16 Again, The Plague, Downtown Death Rattle at Red Dwarf Saturday July 9, 2022

 

When I heard that my old drummer friend, Paul Sakry (Untold Fables, Yard Trauma, Ten Tons of Lies, temporarily in Thee Fourgiven) was coming to town with his 70's punk/new wave cover band, 16 Again, I had to make it out to see the rock'n'roll and relive some old times.

I hadn't been to Red Dwarf before this and dug its dive bar/slightly tiki-ish vibe, with reasonably priced drinks, a fair amount of seating, a patio and pizza'n'garlic bread. There's a smallish stage in one corner and a PA and soundman, although the system was a little overwhelmed this evening - damn rock'n'rollers and their loud guitars!

Opening was San Diego's The Plague, who were "plagued" with some technical difficulties at the beginning of their set (helped out by 16 Again's bassist), but they soon got moving with a set of 70's-styled punk rock'n'roll. I was in the back talking to Paul throughout their set, but did enjoy their take of the genre.

I hadn't seen Vegas' Downtown Death Rattle before, but I dug them, as well - a cool two guitar/bass/drum attack backing two lead singers - a nattily dressed guy and an aggressive female. Maybe a bit emo/goth mixed in with their punk rock, in a good way, and the crowd there totally appreciated their sound'n'attitude.

16 Again is a cover band simply aiming to have some fun playing songs from our youth - punk rock, power pop, new wave and whatever else they feel like. Besides Paul on drums, there's Nick (Incomplete Monday) on guitar and vocals, Jim (The Crowd) on guitar and Shane (I believe - sorry, I'm terrible with names and not sure who else he has played with) on bass. Besides some kinda obvious numbers from the likes of the Ramones, Pistols, Clash, Gen X, etc., they could the Plimsouls and the Nerves, 20/20, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Undertones, and lots more. There was still a great crowd hanging out for their closing set, and they were up'n'about, dancin''n'singin' along for the entire set. Unfortunately, Red Dwarf has a strict 1:00 am shutdown time - not a bad idea in general but too bad for 16 Again and they were attempting to close with, ironically, "Something's Gone Wrong Again". 

This was a truly fun time and a cool, relatively new dive bar in town. Hope to get back there some (maybe with one of my bands) and hope that 16 Again can return, as they seem to have made a lot of Vegas fans!