RIP Ross the Boss
Friday 3-27-26 - Soldiers of Destruction, Talking Bombs, Volores at the Double Down
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Boulder City Beer Fest
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-29-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-30-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-3-26 - the Implosions, 1/2 Ast, the Rebel Set at Red Dwarf
Friday 4-3-26 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 4-4-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-6-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Wednesday 4-8-26 - the Holy Smokes, Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys and Paige Overton at the Sand Dollar Lounge
Saturday 4-11-26 - the Unwieldies return for a 12:30 set at the LV Bluegrass Festival
Saturday 4-11-26 - Nini Music at Grey Witch
Saturday 4-11-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-13-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-17-26 - Tom Fest at the Double Down featuring Suburban Resistance and many more!
Saturday 4-18-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 4-19-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf’s Sunday Brunch
Monday 4-20-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Suburban Resistance with Femaliens and Kepi Ghoulie at Red Dwarf
Saturday 4-25-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-27-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 5-24-26 - the Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits and 7 Seconds at Brooklyn Bowl
Wednesday 5-27-26 - The Darts, the Implosions, Service at the Usual Place
Friday 5-29-26 - Suburban Resistance with Sloppy Seconds and Channel 3 at the Dive Bar
Friday 6-5-26 - Suburban Resistance with Celebrity Stalker at Red Dwarf
Friday 6-5-26 - Jessika Von Rabbit at Dustland
Sunday 9-6-26 - Screeching Weasel, Dickies, Queers, Jack Trippers at House of Blues LV
Sunday 9-13-26 - Exploited, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance at Backstage Bar and Billiards
Friday 3-20-26 - Crimson Riot record release show at Grey Witch
Saturday 3-21-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-22-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-23-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 3-23-26 - Femaliens, Motion Detected, Linnea's Garden at Red Dwarf
Friday 3-27-26 - Soldiers of Destruction, Talking Bombs, Volores at the Double Down
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Boulder City Beer Fest
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-29-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-30-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-3-26 - the Implosions, 1/2 Ast, the Rebel Set at Red Dwarf
Friday 4-3-26 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 4-4-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-6-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Wednesday 4-8-26 - the Holy Smokes, Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys and Paige Overton at the Sand Dollar Lounge
Saturday 4-11-26 - Nini Music at Grey Witch
Saturday 4-11-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-13-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-17-26 - Tom Fest at the Double Down featuring Suburban Resistance and many more!
Saturday 4-18-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Suburban Resistance with Femaliens and Kepi Ghoulie at Red Dwarf
Saturday 4-25-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-27-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 5-24-26 - the Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits and 7 Seconds at Brooklyn Bowl
Wednesday 5-27-26 - The Darts, the Implosions, Service at the Usual Place
Friday 5-29-26 - Suburban Resistance with Sloppy Seconds and Channel 3 at the Dive Bar
Friday 6-5-26 - Suburban Resistance with Celebrity Stalker at Red Dwarf
Friday 6-5-26 - Jessika Von Rabbit at Dustland
Sunday 9-6-26 - Screeching Weasel, Dickies, Queers, Jack Trippers at House of Blues LV
Sunday 9-13-26 - Exploited, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance at Backstage Bar and Billiards
While we did not know the host of this bachelor party, we know both bands and the fact that it was an early night meant that we definitely made it down for the fun!
Obviously, I have ranted'n'raved about the Implosions countless times in their relatively short history, as I always dig their take on garage/punk/Cramps-ian goodness. This evening they really seemed to be on top of their game, despite singer Adrienne implying that her voice was sore. Still, they put on a fun, energetic set with all of their hits and plenty of new tunes, as well! They just keep getting better and are always a groovy time and the crowd always loves 'em!
