The Gentlemen of Four Outs, the Ram6nes, Thee Swank Bastards, Dreaming of Lions at the Bunkhouse, Saturday Oct 27, 2018

For Luke Freteluco's 10 year wedding anniversary, he decided to throw a party at the Bunkhouse featuring some of his favorite music. He put together a band dedicated to the Ramones, he had the Swank Bastards do their surf instro thang, he brought in Dreaming of Lions and asked the Gentlemen of Four Outs to do an all Tom Waits set as the Raindogs of Four Outs. Despite multitudes of other gigs happening the same night and massive street closures, a big crowd of costumed creatures came out to celebrate with the happy couple!

Opening was the acoustic folk sounds of Dreaming of Lions. I have never seen any shows under this name previously, so I am not sure who really makes up DoL, but this evening there was simple, acoustic, folk music with guitar, harmonic, some banjo and plenty of harmonies. A nice, mellow way to start the night.

The Raindogs of Four Outs followed and had a blast running through some fave Waits twisted tunes. People seemed to enjoy our variations on the theme and we hope to run through at least some of these numbers again at some point.

(Gentlemen photos by Melanie Coffee)

The Ramones tribute, the Ram6nes, followed with Luke on bass, Joe from Stagnetti's Cock on guitar and a rotating group of drummers (starting with Courtney Carroll) and singers. Possibly due to the various members, this was fairly sloppy and messy, as the Ramones themselves were in their early days, with singers forgetting the words, drummers missing their cues and everyone losing their place. Pretty funny considering how easy the Ramones tunes really are and how ingrained they are into everyone's conscious. Joe's guitar tone was pretty stellar, though, and Luke was steady throughout. Jeff Murphy, who I had never heard sing before, was actually pretty damn good, as was Dirk Vermin and when the horns came on for "Rock'n'Roll Radio" (with ex-Gentlemen Gene Howley, Mapes' bassist Joe and a younger, female player), they really added a great texture. The set ended with a diversion into the Sex Pistols and Stooges and a chaotic stage pile-on - messy fun!

Unfortunately, by the time the Swank Bastards came on after the madness, it was getting late and a number of partiers (including yours truly, I must admit) filed out, missing some fine surf mania.

Great night, overall, though - thank you for the fun party, Luke!

RIP Tony Joe White

'Polk Salad Annie' songwriter Tony Joe White dead at 75 
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recommended gigs

Friday Oct 26 - Negative Nancys, the Bitters, the Pluralses, Cromm Fallon at the Double Down
Friday Oct 26 - Sheiks of Neptune, Gold Steps, Till I Fall, Jesse Pino at Evel Pie

Saturday Oct 27 - the Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Bunkhouse with Thee Swank Bastards, Dreaming of Lions and the Ram6nes
Saturday Oct 27 - the Damned, the Darts at House of Blues
Saturday Oct 27 - daytime show at Fantastic Indoor Swamp Meet (Decatur and Oakey) with Water Landing, Until the Eclipse and War Called Home

Sunday Oct 28 - Duane Mark and WT Newton at the Huntridge

Monday Oct 29 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday Oct 31 - Nekromantix, Dead Boys, Messer Chups, Los Carajos at the Fremont Country Club
Wednesday Oct 31 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down
Wednesday Oct 31 - Punk Rock Karaoke at the Golden Tiki

Thursday Nov 1 - The Psyatics at Artifice

Friday Nov 2 - the Rayford Bros at Clark County Library
Friday Nov 2 - the Meteors at the Beauty Bar
Friday Nov 2 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki

Saturday Nov 3 - the New Waves live band karaoke at the Mint for Bikes 4 Brats
Saturday Nov 3 - The Dickies and Monster Zero at 172 at the Rio
Saturday Nov 3 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki

Saturday Nov 10 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Thursday Nov 15 - Southern Culture on the Skids at the Bunkhouse
Thursday Nov 15 - Downtown Brown, Thee Swank Bastards, the Bitters at the Double Down

Friday Nov 16 - Billy Gibbons (solo) at Brooklyn Bowl
Friday Nov 16 - The Psyatics, North by North, the New Waves, Cromm Fallon at the Starboard Tack
Friday Nov 16 - the Heiz at Zia Records

Saturday Nov 17 - Ghost at the Joint
Saturday Nov 17 - the Heiz and the Implosions at Evel Pie

Wednesday Nov 21 - Delta Bombers, Shanda and the Howlers, Cherry Rat at the Beauty Bar

Friday Nov 30 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Friday Nov 30 - 68 (the band) with The Devil Wears Prada and Fit For a King at Vinyl

