The Heiz, the Psyatics, Thee Swank Bastards at the Huntridge Tavern, Tuesday Nov 26, 2019

Japan's hottest rock'n'roll trio, the Heiz, are in the midst of a week-long tour of Las Vegas - see them tonight at the Rusty Spur and Friday and Saturday at the Double Down Saloon for the DD's 27th anniversary weekend - and this evening they invaded one of our favorite, intimate dive bars, the Huntridge Tavern with the help of Thee Swank Bastards and the Psyatics!

Vegas' premier surf/instro combo, Thee Swank Bastards, started things off at a reasonably early time, but with a good amount of people already there to dig the reverbed sounds. Fronted by guitar whiz Jesse, this evening he was backed by Jeff Murphy's flashing fingers on the bass and the cute'n'talented Courtney impressing the room with her drum skills. Super fun set of everything from old school surf covers to original instrumentals to Black Sabbath covers! A great start to the night and be sure to see the insane Basstravaganza featuring the Bastards tonight (Wednesday) to kick off the Double Down's anniversary weekend!

 Of course, I couldn't take any pix of the Psyatics as we played, but we had a great time running through songs from their 4 CD's and a handful of new numbers before closing with the freak-out number "Gentlemen of Four Outs". We appreciate being part of this wild r'n'r party!

The Heiz once again showed how great musicians can still be superior showmen (and women) as they electrified the jam-packed crowd with their unique take on Ramones-fueled 50's and 60's American rock'n'roll. With sing-along songs about rock'n'roll and pizza (everyone can relate and everyone sang along) backed with powerhouse rhythms, they still vocalize with sweet harmonies while flailing about and interacting with the crazed crowd. Lots of fun originals and bassist Asako sang terrific covers of "Lipstick on Your Collar" and "Remember Walking In the Sand", guitarist Shack tore through a medley of an ultra-grungey "Rumble" and Led Zep's "Rock'n'Roll", drummer Kim sang about starving and eating pizza and they all got the crowd to join in on "My Way" before closing with their own ode to our city, "Back in Vegas'!

 

 

 

Super fun night from start to finish and an excellent prelude to the holiday season! Lots more holiday fun this weekend, so get out of the house you turkeys!

Thank you to the Heiz for coming out and playing with some terrific local bands and thank you to the Huntridge for hosting this night!