recommended gigs

                         

Friday 12-12-25 - Water Landing and Femalians at Red Dwarf

Friday 12-12-25 - Mike Skill and Brad Elvis (the Romantics) with Ricky Rat and Brian McCarty (Trash Brats) at Vintage Vegas

Saturday 12-13-25 - Mike Skill and Brad Elvis (the Romantics) with Ricky Rat and Brian McCarty (Trash Brats) at Vintage Vegas

Saturday 12-13-25 - Suburban Resistance at the Double Down

Saturday 12-13-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 12-14-25 Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 12-15-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Thursday 12-18-25 - Bear Supply at Jive Turkey

Thursday 12-18-25 - Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones with Gabi Halstead and the Triadics at the Griffin

Friday 12-19-25 - Mr Dark's Pandemonium at the Double Down

Saturday 12-20-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 12-21-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 12-22-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 12-27-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 12-29-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 1-7-25 - Suburban Resistance at Red Dwarf

Saturday 2-14-25 - The Queers and Suburban Resistance at Backstage Bar and Billiards

The Implosions, The Triple Splits, the Unnaturals at Santos, New Orleans, Friday 12-5-25

So we took a trip to New Orleans with about 30-some other Las Vegans and amongst all of the other food'n'drinks'n'sites, two of our local bands decided to play a show while we were all there! 

Santos is a fun little dive bar randomly located at an edge of the Quarter, behind construction barriers and other NO madness. Cool space, nice bartenders, reasonable drinks - good place for a Vegas takeover!

But, before our fellow Vegans took the stage, local instrumental (mostly) combo, the Unnaturals stormed the stage to a pretty packed house. While absolutely surf-influenced (which was even more apparent on their CD that I picked up - more on that later), live, they had a powerful, 70's hard rock and at times almost-prog-rock feel! The guitar was tough'n'metallic'n'flashy as hell, the Thunderbird bass was indeed thunderous with more fast'n'furious licks than most guitarists can muster and the drums were powerful'n'snappy. While some tunes were more traditional, such as their cover of "Out of Limits", they also covered the Dead Kennedys and - I believe - an 80's metal tune! Shades of Vegas' Swank Bastards! Super impressive! See them if you can!

Up next was a relatively new Vegas combo featuring members of Franks'n'Deans, Bear Supply, the Implosions, the Mapes and more going under the moniker of the Triple Splits. Self-described as skater-punk, a genre that kinda passed me by so I am not an expert on, they were tight, fast'n'loud and a hit with the crowd. Fine musicianship all around (although not as wildly flashy as the Unnaturals, since their songs didn't call for it), this is certainly a new combo to watch!

I have ranted'n'raved innumerable times about our friends the Implosions and always dig their version of garage/punk/Crampsian/rock'n'roll. Their Vegas-themed tunes captivated the crowd, with everyone joining in on "Cashed Out" (I think) and just generally dancin'n'diggin' the sounds. Lots of variety to their sounds and lots of fun! 

There was even a late-night surprise set by Thee Swank Bastards since Jesse Del Quadro (and his lovely wife Nikki) were among the Vegas denizens that made the trip. Starting out with Clay'n'Denise as the rhythm section, going through many of their repertoire, including their Black Sabbath medley, Clay eventually handed the drumsticks over to Courtney, yet another Vegas-part-time-Bastard. Crazy times indeed that went late into the evening!

Thanks to Santos Bar for hosting this wacky night joined by innumerable Vegas inhabitants! 

RIP Scott Richardson

 As a huge fan of Detroit rock'n'roll, I am deeply saddened to hear of Scott Richardson's departure from this earthly plane. And sadder still to see that the media is essentially ignoring this loss, so I do not have an article to quote.

RIP Steve Cropper

Steve Cropper, Legendary Guitarist for Booker T. & the MG’s, Otis Redding and the Blues Brothers, Dies at 84

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Never flashy, but highly influential - play some Booker T in his honor!

RIP TetsuYamauchi

’70s Rock Star Dead at 79: Bandmate Confirms Death of Tetsu Yamauchi

He played in the Faces (replacing Ronnie towards the end of their career) and Free, among others. Sad to hear of his passing.

Kepi Ghoulie with Jeff Murphy - House Party, Sunday 11-30-25

Our old pal from the Groovie Ghoulies, Kepi Ghoulie, is on the road pretty much non-stop and when he finds an opening in his schedule he will either find someplace to set up shop and sell some of his artwork or he will contact friends like Kevin (Suburban Resistance) and Geri (Femaliens) and see if they can set up a house party! Since it turned out to also be their anniversary (approximately), they combined the celebrations for a fun Sunday afternoon!

Vegas' own Jeff Murphy (Bitters/Thee Swank Bastards, among many others) was the opening act for the afternoon, wowing the assorted assembled with his flying fingers and acoustic guitar work. He played a couple instrumentals, sang a couple tunes himself and brought up the host, Kevin, to sing a few tunes, like an acoustic version of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades", among others. Cool stuff!

Kepi came up and began his set of Ghoulies-and-related tunes and after a couple of numbers, invited Jeff to join him, which he did for the rest of the set, jamming on songs that he had never heard before! Of course, most of us knew the joyous Ghoulies' repertoire as well as the handful of covers, such as Ramones-ized takes on 60's pop tunes. He threw in a few more love songs for the happy couple, along with his usual good-time tunes of affirmation'n'fun, ending with his anthem "Til Death Do Us Party"!

Tons of delightful entertainment for the whole family and a great way to spend a random Sunday afternoon! Many thanks to Kevin'n'Geri for the invite and to Kepi for coming to town once again, especially since we missed him last time.

Basstravaganza at the Double Down Saloon Wednesday Nov 26, 2025

 

Every year on the night before thanksgiving, Thee Swank Bastards hosts Basstravaganza to celebrate the beginning of the anniversary weekend for the Double Down Saloon, featuring the same number of bassists as the anniversary year - 33 this time out! Swanks leader Jesse Del Quadro plays the entire night (although he took one break to give longtime cohort Jeff Murphy a chance to show off his guitar skills), plowing through the Swanks repertoire of surf classics and heavy metal/punk songs done surf style. The bassists range from inspired beginners to longtime professionals and everything in between, including plenty of guitarists (and other musicians and non-musicians) who pick up the bass especially for the night (myself included). This evening there was the addition of horns, 7 drummers, including a surprise, masked guest drummer, El Bastardo, as well as an incredible array of instruments, from standard bass to 6-string to a banjo-bass to a trash can stand up! 

Everyone gets a couple of songs and does their best with the few minutes that they are allotted. Plenty of drunken and non-drunken sloppiness from pretty much everyone, but plenty of terrific playing, as well, and lots of fun, culminating in everyone blasting out a wacky version of Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom".

Unfortunately, I have not been out that late in years and got pretty exhausted by the end and while I tried, I did not get photos of everyone - it doesn't help that my phone's camera does not take very good pictures in low light. Sorry to those who I didn't capture. In any case, thanks again to Jesse for kicking off the holiday season in grand style and thanks to everyone who came out and supported and all those who played! And a big thanks to the great Double Down staff for hosting this and doing such a great job! Here's to many more years of the Double Down!