Saturday Dec 1 - the return of the Holy Smokes with The Swamp Gospel  and No Que No at the Double Down
Saturday Dec 1 - Retro Carnival from 11 am - 5 pm at Rockin Bettie with Shanda and the Howlers, Pyro Surfers, Cherry Rat, Tiki Bandits and Los Carajos

Friday Dec 7 - The Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Huntridge Tavern
Friday Dec 7 - Redd Kross at the Beauty Bar

Friday Dec 14 - the Rhyolite Sound and the All Togethers with Paige Overton at 172 at the Rio

Mon Dec 31 - Tenacious D at the Joint at the Hard Rock

Wednesday Jan 16 - Mustard Plug and the Phenomenauts at the Beauty Bar

Jan 17,18,19,24,25,26 and Feb 7,8,9 - Puddles Pity Party at Cleopatra's Barge at Caesar's Palace

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

The Schizophonics - Ooga Booga (12" EP)

The Schizophonics are a stunning garage-punk-rock-n-soul revelation, one of the wildest live acts anyone has ever seen, and one of the best songwriting combos to come out of recent years. With equal parts 60's garage, Detroit High Energy and blue-eyes Soul, this trio (singer/ guitarist/ human pinball Pat, powerhouse drummer/singer Lety and a revolving line up of bassists) pummel their audiences wherever they go with blasts of fuzz-filled rock'n'soul fever! I believe this is their debut and it has a bit more of a 60's garage/psych feel than their follow-ups (which still have that tendency but with more untamed wildness in the mix), but that is far from a bad thing. I love the blend of all of their influences that they flawlessly use to create the Schizo sound!

The opening "Oogo Booga Boogaloo" is a fuzz-infused, power chord stomper permeated with Pat's Hendrix-influenced maniacal guitar work. "Electric" has some MC5-styled fuzz riffs with heavy soul grooves and even heavier guitar, "Rat Trap" is more traditionally psych/garage with some clean guitar layered with distorted licks, San Francisco-like melodies (with added shrieks) and a pounding beat. "Two Thousand Seventeen" has some true 12 string jangles'n'melodies'n'harmonies that would not have been outta place on any 60's (or 80's throwback) classic (although Pat's psych/fuzz/near-backwards leads and Lety's incessant beat keeps it from being too folky) and they turn up the wildness for a frantic fuzz-riff finale, "Venus Transit".

Truly one of the best current bands around - amazing high energy, an insane stage show, fantastic musicianship and terrific songwriting. Don't miss out on this!

The Psyatics, the Jagoffs, the No Loves at Evel Pie, Thursday Oct 18, 2018

Outdoor venues in Las Vegas can be an iffy proposition - it can be 100 or more at 10:00pm in the summer (as it was the last time I was at Evel Pie) and below freezing in the winter - but this evening it was pleasantly cool. Local pals the Psyatics played with new locals the Jagoffs and a couple of touring combos, so I made it out for some pizza'n'rock'n'roll.

The Jagoffs are a young, apparently new, punk band that generally had fairly melodic tunes, although the singer would occasionally go into a death metal growl. Covers like Fear's "I Love Living in the City" and Minor Threat's theme song blended with their own down-tuned numbers with a little slap and a little slop. They seemed somewhat uncomfortable on stage, so we'll see what they grow into with a little experience.

The Psyatics provided their own brand of tight, no-wave-infused garage that helped to fill up the room and got people up'n'movin'. Fab originals like "Psyatic Nerve", the ever-appropriate "Bourbon Sway" and "Gentlemen of Four Outs" (that gives drummer Mark a change to shine and show off with a short ending solo - he is one of the best drummers in town - the man has a fast'n'mean right foot!) mix with covers like the Hives' "Two Timing Touch" and Pink Floyd's "Pigs" for a high energy blend that always works and always sounds only like the Psyatics. No Ivana Blaize this evening but Jack's gyrations hypnotized the young ladies in the audience!

The No Loves were on tour from Tennessee and were another basic but solid punk rock band with some good leads - including some hip, dual harmony solos - but not a lot else that really stood out for me. Nothing bad but nothing that really grabbed me and, as the show was running late on this week night, I cut out to get home by midnight. I was interested in seeing El Escapado (also from Tennessee) and their short-short attired singer, but couldn't hang, but I hope that other, younger members of the crowd did stick around!

recommended gigs

Thursday Oct 18 - the Psyatics, the Jagoffs, El Escapado (from Nashville), No Loves (also from TN) at Evel Pie

Saturday Oct 20 - Billy Strings with the All Togethers and the Riflemen at the Bunkhouse
Saturday Oct 20 - Zombie Walk at Boulder Damn Brewing Co with the Implosions, No Que No, Water Landing and the New Waves

Sunday Oct 21 - LV Blues Festival at 6300 W. Tropical Pkwy with Rick Estrin, Shanda and the Howlers and plenty more!

