Rich's R'n'R Rants & Raves: Daikaiju and the Nuclear Undead at the Dive Bar Thursday March 24, 2022

After hearing about the spectacle that is Daikaiju, Melanie was determined to make it out to see them, even on a weeknight with an early morning awaiting us the next day. But, a spectacle it was and worth it even for the lack of sleep!

Opening the night was the very appropriately placed Nuclear Undead, another instrumental band that has influences from surf to heavy metal with clean tones alternating with highly overdriven bass and guitar, with the bass using as many effects as the guitar! There was even a little (hidden) faux theremin at one point! They use some snippets of horror movies in between numbers, which is also fitting as most of the songs sound like they could be taken from B-Movie soundtracks. These cats are a terrific and reasonably unique new addition to the Vegas rock'n'roll scene!

I know very little about Daikaiju, other than that we are very late to the party regarding this band as people are telling us that they played with them 20 years ago! Apparently, the line-up varies (I believe that there are normally 2 guitarists) but this night they performed as a three piece and certainly didn't need anyone else on stage with them! Their sound is kinda effects-laden, heavy progressive punk/metal - loud, fast and hard with jammy solos. They wear kabuki masks, each with a different pattern that somehow seems fitting for the personalities and are even expressive, although I'm not sure how that was possible. But, they are a constant blur of motion, with plenty of audience participation which culminates at the climax of the set as they move the drums to the floor, with the other two playing while standing on the kit and then lighting the cymbals on fire around them! But, that is hardly the finale as the drummer then has audience members hold up parts of his drums (while the other two keep some noise going) and then brings out a chair which he (wordlessly) instructs the audience to lift up with him on it and he plays several songs held aloft! Mighty trusting! There was crowd surfing galore - this was one of the most packed nights I've seen at the Dive Bar - and eventually other two hand off their instruments to random people (some who could play - including our own Jeff Murphy, and some who had no idea what to do, including a fairly inebriated woman) and the drummer led other audience members outdoors like a demented pied piper, carrying parts of his set, which people continued to play as the band climbed on top of their tour van and lit the top of the van on fire while also dousing their (extra?) guitar and bass in flames and then drove off! Quite the finale!