Of course, Thee Swanks have been Las Vegas' premier surf/instrumental band forever and Jesse invariably gets good-natured, quality people to back up his reverbed, staccato'd guitar and his flyin' fingers! This evening the basic set up was Jesse, longtime cohort Jeff Murphy on bass (goofy as hell, but highly talented) and hot pants, and the Implosions' Clay Heximer on drums. With a vast repertoire to choose from, you're never quite sure what songs you're going to hear from show-to-show and since this set had to be somewhat shorter than some (they have several residencies in town where they play all night long) they cut out some of the longer numbers, like their Black Sabbath medley. But, that didn't mean that Jesse didn't hand off his guitar to Murphy, with Denise picking up the bass and Ron Carpenter sitting in on the drums at various times! You never know what to expect, other than a good time!
Although it gets harder to get me out these days - life can be exhausting - once I get out, I am really enjoying seeing bands again and our LV friends sound better all the time! And it seems to me that the Double Down is getting a resurgence, as well, after a slow period, but that might just be me getting back into the swing of things myself. In any case, loved the early set times (3 more bands played after this early show/party add-on to the night), I've been digging the DD vibe again and all of the great people who work there, and, of course, our friends' bands truly rock the town!
Friday 3-13-26 - The Implosions, Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down
Saturday 3-14-36 - the Unoriginal Unfits, Mondo Vermin, Apollo 14 at the Double Down
Saturday 3-14-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-15-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-16-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 3-20-26 - Crimson Riot record release show at Grey Witch
Saturday 3-21-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-22-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-23-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 3-23-26 - Femaliens, Motion Detected, Linnea's Garden at Red Dwarf
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Boulder City Beer Fest
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 3-30-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-3-26 - the Implosions, 1/2 Ast, the Rebel Set at Red Dwarf
Saturday 4-4-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-6-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Wednesday 4-8-26 - the Holy Smokes, Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys and Paige Overton at the Sand Dollar Lounge
Saturday 4-11-26 - Nini Music at Grey Witch
Saturday 4-11-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-13-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-17-26 - Tom Fest at the Double Down featuring Suburban Resistance and many more!
Saturday 4-18-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Suburban Resistance with Femaliens and Kepi Ghoulie at Red Dwarf
Saturday 4-25-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-27-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 5-24-26 - the Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits and 7 Seconds at Brooklyn Bowl
Wednesday 5-27-26 - The Darts, the Implosions, Service at the Usual Place
Friday 5-29-26 - Suburban Resistance with Sloppy Seconds and Channel 3 at the Dive Bar
Friday 6-5-26 - Suburban Resistance with Celebrity Stalker at Red Dwarf
Sunday 9-6-26 - Screeching Weasel, Dickies, Queers, Jack Trippers at House of Blues LV
Sunday 9-13-26 - Exploited, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance at Backstage Bar and Billiards
Our weekends tend to be pretty packed between errands, chores, house-cleaning, cooking and what-have-you, but we thought that this afternoon show at the Double Down sounded like a fun time so we got a bunch of errands done quickly in the morning and headed out.
To avoid competition with Red Dwarf's Sunday Surf Brunch, the DD decided to try this matinee gig on Saturdays and added a taco truck and a couple vendors outside and it seems to us like it was a roaring success.
The Minges were scheduled to play but could not make it so in their place was a new-to-us combo, the Darkest Hollar, a self-proclaimed Satanist Bluegrass band! Acoustic guitar, stand-up bass, banjo and fiddle accompanied fine vocals and songs about Satan (natch), murder, goth girls, sacrifices, orgies and more, and even a cover from the band Ghost! Everyone excelled at the instruments, although the fiddle and banjo were the primary solo instruments. Funny stories in between the tunes and they even winged a cover of "Pretty Polly" when a patron requested it (along with a monetary tip)! Very fun, funny and talented and we hope to see them again soon and maybe play together in some permutation at some point!