Friday Oct 26 - Negative Nancys, the Bitters, the Pluralses, Cromm Fallon at the Double Down
Friday Oct 26 - Sheiks of Neptune, Gold Steps, Till I Fall, Jesse Pino at Evel Pie

Saturday Oct 27 - the Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Bunkhouse
Saturday Oct 27 - the Damned, the Darts at House of Blues

Sunday Oct 28 - Duane Mark and WT NEwton at the Huntridge

Wednesday Oct 31 - Nekromantix, Messer Chups, Los Carajos at the Fremont Country Club
Wednesday Oct 31 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Nov 2 - the Rayford Bros at Clark County Library
Friday Nov 2 - the Meteors at the Beauty Bar
Friday Nov 2 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki

Saturday Nov 3 - the New Waves live band karaoke at the Mint for Bikes 4 Brats
Saturday Nov 3 - The Dickies and Monster Zero at 172 at the Rio

Thursday Nov 15 - Southern Culture on the Skids at the Bunkhouse
Thursday Nov 15 - Downtown Brown, Thee Swank Bastards, the Bitters at the Double Down

Friday Nov 16 - Billy Gibbons (solo) at Brooklyn Bowl
Friday Nov 16 - The Psyatics, North by North, the New Waves, Cromm Fallon at the Starboard Tack

Saturday Nov 17 - Ghost at the Joint
Saturday Nov 17 - the Heiz and the Implosions at Evel Pie

Wednesday Nov 21 - Delta Bombers, Shanda and the Howlers, Cherry Rat at the Beauty Bar

Friday Nov 30 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Friday Nov 30 - 68 (the band) with The Devil Wears Prada and Fit For a King at Vinyl

Saturday Dec 1 - the return of the Holy Smokes with The Swamp Gospel  and No Que No at the Double Down
Saturday Dec 1 - Retro Carnival from 11 am - 5 pm at Rockin Bettie with Shanda and the Howlers, Pyro Surfers, Cherry Rat, Tiki Bandits and Los Carajos

Fridat Dec 7 - The Gentlemen of Four Outs at the Huntridge Tavern

Friday Dec 14 - the Rhyolite Sound and the All Togethers with Paige Overton at 172 at the Rio

Mon Dec 31 - Tenacious D at the Joint at the Hard Rock

Wednesday Jan 16 - Mustard Plug and the Phenomenauts at the Beauty Bar

Jan 17,18,19,24,25,26 and Feb 7,8,9 - Puddles Pity Party at Cleopatra's Barge at Caesar's Palace

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

RIP Kat Arthur of Legal Weapon

The Death of Innocence: Legal Weapon’s Kat Arthur Passes Away 
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Haunted Halloween Cruise on the William D Evans paddle boat at the Bahai Resort Hotel, Saturday Oct 13, 2018

Since we came to town for the amazing Jackets/Schizophonics/Loon show on Friday night, we decided to spend the weekend in SD and my amazing wife found this wacky diversion for our Saturday. Put on by the Six String Society, this cruise was a combination of live rock'n'roll music, dancin', drinkin' and costumed mania!

Neither of us had ever taken a paddle boat ride through the SD harbor, so, although we skipped the earlier dinner, we got in line early to catch these festivities. The cruise itself lasted 4 hours, with bands playing simultaneously on two floors, with the top, third level set aside for getting some air, resting your weary bones and watching the San Diego skyline go by.

Four bands played 100 minutes sets throughout the cruise, with opening slots by Casey Hensley, a soul/blues-belter (kinda reminded us a bit of Shanda and the Howlers), who dressed like Jessica Rabbit and was constantly in danger of falling out of her dress! Her backing band was made up of hot-shot players, including an excellent female guitarist and, at times, a wailin' sax player. Fun stuff!

At the same time as Casey, in the smaller, 1st floor room, was the turbaned Farmers (an offshoot of the Beat Farmers was our guess?), who got the packed room twistin'n'boogalooin' to a great set of 60's garage rock. Solid players all around and a really fun list of songs, with obvious numbers like the singalong "Gloria" mixed in with more obscurities and even some blues-y groovers, when they brought up a female friend to belt out a tune or two.

