Thursday, August 14, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Music: One crazy summer

Drama dominates the local music scene

By Newt Briggs

Come on, people: Summer's supposed to be a time for laziness and lethargy, a time when we quit our jobs and brave the light only to attend the pool, the bar or the movie theater. For some reason, though, this summer is proving disturbingly hectic--especially for those involved in the local music scene. With all the drama of a John Cusack coming-of-age film, new venues are getting shut down by the cops, bands are getting robbed of their equipment and musicians are dying in illegal street-racing accidents. This really is shaping up to be one crazy summer for local music.

Freaky Friday

After failing a plumbing inspection and rescheduling its grand opening for Fri., Aug. 8, newly revamped music club Live! fell short on its final bar inspection and appeared destined to postpone again. Rather than cancel, though, management opted to open the club without a bar license--a dubious decision made worse when more than a dozen cop cars squealed in to shut the opening festivities down.

"We were under the impression that we could open with alcohol as long as we had our banquet and catering license and gave away the booze," says Live! manager Dave Oshann, who estimates that as many as 500 local lushes showed up for the free suds. "But the business license people came in and said we needed a special permit to host more than 250 people."

In the wake of such a fiasco, conspiracy theories spread like wildfire. "I'm pretty sure this was a setup by one of the local bars," Oshann says. He theorizes that a major local bar chain conspired with a liquor distributor to shut them out. Whatever the case, Live! is currently working to get its plumbing and permit problems squared away, and Oshann expects the club will reopen by Thurs., Aug. 14 (at the latest). Hopefully, the third time will be a charm.

Dude, where's my car?

According to band manager Steve Wolf, last Saturday's House of Blues benefit for local pop-punkers The Ill Figures netted the beleaguered band almost $2,000 to help replace equipment that was stolen when their travel trailer--with as much as $30,000 worth of equipment inside--got jacked from the area around Jones Boulevard and Rancho Drive on July 25. Wolf also reports that, since then, the police have helped them recover "about an eighth of the missing gear," including a guitar, some speaker cabinets and a stripped-down drum kit. Still, the band's got a long way to go before they can get back on the road.

"We still don't have a bass or a lead guitar or any of our extra percussion equipment," Wolf says. "The guys in the band had to scrimp and save for years to get all of their gear, and now they've got to start over--not with the top-notch equipment they had but with stuff that's two or three grades below."

Donations can be made to the Ill Figures at www.lvlocalmusicscene.com or via snail-mail at P.O. Box 12392, Las Vegas, NV, 89112 (make checks payable to "Kane Recordz"). The Boston will also be forking over 100 percent of the door charge from this Saturday's Ill Figures/Cornerstone/Life Hates Me show to the band.

Pay it forward

Local musician Rob Ruckus is putting on a benefit for the family of Justin Lindsay, who died Aug. 4 after he crashed his car during a street race. The musician and film producer was fondly known by local musicians as the man to talk to about scoring work as extras in films. According to Ruckus, Lindsay got local bands The Nines in a Flamingo Hilton commercial, and also got Ruckus and Dirk Vermin spots as extras in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Friday's show at the Boston includes 5150, The Vermin, FFI and The Dirty Babies and kicks off at 10 p.m. The cover is $7; donations are encouraged.

Reqquiem for a dream

And finally, some good news: After surviving the first round of the Hard Rock Café Cabo Wabo Battle of the Bands in May, radio-friendly rockers Reqquiem have organized an all-out agave-infused bash for Aug. 22 at Club Tequila inside the Fiesta Hotel-Casino. Ideally, the event will not only get fans good and soused, it will win the band a chance to fly down to Mexico and play in Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Meltdown in October. According to Reqquiem drummer Bryan Ward, "It would be a dream come true."