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"