Woodstock Performer Country Joe McDonald Dies at 84: 'One of the Defining Voices of the 1960s'
Thursday 3-5-26 - Dog Party, the Implosions, J Graves at Red Dwarf
Saturday 3-7-26 - Matinee show at the Double Down with the Minges and VaVoom
Saturday 3-7-26 - Suburban Resistance at Beer Zombies Rot and Roll fest
Saturday 3-7-26 - Fuzz Solow at Red Dwarf
Saturday 3-7-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 3-9-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 3-13-26 - The Implosions, Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down
Saturday 3-14-36 - the Unoriginal Unfits, Mondo Vermin, Apollo 14 at the Double Down
Saturday 3-14-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-15-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-16-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 3-21-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 3-22-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch
Monday 3-23-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 3-23-26 - Femaliens, Motion Detected, Linnea's Garden at Red Dwarf
Thursday 3-26-26 - Hillbilly Casino, the Crotches, Triple Splits, Texas Prison Rodeo at the Usual Place
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Boulder City Beer Fest
Saturday 3-28-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 3-30-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-3-26 - the Implosions, 1/2 Ast, the Rebel Set at Red Dwarf
Saturday 4-4-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-6-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Wednesday 4-8-26 - the Holy Smokes, Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys and Paige Overton at the Sand Dollar Lounge
Saturday 4-11-26 - Nini Music at Grey Witch
Saturday 4-11-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-13-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 4-17-26 - Tom Fest at the Double Down featuring Suburban Resistance and many more!
Saturday 4-18-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-20-26 - Suburban Resistance with Femaliens and Kepi Ghoulie at Red Dwarf
Saturday 4-25-26 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Monday 4-27-26 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 5-24-26 - the Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits and 7 Seconds at Brooklyn Bowl
Wednesday 5-27-26 - The Darts, the Implosions, Service at the Usual Place
Friday 5-29-26 - Suburban Resistance with Sloppy Seconds and Channel 3 at the Dive Bar
Friday 6-5-26 - Suburban Resistance with Celebrity Stalker at Red Dwarf
Sunday 9-6-26 - Screeching Weasel, Dickies, Queers, Jack Trippers at House of Blues LV
Sunday 9-13-26 - Exploited, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance at Backstage Bar and Billiards
I learned about this novel when I was researching Percival Everett's Erasure and discovered that the story-within-a-story in that novel was loosely based on this book. While Everett's was a commentary on stereotypes that still exist in our media, Wright's 1940's story was groundbreaking for its depictions of the lives of Black Americans at the time.
Wright was a highly talented writer, giving the fairly unlikeable lead character, Bigger Thomas, a multi-faceted personality, who understood far more than his limited education would indicate - and far more than mere "street smarts", although none of this really helps him as he is trapped in poverty in the 1930's. Even Chicago - comparatively liberal in race relations - was quite segregated and highly racist at the time and there were little choices for young Black men. But Bigger also has a chip on his shoulder, even with his friends, and his life whirls out of control at least partially because he cannot - and feels he should not have to - control his feelings. Wright balances his characters' emotions and ingrained intellect deftly, and Bigger sometimes completely understands his situation and sometimes simply feels that something seems wrong without being able to define it - even if it's his upbringing causing him to be somewhat paranoid.
This actually gets the best of him early on when a white couple attempts to befriend him and this makes him uncomfortable enough that he later - albeit by accident - kills the young woman. The rest of the tale comprises of him trying to see if he can get away with it and outsmart the white establishment - maybe even make some money from it - and when he gets caught, how he handles his incarceration and punishment.
Of course, the racism is blatant and constant in the story and is sometimes even used in Bigger's favor, although, naturally, killing a white woman means that ultimately nothing will save him and white society will assume that it was a crime of passion.
His incarceration gives him time to reflect and, with the aid of a white lawyer who seriously tries to help Bigger by asking about his life and background, he gains a little bit of an understanding of his own feelings, and maybe some reasons for why he is who he is. The lawyer gives an impassioned plea in his closing argument in Bigger's near-mock trial, depicting the life that Bigger and his brethren live as a reason, not an excuse, although it is ultimately to no avail.
Sadly, so many of these issues exist to this day and I, as an older white man, cannot really comment on these plights, but maybe can learn a bit even from these decades-old stories.