I.P. Lemmy Kilmister, Motörhead frontman dead at 70 
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RIP Eastbeats singer Stevie Wright

RIP legendary The Easybeats singer Stevie Wright 
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Water Landing, the All Togethers, the Psyatics, Jinxy Bear at the Double Down Saloon, Saturday Dec 26, 2015

There were actually quite a few things going on this Christmas weekend and i opted for this jam-packed night at the Double Down, filled with friends and their family.

Opening the evening was the acoustic stylings of Jinxy Bear. Jonathan has been in and out of Vegas recently but is now back on the scene and playing again and was a fine start for the night. His unique, percussive guitar playing is always impressive and the crowd cheered on his tunes, new and old. Nice to see this gentlemen out and about again.

Revving up for a change of pace, we got the garage punk'n'roll of the fabulous Psyatics. Always a fave band of mine, it has been ages since I have had a chance to see them for one reason or another and they certainly did not disappoint. Playing mostly songs from their two CDs and interacting more with the filled room (guitarist Jack is now comfortable enough in the band to be a blue of motion, overall), the audience was up and dancing throughout. Adding to the visuals, they also had the captivating Ivanna Blaize dancing tantalizingly during the set.

The All Togethers rolled in after playing several hours at the Pioneer Saloon and still managed an entertainingly energetic set that, despite the lack of a drummer, got everyone (including the staff) dancin'n'clappin'n'singin' along. They raised a toast to the numerous audience members who were celebrating their birthdays and the lovely ladies mugged their way through the rousing closer, "Baba O'Reilly".

Water Landing was celebrating the release of their new CD, Cleared For Take Off, along with drummer Ron's son Jonah's 21 birthday, who joined them on guitar for the set. Since the last time I saw them they lost their violinist and backup singer Jules now has an airline drink cart as opposed to an ironing board (which had a surreal charm, but did not fit in thematically), that houses a keyboard for certain songs. Lead singer/guitarist Eric is much more animated than the last time I caught them and Jules now does an excellent job of singing lead on a couple of numbers - a rockin' original and a cool cover of "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'". They brought up woman-about-town Nikki Ruffling to play mandolin on a few songs, including their take on the All Togethers' "Runaway" (with the AT's joining them), Sam the Sham's "Wooly Booly" and their own "Devils", which finished the set.

Totally fun time had by all and a strong, supportive crowd all night. Congrats to Water Landing for putting together a fine show for their CD release.

"Let's not be L7"

Have a fun and safe holiday season! This holiday's recommended gigs

Saturday Dec 26 - Water Landing, the Psyatics, Jinxy Bear, All Togethers at the Double Down
Saturday Dec 26 - A Tribute to the Rolling Stones at the Bunkhouse with plenty of swinging local bands

Wednesday Dec 30 - The Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Thursday Dec 31 - Shanda and the Howlers, Royal Hounds, Rumble King at the Triple B
Thursday Dec 31 - Jello Biafra spinning discs at the Double Down
Thursday Dec 31 - the All Togethers at Boulder Dam Brewing Co

Friday Jan 1 - the Delta Bombers, Henchmen, Rumble King at the Triple B

Wednesday Jan 6 - Melanie and the Midnite Marauders with Frank'n'Deans at the Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 9 - the Super Zeroes at the Double Down
Saturday Jan 9 - Eddy Bear and the Cubs, Ditch Diggers, City Folk at the Bunkhouse

Friday Jan 15 - Time Crashers, Lambs to Lions at the Double Down

Friday Jan 22 - Squid Hat Records night with the Mapes, Dirk Vermin and much more at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 23 - Squid Hat Records night with Franks and Deans, Tartar Control and much more at the Double Down
Saturday Jan 23 - Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Saturday Jan 30 - Franks'n'Deans at the Golden Tiki

Friday Feb 12 - the Psyatics at the Dive Bar

Saturday Feb 13 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger
Saturday Feb 13 - The Electric Ferrets with the Super Zeroes at the Double Down

Friday Feb 19 - Toasters, Scoundrels at the Dive Bar

Friday Mar 4 - the Punknecks at the Dive Bar

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Blues Images Presents 20 Classic Blues Songs from the 1920's - 2016 Calendar and CD

I've been buying the Blues Images calendars for a number of years now and they never fail to impress. The imagery is always terrific and there is always plenty of information on these cool, old artists, with advertising, birthdays, death days and much more.

This year's CD, as usual, is packed with great tunes from the 1920's, opening with the acoustic blues of Jim Jackson's "My Monday Blues", followed by Blind Willie Johnson's duet with an unnamed female in "When the War Was On", Charlie Kyle's "Walking Blues", Barbecue Bob's "Atlanta Moan" and Papa Charlie McCoy's appropriately titled "Boogie Woogie".

It continues with Curly Weaver and Ruth Willis dueting on "Some Cold Rainy Day" with some nice slide work, and then Blind Blake excites with some Piedmont pickin' in "Wabash Rag" and Blind Lemon Jefferson also inspires with his playing in the haunting "'Lectric Chair Blues". There's a big change of pace next with the bouncin' jug music of "Beale Street Breakdown" by Jed Davenport and His Beale Street Jug Band and its wild, piercing harmonica work before settling down again for Spark Plug Smith's quieter, acoustic ode to the ladies of the night, "Vampire Women".