The masked marauders, the Creepy Creeps have their own brand of garage/frat rock in the style of the Mummies (without being quite as sloppy and aggressive as the bandaged ones), with a wild stage act that includes a coffin-enclosed keyboard being thrown around the stage while being played. Their scantily-clad go-go dancers enticed the gentlemen in the crowd while the band took turns berating the audience and rockin' the crowd!

Back upstairs were the Sleepwalkers, who performed a set of somewhat traditional Mexican standards with a rock'n'roll edge. The stand-up bass and reverbed guitar gave a rockabilly/blues feel to the proceedings, while the wailin' sax added some r'n'b flavor and the drums rocked it all up. The singer was perfect for the job and added percussion on top of the tunes. Really well done, tight, and fun and the room was packed with dancers for their entire time on stage!

This was a truly fun'n'different event that got everyone into the Halloween spirit early. Unfortunately, since we came from Vegas, we didn't bring costumes, although it seemed like some of the tourists staying at the Bahai thought we were in costume anyway! In any case, I understand that this was the first Halloween cruise and it certainly seemed like a swingin' success! Hopefully, they will do more!

The Jackets, the Schizophonics and the Loons at the Soda Bar, San Diego, Friday Oct 12, 2018

When we heard that our pals and fave current band, the Jackets, were once again coming to America from Switzerland, we knew we had to check 'em out again. When we found out that they were playing with equally stunning groups the Schizophonics and the Loons, we made the trek to San Diego for a fab night of garage-laden rock'n'roll!

We got into town with enough time to relax a bit at our great air b'n'b, then have some excellent Thai food in University Heights and off to the Soda Bar! Got there as the bands were just arriving and chatted a bit with everyone until the Loons hit the stage.

Led by SD legend Mike Stax (Crawdaddies, Tell Tale Hearts, Ugly Things zine and much more) and his lovely wife Anja (Diaboliks, Thee Cherylinas, Ugly Things and more) along with superb guitarists Marc and Chris and drivin' drummer Mike, they put plenty of power into their brand of psych rock and got the crowd up front right from the start. Live, they are more hard rockin' than their fine records, with excellent vocal harmonies, dual lead guitars (with tasteful use of effects, including a hip organ simulator) rollin' bass lines and punchy drumming. They songs were pulled from their various albums, as well as a new upcoming 45 and covers from the Chocolate Watchband and the Damned! Amazing start to the night!

We first saw the Schizophonics 3 years ago at a Tiki Oasis room party and were totally knocked out by their brand of garage rock'n'soul and by the insane live show, particularly frontman/guitarist/ vocalist Pat who can't stand still for a second while on stage and is constantly dancin'n'flailin' about like a cross between James Brown and Jimi Hendrix all while singing lead and playing lead guitar! I've seen him a number of times now and still can't quite comprehend how he does it all! I love how he can put his guitar down just long enough to do a dance step and some splits and pick it up again right on the beat! But, he is not just all show - he plays some mean guitar and has a terrific, soulful voice. His lovely wife, Lety (also of the Rosalyns and others), is the powerhouse drummer, and they have gone through a variety of bassists, and I'm afraid that I did not catch the name of the cat who provided the low end this evening, although he was great with them. From the opening "Black to Comm" to the crazed finale, they roared through a set of non-stop rock action with superior originals and hip covers. They are difficult to photograph do to the incessant motion, but I caught some pauses in the mania!

All the way from Bern, Switzerland, the Jackets are just tonight (Sunday) finishing up a short tour of the coasts and knockin' people out everywhere they go. They should be destined for big things! After playing with them last year, they became my current fave live act and I only wish that I was able to see more of their shows! Led by singer/guitarist/performance artist Jackie, who is backed by drummer extraordinaire (and old friend of mine), Chris, and Mosrite-driven bass master, Sam, they blast through a set of energetic and well-written garage classics. While Chris and Sam are rock monsters, Jackie tends to be the lead focus as her guitar bursts out fuzz, tremelo and reverbed riffs, while she screams, croons and dances in mime-like fashion throughout the set. She is truly one of the more unique performers around today and like Pat in the Schizophonics (who is another of the best and most individualistic contortionist/rockers around), she can be difficult to capture on camera (at least for an amateur like me). But, she dances like no one else I've seen, stage dives, crowd surfs and hypnotizes the crowds all while keeping the guitar fuzzin' through the tunes. The songs are stellar garage rockers, as well as a couple of covers here'n'there and the whole band works together to provide a fantastic rock'n'roll machine!

A huge thank you to Ugly Things and the Soda Bar for this unbelievable night of garage-infused rock'n'roll! Truly one of the best all-around nights of live music I have seen in ages! Check out all of these combos for true rockin' magic!