Music
Soundscraper
Killswitches and Battlecrosses
June 18th, 2013
I’m writing this in a poolside cabana at night, and it’s still 100 degrees. Pity the poor EDC-ers who can’t always enjoy air-conditioned venues to keep their angel wings from melting. Meantime, you and I, fellow Soundscrapers, have cool shows to hit. Read more »
Music
An Infectious Beat
Psytrance duo Infected Mushroom’s mind-tripping experience spreads to Las Vegas
June 18th, 2013
Those expecting Infected Mushroom to be merely two DJ/producers are set to be overwhelmed. The electronic psytrance artists will be bringing a full-on audio/video show to the Cosmopolitan’s Boulevard Pool on June 20. It will be perfect to gear you up for the Electric Daisy Carnival, or as a taste of an all-out electronic music experience if you aren’t attending EDC. Read more »
Tour Buzz
Tour Buzz: Buckcherry, Hardcore Metal at House of Blues and Nine Inch Nails
June 18th, 2013
I can’t say why it is that Buckcherry, the Los Angeles band that’s playing at Red Rock Resort on June 22 ($47), has never really registered with me. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with them, per se. They’re actually a pretty decent rock outfit, as far as Aerosmith knockoffs go. (That’s not a slam; I’ve loved plenty of Aerosmith knockoffs in my time.) To my ears, they perfectly embody the ideals of the 1970s, back when any young American male could dream of touring with two semitrucks full of gear, going shirtless in leather pants without compunction, and catching something annoying but curable from a professional groupie. Read more »
Concerts
Concert Review: Wayne Hancock
LVCS, June 15
June 18th, 2013
Every time I stop believing that Wayne “The Train” Hancock is not a reincarnated Hank Williams—when I feel comfortable saying, “Maybe every honky-tonk throwback artist sings about driving lonesome highways in a reedy twang”—Hancock reaffirms my earlier beliefs with a set of killer road songs and a few stories about the last time he was arrested. Read more »
Concerts
Concert Review: Reggae in the Desert
Clark County Amphitheater, June 16
June 17th, 2013
In the wake of overcrowding at last year’s festival—resulting in long lines, vendors running out of food and water, and an uncomfortable congestion on the amphitheater lawn—organizers decided to spread the festivities over two days. The verdict? Everyting irie, mon. Read more »
Concerts
Concert Review: Green Day’s 'American Idiot'
The Smith Center, June 11
June 17th, 2013
Can pop-punk be improved by professionally trained voices and choreography? If you can get past the oil-and-water pairing of punk rock with Broadway staging, then Green Day’s American Idiot is an OK show. Read more »
Concerts
Concert Review: Cheap Trick
Pearl at the Palms, June 15
June 17th, 2013
Cheap Trick at Budokan is rightfully part of rock’s stratosphere, and “Surrender” and “I Want You to Want Me” are among my favorite sing-along tunes. But even their inclusion couldn’t get this show up to screaming-Japanese-schoolgirl expectations. Read more »
Soundscraper
Death Fests, Local Ragers and Voodoo Organs
June 11th, 2013
My ears are still ringing from Doom in June, a 12-hour doom-metal festival at Cheyenne Saloon. Since I’m a soldier of rock ’n’ roll, though, I’ll be returning to the very same venue June 13-15 for Las Vegas Deathfest V. Read more »
Tour Buzz
Tour Buzz: She & Him, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against The Machine and 80s Music
June 10th, 2013
MELLOW AGED: Richard Cheese and Lounge Against The Machine is playing at Sunset Station’s Club Madrid on June 14 ($34-$56). The last time I saw this musical comic—whose born name is Mark Jonathan Davis, which sounds even less realistic than “Richard Cheese”—I was at Venus, the short-lived tiki bar and ultra-lounge at the Venetian. Remember that place? Marc Campbell, the lead singer for the Nails—the new-wave band that did “88 Songs About 44 Women”—ran the place. Read more »
