Rich's R'n'R Rants & Raves: The Darts, Electric Children, The Acid Sisters and the Van Der Rohe at the Bunkhouse, Friday Mar 3, 2017

Vegas' Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party returned to the Bunkhouse for another terrific line up of local and touring bands.

Opening this eve was local garage "kids", the Van der Rohe, sporting a new bassist for recently departed (for opportunities in another city) Noland. Of course, because I am terrible at such things, I did not catch her name, but while she might not be quite the chaotic wild person on stage that Noland was, the was visual'n'rockin' while keeping the rhythm goin' with drummer Omar. Cromm's Star Caster guitar through his new Hot Rod DeVille amp sounded ferocious and Will's vocals were on as he sings'n'shouts through numbers from the EP as well as cool 60's covers like "The Bag I'm In". Cromm got to sing lead on a rockin' soul groover and the closed with their "Black to Comm"-ish, maniacal "Shake"! Great set!

I caught the Acid Sisters the last time they played here with the Darts and dug their psych/goth leanings. Nick (guitar) and Elayna (vocals) are backed by drums, bass and keys (adding a distinctive sound) as they mix a little Glam and little Roxy Music and little Low-era Bowie, all done with their own cool energy and presence. Elayna has a strong voice and is a dynamic front person in her silver platform shoes and 70's stylings. Really dig what they're doing - very different'n'cool!

LA's Electric Children were a blast of super visual, super high energy punk'n'roll with Bill Bateman (of the Blasters) rockin' the drums! It was wild seeing him playing this style of music, as he actually changed his manner of playing a bit for this group - to the point of even holding his sticks differently - but his fills still had the Bateman style. The band's sound was super heavy 70's rock with some harmonies (the vocals were not their strong suit, though), a bit of pysch, some darker grooves, cool riff rockers and lots of power. Definitely will be watching for more of them!

Of course, I've ranted'n'raved numerous times already about the all-femme Darts and their incredible garage rock'n'roll. Ex-Love Me Nots Nicole (lead vox and keys) and Christina (bass/vocals) bring in a similar sound to the LMN (who were one of my fave bands of the recent years) but here they are propelled by the fabulous Rikki (Two Tens, Dollyrots) on drums and Michelle wranglin'n'stranglin' her SG, forcing out walls of fuzzy noize! They have 2 vinyl EPs out now and played these tunes and more as they dominate the stage with massive amounts of crazed, sexy presence, amazing playing and lots of vocals harmonies and trade-offs. Their spelling song, "Revolution", is always a hit with the crowd, and they moved through the darker groove of "She's Gone", a fantastic riff-rocker, "I Want Your Love", the slow'n'sexy "Kiss of Fire", the Bo Diddley-esque "Shake My Bones" and closing with the frantic punk of "Who Needs Boys of You've Got Batteries"! The musicianship is spectacular all around - Rikki'n'Christina are an excellent, drivin' rhythm section, Nicole's organ riffs are cool''n'clever and Michelle's guitar is massive'n'noisy yet varied, with wah-wah, slide, and mixed tones. One of the best bands out there right now - see 'em now or regret it later!