This was a night of great expectations! We received a message of a special guest would make an appearance at this EYEHATEGOD show... well that special guest turned out to be Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, who was performing at the Joint at the Hard Rock Casino earlier in the evening at a sold out show with Slayer. Randy is good friends with the guys in EYEHATEGOD, and during his performance at the Joint mentioned EYEHATEGOD and the DIvebar show later that night!
But first, we had two opening bands at DIvebar for the night, and first was punk / grindcore band PHOBIA based in SoCal. This is a raw, gritty band with a powerhouse guitarist Cece who rocked the stage, and the band fit perfect in the DiveBar's down and dirty environment.
Phobia photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
A second hardcore punk / grindcore band from Santa Rosa, California CAPITALIST CASUALTIES's songs were at times very short and very loud, and this band really got the crowd going as a pretty violent mosh pit opened up and the band encouraged everyone to get up close to the stage.
Capitalist Casualties photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
EYEHATEGODRandy BlytheNew Orleans' . The promoter called out to him " Hey didn't you just do that a few hours ago?" Blythe smiled and joked "Hell, I don't even help my own band load in their gear, I only do this for friends bands!". sound is a very sludge, doom and gloom sound that is a complete opposite of the two bands who opened the show. As we were waiting for the EHG to finish loading in, we noticed a guy bringing in gear for the band wearing glasses and a hat. This guy turned out to be
EYEHATEGODWhile EHG piled hard into their set Blythe was in the crowd with his Leica camera, taking photos and watching with the fans. took the stage and had the crowd mashing and swinging from the getgo, with songs about drug use and the dirty, vile side of life. On guitar was founding member Jimmy Bower, on bass Gary Mader, on drums Aaron Hill, on guitar Brian Patton and on vocals Mike Williams, who has a heck of a story behind him on his recent past and is really lucky to be alive. Williams had liver transplant surgery just 9 months ago, and while he was undergoing the operation and recovery Randy Blythe took over vocals for EHG as the band finished up the remaining month of their tour. Not quite a full 'six degrees' for this story..
After a driving set of EHG, Blythe took the stage with his former bandmates and the place went crazy, with EHG playing, Blythe's dreads flailing about, and people started seriously crowd surfing and moshing in the tiny Dive Bar. Beers cans were being thrown about, alcohol was being sprayed all over and bodies were getting bloodied and hitting the floor from the primal pit that opened up in the small room. But what did you expect? This was an EYEHATEGOD show. With extras. When it was all over, fans sweaty and drained filed out into the humid night and once again. The DiveBar lived to bring more amazing rock shows to Vegas like only they can. Check out SMM Calendar for more upcoming shows!!
EYEHATEGOD photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos
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