The Swamp Gospel, Mizz Absurd, the Psyatics, DJ Xerox, Professor Rex Dart, Cramps Copycat Night at the Golden Tiki, Saturday Mar 30, 2019

DJ Xerox from Otto's Shrunken Head in NYC decided to take his Copycat De Lux nights, where a band does a set of half originals and half covers of a certain band, on the road and for his stop in Las Vegas, he came to the Golden Tiki and invited the Swamp Gospel, Mizz Absurd and the Psyatics, as well as DJ Rex Dart, to join him for this evening dedicated to the Cramps.

I have been a Cramps fan since I got their initial 45 when it came out and my fanaticism solidified when I got to see them in 1979 with Bryan Gregory at the Whiskey and then innumerable times after that. I got to know the members somewhat and the group has been an influence on my music and style throughout the years, so this night was a natural for me. The Gospel definitely has some Cramps-ian touch stones, as well, so it was not a big stretch to work up a set of tunes - we couldn't whittle down the number of songs that we wanted to do so we did an entire set of their numbers. Melanie went all-out in her Poison Ivy-ish outfit and I did a mix of Lux and Kid Congo and musically mixed them and Ivy all together. Mostly working from Songs the Lord Taught Us and Psychedelic Jungle, we also pulled out their fantastic single, "New Kind of Kick" and, from one of our favorite zombie movies, "Surfin' Dead". Although we went on early (we like to play first), there was a good, enthusiastic crowd for us set and we had a blast.

(Swamp Gospel photos by John Armstrong)

Coming from Hollywood and Las Vegas (that's what her FB page says), Mizz Absurd apparently normally plays solo with an upright bass but has just been joined by an electric violinist and has moved to electric bass. With the use of a few pedals to fill out the sound, the duo ran through some classics like "Why Don't You Do Right" as well as Cramps numbers like their cover of "Fever", "New Kind of Kick" (again! It's a great song - Fur Dixon is doing it in her set, as well) and a terrific mash-up of "Flight of the Bumblebee" (highlighted by the violin) and "Human Fly". Totally fun set!

The Psyatics combined 5 Cramps tunes within a set of originals for a late-night orgy of noise and chaos. The Golden Tiki stage is a challenge for any group with three or more members, so for the Psyatics, guitarist Jack put his pedal board on stage and stalked the audience. Frankly, our Cramps numbers were a bit under rehearsed, but it was all still good fun and we pulled out a new number and some classic Psy-tunes.

Thanks again to DJ Xerox/Evan, Professor Rex Dart, the Golden Tiki, Mizz Absurd and everyone who came out for this wacky night!

recommended gigs

Thursday Mar 28 - Not a Robot, Lambs to Lions, 24 Beers Later, the Social Set at the Double Down

Friday Mar 29 - the Implosions with Get Married, Three Rounds and Jerk at Evel Pie
Friday Mar 29 - Thee Swank Bastards at Tiki di Amore
Friday Mar 29 - Three Bad Jacks, No Que No, Los Carajos, Dinola at the Dive Bar

Saturday Mar 30 - Copycat Delux night, a tribute to the Cramps. hosted by DJ Xerox with the Swamp Gospel, the Psyatics, and Mizz Absurd at the Golden Tiki

Monday April 1 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday April 1 - the New Candys, Name That Band and the Laissez Fairs at the Bunkhouse

Tuesday April 2 - Trevor and the Swinging Johnsons at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday April 3 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Friday April 5 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Friday April 5 - the Juke Joint Junkies host the LV Blues Society Jam at the Sand Dollar

Saturday April 6 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Hideaway
Saturday April 6 - Nevada Youth Charity Concert at Rebar featuring the Unwieldies and more
Saturday April 6 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki
Saturday April 6 - the New Waves with the Sheiks of Neptune at the Bunkhouse
Saturday April 6 - the Unwieldies at Rebar

Sunday April 7 - the Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki
Sunday April 7 - the Burly Q Revue featuring Johnny Zig and the Force at the Double Down

Monday April 8 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday April 12 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday April 12 - Decaying Tigers, Time Crashers, Snailmate and Sonic Syndrome at the Double Down

Sunday April 14 - Johnny Zig and the Force at GOAT

Monday April 15 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Tues April 16 - Dirty R'n'R Dance Party presents Peter Egri (from Hungary), Eddie Clendening, Johnny 7 and more at 172

Saturday April 20 - the Plualses and Cadaver Pudding at the Huntridge
Saturday April 20 - Fuzz Solow, Anubis, Life's Torment, Lethal Injection at the Double Down

Saturday April 27 - The Psyatics with Soldiers of Destruction (with David from the Double Down) and the Hell Toupees at the Double Down

Sunday April 28 - Thor (70's rock god!) with Sheiks of Neptune at Evel Pie

Wednesday May 1 - Extra Gold (country from Denver, CO) at 172 inside the Rio

Friday May 3 - The Psyatics with the Implosions and the Sheiks of Neptune at the Huntridge Tavern

Sunday May 5 - Pound with the Bitters and Life's Torment at the Bunkhouse

Saturday May 11 - The Swamp Gospel with the Sin Eaters and the Rhyolite Sound at the Double Down

Tuesday May 14 - Panther Burns at the Bunkhouse

Wednesday May 22 - Dirty R'n'R Dance Party presents Spirit Mothers at the Bunkhouse

May 23-27 - Punk Rock Bowling festival - lots of cool shows on the festival stage and in the clubs - check out their listing!

