Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip
Music
Tour Buzz
January 31st, 2013
How do you know that a drummer’s knocking at the door? The knocking speeds up! What do you say to a drummer in a nice suit? “Will the defendant please rise?” Hey, did you hear the one about the drummer who finished high school? Me, neither! … OK, that should about do it. Read more »
Concerts
Pinback
Hard Rock Café on the Strip, Jan. 16
January 24th, 2013
Have you ever been hog-tied by a microphone cord? The audience at the Hard Rock Café has, thanks to Pinback guitarist/singer Rob Crow as he jumped off the stage and snaked through the crowd mid-set, encircling them like a beer-soaked bull in a china shop—much to fans’ delight. Read more »
Concerts
Pentatonix
The Hard Rock Café on the Strip, Dec. 15
December 20th, 2012
The self-proclaimed “choir nerds” and Season 3 winners of NBC’s The Sing-Off are an a cappella group of five vocalists who create their own beats, sounds and harmonies. Using nothing more than their voices, Pentatonix remix and re-create current hits and old favorites. Read more »
Music
Tour Buzz
November 29th, 2012
I was going to click my tongue disapprovingly over the high cost of tickets for ZZ Top’s Dec. 5 and Dec. 7 shows at the House of Blues; they range from $89.50 to $180, and don’t even include a free mustache ride. Then I remembered “La Grange,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Tube Snake Boogie,” “Tush,” “Legs” … Read more »
Concerts
Cursive
Hard Rock Café on the Strip, Nov. 7
November 15th, 2012
Either indie-rock band Cursive took a wrong turn on the way to play Vegas and ended up in Elmore City, Okla., or dancing suddenly became outlawed here—much to Kevin Bacon’s imagined dismay. Read more »
DJ Profile
The Uprising
Electronic crossover act Foreign Beggars lose their Vegas virginity
November 8th, 2012
The genre-blurring versatility of the U.K.’s Foreign Beggars is finally touching down in Las Vegas for the first time. Together for a decade, MCs Orifice Vulgatron and Metropolis (above, left and center, respectively) along with DJ Nonames (right) have grown from their underground hip-hop roots to fusing razor-sharp rhymes with grime-y dubstep drops and break beats. Read more »
Music
Tour Buzz
November 8th, 2012
I’ve seen few bands in my lifetime that are as fun to watch as the English Beat. The pop/ska band, scheduled to play the Hard Rock Café on the Strip on Nov. 9 ($22), has a number of truly great songs in their repertoire, songs that you’ll recognize from the jukeboxes in your favorite bars—including the jittery “Mirror in the Bathroom,” the menacing “Twist and Crawl,” and “I Confess,” perhaps the happiest song ever written about the fight that ends a relationship. Read more »
Music
Minus the New
Guitarist Dave Knudson talks about mining Minus the Bear’s original sound for inspiration
November 1st, 2012
Eleven years after releasing their first EP, Minus the Bear returns to their progressive indie-rock roots. The Seattle-based outfit departed from the danceable, guitar-heavy tracks of their previous albums for 2010’s Omni, opting for keyboard-driven melodies, many with no trace of guitarist Dave Knudson’s signature chords. Read more »
Soundscraper
Dark rainbows, Indian lakes, metal sheep
October 25th, 2012
Once again, the best shows are crammed into a single Friday night. Let me sum each one up so you can choose your own sonic adventure. Read more »
Concerts
Tomorrows Bad Seeds
Hard Rock Café on the Strip, Oct. 3
October 11th, 2012
With so many doses of rock, reggae, punk and hip-hop, it was challenging to really find a groove during the 75-minute set from Hermosa Beach, Calif.’s Tomorrows Bad Seeds. Read more »