Ma Rainey is credited with the big band/Dixieland-ish "Georgia Cake Walk", although the dialogue sounds like it is two men, and then we get a bit of music introducing Black Billy Sunday's boisterous sermons "The High Cost of Sin" and "Will You Spend Eternity in Hell" - great bits of evangelical high energy! We get to catch our breath again with the Hattie Hyde's nice guitar/harmonica "Special Question Blues" and "T & NO Blues".

Charlie Kyle returns with "No Baby" (somewhat reminiscent of "St. Louis Blues"), as does Papa Charlie McCoy in the mandolin-driven "Country Guy Blues" and Blind Lemon Jefferson with "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean". The comp ends with Jaydee Short's scratchy but snappy "Tar Road Blues" and "Flaggin' It To Georgia".

Consistently high quality music and an entertainingly fun calendar! Well worth getting all around!

Nashville Pussy, CracKerman, Beau Hodges at the Dive Bar Las Vegas, Saturday Dec 19, 2015

It's been a year and a half now since the last time Nashville Pussy made an appearance at the Dive Bar but this time instead of a Thursday night, they came through at the end of their tour on a Saturday, so I had to make the effort to get out to support this terrific band at this cool club. It certainly helped that there were only 3 bands on the bills, so it was easy to stay for the whole show and still get home at a reasonable time.

The Dive Bar continues to make improvements and now the stage is even a bit bigger than the last time I was there, they had some real lights for the bands and now they are serving food, as well! This place just keeps getting better!

Opening the evening was Beau Hodges, this time simply with a guitar player that he has worked with for many years but had to move out of town recently, a gentlemen known only as Hoz. I've seen Beau in many different band permutations (and even on his own with an acoustic guitar) and his powerful voice and strong songs carry through no matter how they are presented and tonight Hoz added some great guitar work with some fine slide playing. A bit low key for an opener for Nashville Pussy, but it was a set filled with good ol' southern rock songs which made it fitting, in a way.

Up next was CracKerman, a punk rock trio with painted faces, tie-dyed t-shirt, hair a-flyin', some Nirvana/grunge influences, a cover of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died" and a bit of destruction at the end, with ceiling tiles being demolished along with the bass - in a mock Star Wars-ian battle - and the guitar stuck in the wall by its head stock!


And then the main event, the mighty Nashville Pussy. Besides singer guitarist Blaine (from Nine Pound Hammer) and guitar phenomenon Ruyter, the band still has bassist Bonnie Buitrago and this time there was a drummer sitting in for Jeremy (who is still listed on their Facebook page, so I'm assuming he is still "officially" still in the group) whose name I could not catch.

They came out kickin' with a number of newer songs that I wasn't always familiar with (I guess I need to catch up on their releases) but were high-energy rockers, as you would expect. There were a bit more vocal harmonies that I have heard before and some great guitar harmony leads between Ruyter and Blaine. Ruyter is still a smokin' guitarist and still sexy as hell, although she doesn't strip down to her underwear like she used to - I guess cuz she's proven she doesn't need to any more.

Newer songs like "I'm So High", "Hillbilly Blues", "Hatin' Whiskey", "Gimme More", "Everybody's Fault But Mine" and "Hate to See Me Go" (with a drum solo!) were mixed in with "oldies" like "Shoot First and Run Like Hell", "Go To Hell", "Struttin' Cock", Go Motherfucker Go" and the closer "Fried Chicken and Coffee".

Ruyter still riffs like a madwoman all night - love the fact that her guitar only has one pickup and all of the knobs have been removed other than the volume knob, cuz she just don't need any fancy shit - Blaine screams'n'shouts as strong as ever while providing rockin' rhythm'n'leads, while the bass'n'drums hold down the fort. Blaine dances maniacally at one point before pouring a beer into his hat and drinking out of it, while a naked man slammed through the audience and Ruyter continues to demolish any chance of an encore by ripping the strings off of her guitar at the end of the set.

Another great night of wild'n'wooly rock'n'roll at the Dive Bar! Cool night all around! Sorry for the excessive amount of pix - I couldn't decide which ones I liked best!

recommended gigs

Thursday Dec 17 - the Astaires and Leather Lungs at the Bunkhouse
Thursday Dec 17 - Franks'n'Deans at the Hard Rock Cafe

Friday Dec 18 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger
Friday Dec 18 - Midnight Clover - Adrenaline Sports Bar

Saturday Dec 19 - Nashville Pussy at the Dive Bar
Saturday Dec 19 - Water Landing, Swamp Pussy and Forget Me Nows at Adrenaline Sports Bar
Saturday Dec 19 - Ronnie Spector at the Orleans Showroom

