April 17, Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas Weekly Magazine

1. The stage is a fluid concept to opener Waka Flocka Flame, who spent the majority of his performance moving throughout the crowd and inviting fans up front to join him. Wherever he was, he brought a floor-shaking dance party with him.

2. Waka and Chance the Rapper’s styles could not be more different. Chance performs an R&B-based, almost smooth jazz-backed rap versus Waka’s DJ with gunshot effects and crazy spontaneity.

3. Chance was celebrating his 21st birthday with his Vegas performance between Coachella weekends, still making him older than most of his crowd. Shorter beer lines just don’t make up for how old you feel after multiple visits to UrbanDictionary.com.

4. Live, Chance’s voice is much stronger than on his 10 Day and Acid Rap mixtapes, where he can sound overly nasal. He also performs with a live band, which is always my preference. One surprise for me: how positive of a tone his performance created. He was less about the party and more about gratitude and appreciation for his rising star status … and the party.

5. Chance and Waka performed to one of the best Vegas crowds I’ve seen. There was rarely a moment without movement, and the genuine excitement within the room made it a fun experience. Here’s hoping they both come back soon.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2014/apr/21/five-thoughts-chance-rapper-april-17-brooklyn-bowl/

April 12, Beauty Bar

1. Recorded music has never been able to do The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion justice in capturing the raw power and pure rock ’n’ roll they exude on stage. They’re still best enjoyed live and an opportunity that should never be missed.

2. “We’re here for one reason tonight, to get down,” Spencer preaches to his audience of disciples before erupting into another jam. Believe me, it’s impossible not to when the band is continuously serving up high-speed vintage blues-riffs that command you to move your feet.

3. Though the trio does not perform with a bassist, using instead two low-tuned and heavily-fuzz-distorted guitars, Spencer adds sonic layers by rocking a double theremin.

4. JSBX is not the kind of blues you nurse a drink to or use to repair a broken heart. No, it’s more like a soundtrack for smashing windows and robbing liquor stores. The group even goes so far as to request similar actions of their audience on fan favorite “F*ck Sh*t Up”.

5. The New York City-based band does not have a vast musical range onstage and critics could easily consider them a one-trick pony, but when you’re better than almost anyone at that one trick, do you really need another?

APRIL 11, AT HARD ROCK LIVE

In what has become an annual tradition, those of us unable to make it to Coachella eagerly await announcements from Vegas venues as to which of the giant music festival’s scraps they’ll throw at us like dogs in a medieval dining hall. One of this year’s sweetest spillovers has to be Scottish post-rock outfit Mogwai.

The veteran quintet kicked off their North American tour in Las Vegas Friday night to a spirited Hard Rock Live audience. The mostly instrumental band has always succeeded at spanning genres, from progressive to electronic to jam and straight-forward rock, and once onstage, Mogwai’s performance had a weighted feeling of significance that bordered on theatrical. No detail was too small to affect the overall experience. In fact, the musicians interacted with their tech so frequently, he might as well have been the band’s sixth member. The sound was crisp and clear, at times both noisy and pure.

Mogwai rarely deploys sudden sonic shifts, instead escalating songs to a gradual climax. Their music poured off the stage so fluidly, some swayed, some banged their head, others danced along. I closed my eyes and let their music wash over me, allowing it to take a lot of the sting out of missing the Coachella festivities.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/ae/music/2014/apr/14/mogwai-hard-rock-live-takes-some-sting-out-missing/