Rev. Beat Man, the Crotches, Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones at the Usual Place - Saturday 8-23-25

I really loved Rev. Beat Man's show when the Swamp Gospel got to play with him back in 2018 and I have played the one CD I got at the time to death so I was really looking forward to seeing his one-man band performance (as opposed to the garage madness of the Monsters that came through last year) once again. 

Rik Collins (Wooly Bandits, Sloths, Seeds, etc. etc. etc.) DJ'd the night with some phenomenal slabs of garage rock'n'roll to keep everyone entertained in-between acts. Nice guy and great taste in music (and some truly enviable 45's)!

Opening the live music segment of the eve was Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones. We dug them when the Devil's Duo played with them 3 years ago (almost to the day!) but have not had a chance to see them since (as we have not been seeing much of anyone) so we were happy that they were on the bill. There was a new cat keeping the beat behind the kit and no bassist this time out, but the guitar/key/drum line-up still gave a full sounds as they fluctuated from rockabilly to garage and a bit of Cramps thrown in (who, of course, merged rockabilly and garage themselves) with some cool noise guitar and wacky theremin (the keyboardist simultaneously played keys, percussion and theremin - with her mouth at times!) added to the mix. They don't seem to play out all that often but are super fun so check 'em out when they do!

New to the Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party stable is the Crotches, with members from both LA and LV and a kinda weird, disjointed'n'unique version of garage-y punk'n'roll with a super strong drummer, good harmonies, a bit of vocal effects, a bit of furious punk rock but with odd time signatures and their own twists'n'turns. For some reason they reminded me a little of really early (pre-record label) Janes Addiction but I'm not sure how legit that is or if that was just me being weird. In any case, they are definitely entertaining with a charismatic, wacky looking lead singer who would do things like break a beer bottle over his head and carry the guitarist on his shoulders. 

As I said, we were pretty knocked out when we saw the Rev previously as a duo, and this evening's one-man show was different but equally great. More garage-punk than blues this time out, he was also more theatrical, with backing tapes playing while he set up the stage with banners and his cases with slogans on them, then later put on a priestly outfit, then doing a bit of a strip tease and still later putting on a sloppy blond wig to wander through the audience for some strangeness and ending by shaking the hands of the individual audience members. Overall, he played simple, trashy, upbeat garage punk (think maybe there was more variety in his blues/European folk stylings last time) that kept the crowd (not packed, but a good showing for the night) up on their feet rockin' with him the entire time - even got an encore, which is rare for Las Vegas! Here's hoping that he doesn't wait 7 years before returning to Vegas!

Once again, thanks to Brian Moy's Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party and the Usual Place for hosting another great night of different, fun, rock'n'roll! 

(ALL PHOTOS BY Melanie Coffee - Coffee Concert Photography!)