Sunday Dec 20 - Ronnie Spector at the Orleans Showroom

Wednesday Dec 23 - the All Togethers at Champagnes

Saturday Dec 26 - Water Landing, the Psyatics, Jinxy Bear, All Togethers at the Double Down
Saturday Dec 26 - A Tribute to the Rolling Stones at the Bunkhouse with plenty of swinging local bands

Wednesday Dec 30 - The Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Thursday Dec 31 - Shanda and the Howlers, Royal Hounds, Rumble King at the Triple B
Thursday Dec 31 - Jello Biafra spinning discs at the Double Down

Friday Jan 1 - the Delta Bombers, Henchmen, Rumble King at the Triple B

Wednesday Jan 6 - Melanie and the Midnite Marauders with Frank'n'Deans at the Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Friday Jan 15 - Time Crashers, Lambs to Lions at the Double Down

Friday Jan 22 - Squid Hat Records night with the Mapes, Dirk Vermin and much more at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 23 - Squid Hat Records night with Franks and Deans, Tartar Control and much more at the Double Down
Saturday Jan 23 - Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Saturday Jan 30 - Franks'n'Deans at the Golden Tiki

Friday Feb 12 - the Psyatics at the Dive Bar

Saturday Feb 13 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Friday Feb 19 - Toasters, Scoundrels at the Dive Bar

Friday Mar 4 - the Punknecks at the Dive Bar

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

recommended gigs

Saturday Dec 12 - Nic Turner's Hawkwind with the Psyatics at the LV Country Saloon
Saturday Dec 12 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Bunkhouse
Saturday Dec 12 - the Pluralses, the Damn Yous, Jerk at the Dive Bar
Saturday Dec 12 - Tikiyaki Orchestra at the Golden Tiki

Thursday Dec 17 - the Astaires and Leather Lungs at the Bunkhouse
Thursday Dec 17 - Franks'n'Deans at the Hard Rock Cafe

Friday Dec 18 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger
Friday Dec 18 - Midnight Clover - Adrenaline Sports Bar

Saturday Dec 19 - Nashville Pussy at the Dive Bar
Saturday Dec 19 - Water Landing, Swamp Pussy and Forget Me Nows at Adrenaline Sports Bar
Saturday Dec 19 - Ronnie Spector at the Orleans Showroom

Sunday Dec 20 - Ronnie Spector at the Orleans Showroom

Saturday Dec 26 - Water Landing, the Psyatics, Jinxy Bear, All Togethers at the Double Down

Thursday Dec 31 - Shanda and the Howlers, Royal Hounds, Rumble King at the Triple B
Thursday Dec 31 - Jello Biafra spinning discs at the Double Down

Friday Jan 1 - the Delta Bombers, Henchmen, Rumble King at the Triple B

Wednesday Jan 6 - Melanie and the Midnite Marauders with Frank'n'Deans at the Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Friday Feb 19 - Toasters, Scoundrels at the Dive Bar

Friday Mar 4 - the Punknecks at the Dive Bar

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Get well Nardwuar!

BELOVED INTERVIEWER NARDWUAR SUFFERS STROKE
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RIP Holly Woodlawn

Holly Woodlawn, One Of Warhol’s Greatest Superstars, Has Died 
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The Lucky Cheats with the Swamp Gospel and DJ Lucky LaRue at the Sand Dollar, Saturday Dec 5, 2015

This show was one that I had been anticipating for a long time - the return of the Lucky Cheats, one of my fave Las Vegas bands! The Swamp Gospel was "lucky" enough to open the show this evening and had a blast selling our soul salvation to the crowd. The Sand Dollar has a a real stage, real sound system and a real sound man (thanks, Steve!) - a pleasure to play! Hope to do it again.

(Swamp Gospel photo by John Armstrong)

But, the crowd was definitely there for the return of the Lucky Cheats - and it was pretty much a packed house for the evening. The Cheats - bassist/vocalist Luke Metz, harmonica/vocalist Jeffrey Koenig and guitarist/vocalist Wade Braggs - were joined by original drummer Rob Cournoyer, and all seemed to miss the interaction and just plain, goddam fun of playing the blues together. Everyone sounded amazing this evening and reminded me just how much I missed seeing these cats.

I've ranted and raved about the band multiple times, but besides a smokin' rhythm section, Jeffrey remains the best harp player I've seen since Magic Dick of the J.Geils Band and, as a guitarist myself, watching Wade fly over the fret board with his fast, tasteful and clever licks is as good as it gets!

The set consisted of many of their greatest hits - "Automatic",  Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would", their swampy take on "King Bee", a rousin' version of RL Burnside's "Skinny Woman", the slow'n'sultry "Good Thing Gone Bad", an almost jazzy number with Jeffrey on a chromatic harp, "You Don't Love Me", "Don't Look Back" and lots more. Jeffrey and Wade traded riffs, took dual leads and had some fine harmony lines all while Luke'n'Rob were keepin' things wild'n'fernzied behind them. So freakin' good!

Honored to have been a part of the night and happy to know that these cats are back on the scene. See 'em - you won't be disappointed! And super special thanks to DJ Lucky LaRue for keeping us entertained with quality tunes between sets!