Jesika Von Rabbit and Goldie Vegas and the Playboys at Dustland Friday 6-5-26

 

I always try to catch up with my old pal Lee whenever he hits town and since I missed JVR's set here at Dustland last time they were out (due to this being an outdoor venue and it was a freezing cold winter night), we made it a point to get out this time.

Opening the night was Goldie and the Playboys with guitarist Scott, who we met ages ago playing with the great garage combo, Thee Faded Pictures. For this set they concentrated on cover songs, from Joan Jett and the Runaways to Nirvana to Zeppelin and lots more. Hopefully, they will grow into more originals, but it was a good warm up for the night.

Jesika Von Rabbit (Jesika ex-of Joshua Tree's Gram Rabbit) has a pretty unique sound - a mix of dance, psychedelia, garage and rock'n'roll with a good amount of noise mixed in. This time out they had a live drummer - looking back, I see that this ever-evolving combo did have a live drummer one other time that they were out here - who triggered the backing tracks and did an excellent job of playing along with the tracks while adding terrific dynamics. Lee plays bass live (and adds guitar and whatever else is needed to the backing tracks) and had a super sound this evening, really driving the tunes with a variety of tones, from clean to super dirty'n'gritty, which complimented the songs and gave them some rockin' noise. Jesika herself has a fine voice and adds keyboards to the existing tracks when not dancing, jumpin', doing high kicks and lots more, while also interacting with their dancer/backing singer/costumed adventurer! 

We thought that this was the best set that we've seen, with great songs'n'performance - the band was tight and the action was always fun'n'entertaining. The First Friday crowd seemed to really dig them a lot as well! Fun times!

recommended gigs

       

Friday 6-5-26 - Suburban Resistance with Celebrity Stalker at Red Dwarf

Friday 6-5-26 - Jessika Von Rabbit at Dustland 

Sunday 6-7-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Thursday 6-11-26 -Punk’n’Country with Bear Supply and Unoriginal Unfits at Red Dwarf 

Friday 6-12-26 - Femaliens, Broke in Vegas, Skatepark Anthem at Red Dwarf

Sunday 6-21-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Saturday 6-27-26 - Cherry and the Sours, Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones, Top Cat Trio at Grey Witch

Saturday 7-18-26 - Bear Supply at Double Down's Matinee Show

Wednesday 7-29-26 - Authority Zero, Suburban Resistance, Venomous Pinks, Jr Ska Boss at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Wednesday 8-5-26 - the Woggles, the Crotches, the Implosions, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Usual Place

Sunday 8-9-26 - Hedwig at the House of Blues

Wednesday 8-26-26 - IV and the Strange Band at the Bizarre Bar

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 11-13-26 - Plague Vendor at the Usual Place 

Messer Chups, the Shakewells, the Violet Mindfield at the Swan Dive Sunday 5-31-26

 

Apparently, a number of bands have been taking advantage of the pleasant springtime weather and are making their appearances in the Vegas area. Nice to see the town happening again!

I've been looking forward to this one, as it certainly appealed to my 60's-inspired soul. Opening the evening was the Violet Mindfield, who I was not familiar with but Danny from the Shakewells was very complimentary of them and so we made sure to get in early to check them out!

These cats (and kitten) took me back to my 80's garage days with their excellent visual style along with their Remains-ish (or, for a more 80's reference, the Vipers) garage-pop. The guitarist/singer had great tone (with plenty of old-school effects), the keyboardist/harmonica player added fine embellishments and the rhythm section locked in and drove the tunes, despite the drum kit self-imploding after every couple of songs! Great set of originals and a finale of the old stand-by, "Gloria", although, despite it being ubiquitous back in the day, who has covered this recently? Truly one of the best new bands I've seen in a long time!

We've been fans of our friends the Shakewells since we first saw them blasting out their own brand of garage rock'n'roll and they never fail to please. We were sad to hear of the departure of keyboardist Kate, but the band is still powerful as ever - and actually, if anything, more punky now without the keys to smooth things out a bit. Great originals from their record along with rockin' new numbers and a wild cover of "Night of the Sadist". I understand that they are considering adding keys again, so if you're interested, let them know, but that's not going to stop them from plying their garage-rockin' trade in the meantime!

Everyone is a monster here - Turbo and Ruckus have been stalwarts of the scene for as long as anyone can remember and are an incredible rhythm section, while Danny sings'n'shouts with a fine voice and the guitar wails with various tones, from clean and spooky to nasty noize, as appropriate to the tunes. 

Definitely the best straight-ahead garage rock'n'roll band in town!

