Black Keys & Divine Fits @ New Joint

The night before New Years.  Have to get out tonight so as to not put up with amateur night tomorrow.

Erik & I got to the Joint early to see the Divine Fits.  A Spoon / Red Kross / Jesus Lizard supergroup.  They had a real Nick Cave feel to them, sort of brooding rock.  I liked what I heard (ultimately a little more than hearing them later on their A Thing Called.. album).  They finished their set with a cover of, appropriately, The Birthday Party's Shivers - an old favorite of mine that I was stunned to recognize.

I had high expectations for The Black Keys.  The first of 2 nights, celebrating New Years Eve in Vegas.  Should be a big show, right?  Not really.  They just seemed to be going through their paces and barely played an hour and a half.  Having said that their were a few highlights.  Things started well with Howlin' For You.  The back to back Gold On The Ceiling and Thickfreakness energized me and the crowd, but generally the setlist relied heavily on Brothers and El Camino which, for me, is less rocking than say Thickfreakness & Rubber Factory.

This comes across as not a particularly good review, but I did enjoy myself and will more than likely try and see them again, but maybe not if New Years festivities are involved.

The Crap Facts:

This is my 348th concert.
This is my 15th concert at New Joint.
This is my 144th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 144th concert in Nevada.
This is my 156th concert in the USA.
Divine Fits are the 412th band I've seen.
This is my 3rd Black Keys concert.

Reverend Horton Heat @ Vinyl

I had to wait till the end of the year to see the show of the year.  What a great night this turned out to be.  I've seen the Reverend twice before, once in Charlotte and once doing a double shift after Motorhead cancelled a show at Vegas House Of Blues.  But tonight was something else.

Checking out a new venue - Vinyl @ The Hard Rock Hotel - a great intimate venue perfect for this show.  Looking forward to more shows here.

Reverend Horton Heat came out and explained the layout for the night.  They were gonna play a song from each of their 9 albums (in order), throw in a couple of covers and then have Jello Biafra come out and do some songs.  From the first chords of Psychobilly Freakout the band and crowd were in a frenzy.  I don't know many songs but each of the ones listed below was better than the last.  A holiday tune - Run, Run Rudolph - and the Stray Cat's Rock This Town saw the band make an introduction to their special guest for the evening.  I was somewhat relieved as I though Jello was opening the show and I'd gotten there too late and missed him.  But out came the punk legend to tear through a couple of Guantanamo School Of Medicine songs followed by an amazing version of House Of The Rising Sun.  Reverend Horton Heat then played 2 Dead Kennedys' songs which sent Jello into another atmosphere.  It was hair-standing-on-the-back-of-of-your-neck exciting.  Back to a few more from just Reverend Horton Heat to finish up the night.  But two more highlight in the encore.  An awesome cover of Folsom Prison Blues before Jello was back on stage for an appropriately wild Viva Las Vegas.

What a great show - and a great combo.  Hope something this great happens again soon

The Crap Facts:

This is my 347th concert.
This is my 1st concert at Vinyl.
Vinyl is the 92nd venue I've seen a concert.
This is my 143rd concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 143rd concert in Nevada.
This is my 155th concert in the USA.
This is my 3rd Reverend Horton Heat concert.

ZZ Top @ House of Blues

So, for the most part, since living in Vegas, I've enjoyed seeing some older performers that I normally wouldn't .  ZZ Top has been in Vegas a dozen times since I've lived here, but the opportunity to see them in a small venue like the House Of Blues was too good to pass up.

Good size crowd - none of which was really the Rodeo crowd, which I expected.  The room was still set up the way they do it for Santana, with tables everywhere, so again I got a great spot standing on the main floor.  I hardly knew any of the songs until Give Me All Your Lovin' half way through the set  but each song was better than the last.  Here is a band who have played together for over 35 years so they are tight, and while choreography was not their forte, every move was on beat and the crowd loved it.

For me it was the hits I knew that were the highlights including Sharp Dressed Man & Legs, but also glad I got to know I Gotsta Get Paid and Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers.

Overall a fun night of old-school blues-rock.  And while they weren't on any bucket list, I'm glad I got to see this legendary band.

The Crap Facts:

This is my 346th concert.
This is my 45th concert at House Of Blues.
This is my 142nd concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 142nd concert in Nevada.
This is my 154th concert in the USA.
ZZ Top are the 411th band I've seen.