The Sextreme Fest was a most anticipated show for the start of the Beauty Bar fall season, and a bonus being opening night for the tour, with a SOLD OUT crowd and with good reason - it was the return of The LORDS of ACID with the mighty COMBICHRIST, along with Night Club and Skumlove for the Vegas date. Downtown Las Vegas was a zoo with the Life Is Beautiful festival taking over 18 city blocks and with road closures everywhere, making it quite the challenge to even find a place to park and make your way to The Beauty Bar, where the real zoo awaited inside...
Opening the show was the band Skumlove from Hollywood California, who describe themselves as a 'post punk industrial fused rock band, vowing to bring the debauchery and filth back to rock music", and that’s exactly what they did. Skumlove started out right in your face and never stoped, fronted by namesake Skum Love on vocals, Robyn Sin on guitars, DB on bass, Garrison on guitars and Rattan on drums - his band was absolutely great to see and I hope they come back to Vegas after this tour winds down.
Skumlove Photos : Harold Mountian / JustAFanPhotos
Next up was a duo called NIGHT CLUB, a darkwave-synthpop-electronic group comprised of Mark Brooks and Emily Kavanaugh out of Los Angeles California, and formed in 2011. Emily took the stage with blazing red hair lipstick to match, along with dark sunglasses, a short plaid skirt and leather jacket, while Mark handled the keys and synths. With infectious beats and Emily dancing and moving non-stop around the stage, this was a fun act to see.
Night Club Photos : Harold Mountian / JustAFanPhotos
When this next band was added to the show it solidified my choice of attending this event - COMBICHRIST is one of my favs, and on this night Combichrist came out to play... the set was filled with lots of old school Combichrist songs, some songs they said they had not played in years. Lead singer Andy LaPlegua was on fire, getting right in the crowds face in this small intimate outdoor setting, strutting and jumping back and forth on the small stage. In the back was one of the most entertaining drummers you will ever see wearing what might be his creepiest outfit ever - Joe Letz wore a striped dress complete with boobs, and a mask where his mouth was pried open, white contacts and a blonde haired wig that gave him the look of a deranged school girl. Joe was even more animated on this tour than when we have seen him in the past as he poured water all over his drums, tossed drumsticks high in the air and all over the stage, and was continuously throwing one of his drums off the drum riser and Andy had to leap over them to avoid getting knocked out. Near the end Joe grabbed one of his drums and went to the edge of the stage and had the audience hold it while he played, after which he thanked them by turning around and lifting his dress exposing his ass to the crowd. Fun stuff here! rounding out the band was a somewhat more demure Eric 13 on guitar and Brent Ashley on bass. This was by far the best show I have seen Combichrist perform here in Vegas, an amazing show and those around us talked about how the hell Lords of Acid was ever going to top their performance...
Combichrist Photos : Harold Mountian / JustAFanPhotos
It was time for Lords of Acid to show us what they got, and it has been a few years since they have toured and played Vegas. Lords of Acid is an industrial / electronic band founded by Praga Kahn back in 1988, and as stated on their facebook page LOA are "all about the pure pleasures of drugs, hedonism, and deviant sex", and that is exactly what the band sings about, and the fans go crazy over the way they flaunt that during their live performances. Handling vocals was Mea Fischer, who taunted and teased the audience with the bands' sexually explicit songs, stating that she left all her stage props - a big bag of strap ons and blow up dolls - in an Uber on the way to the show. Mea also stated that her backup singer never made it to the show, and near the end she pulled a fan from the side of the stage ( super Lords fan Super Pussy ) and had her sing the backup parts which she nailed. LOA played all their hits and then some, including “I Sit On Acid", "Let’s Get High", "Pussy", "Out Comes The Evil" and "Rough Sex”, and by the time the show came to an end which was at 2 am. Lords of Acid proved they had a show that could follow the mighty Combichrist and come out kicking.
This is an amazing tour and one you must see, with over 50 shows in a row with no days off. What will happen during the Sextreme Fest? Find out when they come to a city near you - the tour continues throughout October into November, and you can get tour dates and info HERE.
Lords of Acid Photos : Harold Mountian / JustAFanPhotos
