CWMAs Saturday 2.7: Club Vegas

Final night of the showcases, and while most people made their way up to Park City, I took a detour down the street and headed over to Club Vegas for the hard rock closer.

So the minute I got there I heard a bunch of screaming, from the back it looked like some karaoke band showed up with toy instruments. Thought maybe I walked in on a Black Flag tribute band that didn’t know all the lyrics. But then I got closer and look at that, it was God’s Revolver downing shots and not really caring what anyone thought of their show. Kicking and screaming their way through most of Little Black Horse…, they kept reminding the crowd that they’d been thrown out of here once before, and that you should vote for Blackhole instead. The big highlight near end was getting the crowd singing along to “Drown Your Fucking Sorrows.” As always a great set on their part, but they don’t give a damn what I think… so fuck em’. Vote for Blackhole.

Speaking of which, the band immediately made their presence known kicking the crowd with the double bass and commanding vocals that could only come from Chopper. Wasting little time on small talk the group pounded their way through the set as if they were on a mission to enlighten and deafen you at the same time. Commanding the stage in only a way that would make Iggy Pop applaud, they cranked out songs off their first album, giving a performance that demanded your attention from start to finish. This was another band in all these shows that I hadn’t seen perform live before, and nothing else I can type up here could equal the awesome set I saw. Blackhole isn’t a group, it’s a goddamn experience. Go watch them at Burt’s this week and see what I mean.

Closing up shop was the ever high pitched thrash that is Cave Of Roses. Putting on a show that you could only get if you went across the pond to Ruisrock, this metal group cleaned house with a musical barrage of both complex and old-school death metal. Songs like “Scent of Flesh” and “Creature” blasted through the sound system, as Rhett’s vocals poured through the sea of loyal fans who stayed all the way to the end just to see them. Finishing off with a good eight minute number that left the audience roaring, the seven year veterans showed they could hold their own on any billing. With such a long standing and a loyal following, it’s strange that the band only has a couple of demos floating around. It would be nice to see what their vision of a full-length would be.

Fitting ending to the CWMAs for me. Get your final votes in before they shut down. Even if you didn’t vote, please tell me you got out and saw at least one show. Just one? And to pimp my own stuff out for a moment, check out interviews with both Blackhole and Cave Of Roses this Tuesday on my blog, along with pictures from this show. Many thanks to the CW staff who put up with me, my jokes, and took many a photo with me for no reason. (Gavin Sheehan)