Friday May 24 - Monster Zero with Dr Phobic and the Phobictones at the Golden Tiki

Monday May 27 - Save Ferris, Monkey, Franks'n'Deans at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Sunday June 9 - Kid Congo and the Pink Money Birds, Slim Cessna's Auto Club and The Psyatics and Ted Rader's Magic Family at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Saturday June 15 - the Implosions, Lambs to Lions, Sheiks of Neptune, the Time Crashers at the Center for Science and Wonder

Saturday June 22 - Bob Log III with the Swamp Gospel at the Bunkhouse

Sunday August 18 - George Clinton and Parliment Funkadelic at the Brooklyn Bowl

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Amyl and the Sniffers, Gym Shorts and No Tides at the Bunkhouse Sunday Mar 24, 2019

Melanie saw someone posting about Australia's Amyl and the Sniffers online and thought that they sounded like a wild'n'wooly, fun time, so we made it out on a Sunday night to check out the scene.

Opening the evening was a local combo, the No Tides, who combined surf, punk and 50's-styled oldies in an unusual mix. They were young and appeared to lack stage experience and they switched members several times during their set, making it all a bit disjointed, especially combined with the odd combination of styles. They weren't bad, but definitely need to plot out what they really wanna do and work some more on tightening up and pulling together their stage presence.

I'm pretty sure that Gym Shorts (not the best name, by any stretch) said that they were from Rhode Island, although I don't know if they are on tour or they have resituated themselves in Vegas. In any case, they were a reasonably tight, female-fronted, punk/grunge group with a strong drummer and simple songs with goofy lyrics. Songs like "Copycat/Jinx", "Ding Dong Ditch" and "Go Fish" were introduced with embarrassing exhortations like "let's open this pit up!" and "raise the roof". The silliness made us literally laugh out loud, but didn't really make us go over to the merch table.

Despite only have one single out, Amyl and the Sniffers are riding a tidal wave of hype, apparently mostly due to the lead singer, who is a combination of Wendy O. Williams, Cherie Currie , Liz Dealey from Australia's Twenty Second Sect (actually, the Sniffers reminded me a little of this group, in general) and  Bon Scott! That is not to say that the musicians aren't super-solid, as well - a tight rhythm section (although the mullets and the drummers' cat makeup were a bit distracting) and a rockin', talented lead guitarist drive the sounds behind Amy's vocals and gymnastic-like antics. She doesn't stand still for a moment throughout the entire set and is certainly the visual centerpiece of the group. The songs are kinda basic, sing-along punk rock - maybe a mix of Oi and Rose Tattoo! Even though the only release is the one 7", somehow or another audience members were singing along while dancin'n'slammin' and havin' a blast throughout the night.

Super fun set and stage show - not sure what I will think of the music when I hear it recorded, but I will be looking out for the record when it comes out (the 7" sold out right in front of us last night) and will keep an eye on these Aussies!

Celebration of Gold Top Bob with the Psyatics, Johnny Zig and the Force and Franks and Deans at the Double Down, Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Las Vegas recently had a scare in which we thought - thankfully, erroneously - that local blues icon Godtop Bob had passed away. He did have a serious health scare, but he is back out and rockin' again and so the Double Down - one of his regular haunts and residencies - threw a celebration party for the man.

The night started early with the Psyatics doing a set of Psyatic-ized noisy garage punk'n'roll. It was a little sloppy, but with plenty of fun'n'games'n'escapades ensuing. Ivanna Blaize once again provided some visual delight to counteract our ugly mugs. (Phone photos by me during our set, which is why they are fairly terrible!)

Drum-master Mark Bartschi did double duty this evening and joined Johnny Zig and the Force for their set of rockin' blues with a touch of surf. Two lead guitars, bass'n'drums with a swingin' (and great!) sax player rounding things out and adding to the sound. They brought Goldtop up to join them for several songs including classic renditions of "Stormy Monday", "Sweet Home Chicago" (as "Sweet Home Las Vegas") and "One Way Out". Totally fun stuff and great to see Bob slayin' the strings and the audience paying homage to the gent.

Franks and Deans rounded things out with their set of Rat Pack/oldies done punk rock/ska style with terrific three part harmonies. They did their own twists'n'turns to numbers by Jerry Lee and Buddy Holly along with oldies like "Splish Splash", "Chain Gang", "Mexicali", "Mess Around" and a bizarre take on "What'd I Say" merged with the Dead Kennedys "Holiday in Cambodia". They also brought Goldtop up for a few bluesy tunes and the evening's VJ, Haanson Myer, also made an appearance on harmonica! Of course, their visual addition was in the shapely form of Nicole Muse acting out parts of the songs, disrobing and twirling her hula hoop! Always a good time!

Goldtop Bob was rarin' to go for his own band's set at midnight but being a work night, I had to make the trek home and missed his solo set, but was glad to catch him playing with two other bands this evening. It was heart warming to see so many people come out to support him - MC Jen O Cide also ran a raffle throughout the night that seemed to bring in a number of contributions - and it is always nice to be part of the Vegas scene that will come together to help one of their own! Thank you to Ian, Christy and the Double Down for pulling this all together!