This was my first time to Soul Belly, a relatively new restaurant/music venue in downtown Las Vegas that is hosting a wide variety of shows lately, from Sunday afternoon brunch entertainment to nights like this one, put on by Brian Moy's Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party. My old pal, Jonathan Hall, has been with the Freeks for a number of years now (I last saw them out here in 2017 with a different line-up) and he is one of my fave guitarists, and the group now includes Ed Mundell, ex-Monster Magnet guitarist - another fave - so I had to make it out on a Sunday night!
Opening up the show was local "doomed mettle" band, HAXA, who were a heavy, dark, twin lead guitar, riff-oriented combo with a Black Sabbath-y feel, eldritch lyrics and a rockin' female drummer. For some reason the bass and guitarists changed instruments after the first song, breaking the momentum a bit, but from there on they got heads banging through the rest of their set. Solid musicians and some fine heaviness. Cool, appropriate start to the evening!
I got to talking with Jonathan Hall in the back of the room at the end of HAXA's set, so my pix of the Los Angeles' Early Moods, finishing up a tour before heading home, are not very clear, but they were another long-haired (dug the singer's massive afro!), self-proclaimed Doom band with a heavy Sabbath influence - one of the guitarists even played a left handed Gibson SG! The crowd loved their sounds - HAXA had a number of fans, as well - and got a great response throughout.
As I mentioned, the Freeks line-up this time out is pretty different than the last time I saw them, with Jonathan and founder Ruben (Fu Manchu/Nebula) being the only two still in the band, although Ruben is now "just" playing drums (he's a helluva basher!) instead of lead vox and guitar. But they now had Ed as second lead guitarist, along with a new fuzz bassist and a wild, wacky character as lead singer. Their set concentrated on material from their upcoming record that they just finished recording, highlighted by excellent musicianship from everyone - damn, I love seeing two great guitarists interacting! The one cover they blasted through was a high energy take on Alice Cooper's "Long Way To Go", seemingly aimed simply to win me over, as I am such an AC fan!
Unfortunately, as is far too common for Vegas, especially on a Sunday night, even for a relatively early set, a number of people had thinned out by the time the Freeks finished, but those who stayed witnessed something truly special. Hopefully, they will get back out here again before long on a Friday or Saturday night to win over an even bigger crowd. Great, heavy, fuzzed-out psych'n'roll!
Once again, thanks for Brian Moy and his Drity Rock'n'Roll Dance Party for another wild night of high energy rock'n'roll!
<< Home