The Russian-born Messer Chups have been taking their own brand of instrumental (and sometimes vocal) surf-rock on the road for a number of years now and just seems to be getting more'n'more popular - they packed the house for this show with screamin' fans!

Of course, the lovely Zombierella is the stunning visual focus of the show, even though no one is particularly wild on stage, relying instead on showing off their instrumental prowess. The songs and performances are super strong, although a bit more action on stage wouldn't hurt - although they don't seem to need my advice! 

Absolutely worth seeing, just don't expect craziness, just talent on display!

Big thanks to Ralph and Beau Monde Productions, along with the new Swan Dive Bar for a fun, rockin' night!

recommended gigs

      

Friday 5-29-26 - Suburban Resistance with Sloppy Seconds and Channel 3 and 1/2 Ast at the Dive Bar

Friday 5-29-26 - Tiger and Dove with Fuzz Solow and While Yer Down There at Red Dwarf

Friday 5-29-26 - Triple Splits, Wyatt and the Ashes, Sooflay, Skatepark Anthem at the Double Down

Saturday 5-30-26 - Stagnetti's Cock, Cherri and the Sours, Pitch After Dark, Goldie Vegas at the Double Down

Sunday 5-31-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Sunday 5-31-26 - the Messer Chups, the Shakewells, Violet Minefield at the Swan Dive

Friday 6-5-26 - Suburban Resistance with Celebrity Stalker at Red Dwarf

Friday 6-5-26 - Jessika Von Rabbit at Dustland 

Sunday 6-7-26 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Thursday 6-11-26 -Punk’n’Country with Bear Supply and Unoriginal Unfits at Red Dwarf 

Friday 6-12-26 - Femaliens, Broke in Vegas, Skatepark Anthem at Red Dwarf

Saturday 6-27-26 - Cherry and the Sours, Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones, Top Cat Trio at Grey Witch

Saturday 7-18-26 - Bear Supply at Double Down's Matinee Show

Wednesday 7-29-26 - Authority Zero, Suburban Resistance, Venomous Pinks, Jr Ska Boss at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Wednesday 8-5-26 - the Woggles, the Crotches, the Implosions, Cromm Fallon and the P200 at the Usual Place

Sunday 8-9-26 - Hedwig at the House of Blues

Wednesday 8-26-26 - IV and the Strange Band at the Bizarre Bar

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 11-13-26 - Plague Vendor at the Usual Place 

The Darts, Service, The Implosions at the Usual Place Wednesday May 27, 2026

 

Brian Moy's Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party returned for one night (although he does already have another hip garage gig book for a couple of months from now) so that he could present the Darts - and Vegas was happy to come out and support!

Opening the night was Vegas' premier Vegas-themed garage band, our pals, the Implosions. Obviously, I've ranted'n'raved about this garage-y/Cramps-ian combo over the years of their illustrious career and this evening they were in top form. Dave's guitar sounded great, the married rhythm section locked in while Adrienne shook'n'shimmied and crooned'n'careened'n'howled. Their "Cash Out" number brought a good portion of the audience onto the stage to shake their goods along with mini-Implosions-tambourines as the other tunes from their records varied from punky-garage-rockin' to spooky-dynamic-laden sizzles. Always a fun time!

The oddly-named Service followed with a weird'n'wild set as one might expect from a band featuring an ex-member of Jon Spencer's Blues Implosion (I'm assuming the bassist, as his style would have fit with them), although they didn't sound anything like that group, nor anything else that I could put into words. Strange'n'noisy, with a highly animated, androgynous lead singer, I can't begin to describe their sound, but they were entertaining and they ended with Nicole from the Darts joining them for a couple of songs, adding to the mayhem!

Of course, the highlight of the night was the headliners, the relentless all-female garage combo, the Darts. Led by the non-stop frontperson/singer/organist Nicole and aided by long-time (off'n'on) fantastic drummer Rikki Stixx, they now include a (relatively) new bassist Lindsay Scarey and guitarist Rebecca Davidson, who have actually been in the band for quite a while now, but I don't believe that they have been back to Vegas with this line-up. 

In any case, their set consisted of the patented Darts-styled, organ-fueled, high-energy garage rock'n'roll originals and one unusual cover (it'll come to me - my lovely wife reminded me that it was Lou Reed's "Vicious"). They have written a new dance song, so had the singers of the two openers on stage to demonstrate the moves for the crowd! Groovy garage from start-to-finish and the Wednesday night crowd (good turnout!) loved every minute! 

Big thanks to Brian for bringing them out and the the Usual Place for hosting the night! A great time was had by all!