It was a night of Ska meets rockabilly, as Backstage Bar & Billiards in downtown Las Vegas celebrated their 5 year anniversary! REVEREND HORTON HEAT made his return Vegas February 1st with opening acts VOODOO GLOW SKULLS and RED ELVISES. If you like your rock and roll mixed with a simple good dose of fun, the Backstage Bar & Billiards was the place to be on this evening!
The RED ELVISES may be the answer to a really good trivia question. The just may be the only band out there formed back in 1995 by two Russian political refugees, Igor Yuzov and Oleg Bernov. The third member, Zhenya Rock, also emigrated to America, and the three of them were joined by drummer Avi Sills from Texas. As mentioned before, how could you not have fun when an opener like RED ELVISES came out dressed in pajamas and played songs like “I Want to See You Belly Dance” and "79 Honda". Igor explained “everyone had a favorite car, mine just happened to be a 79 Honda.”
Ska and punk legends from Riverside, CA, VOODOO GLOW SKULLS was next. The band was formed by the Casillas brothers Eddie, Jorge and lead singer Frank. It was not well publicized that Frank retired in June of 2017 and was replaced by Efram Schulz of DEATH BY STEREO. I suspect this made have been the reason that the lead singer hit the stage complete with a luchador style wrestling mask on! The fun theme continued when he jumped in the crowd to dance as the band hit the first few notes of “Crazy Train.”
As the Ska theme ended, the one the crowd was waiting for was the godfather of rockabilly, REVEREND HORTON HEAT or Jim Heath as he is known to his friends. The band brings that one of a kind mix of country, punk, big band, swing and rockabilly with sometimes humorous lyrics like only the Reverend can. The band owes much of its commercial success to songs that hit the TV and video game circuit, and we got to experience those songs live tonight. “Psychobilly Freakout” and “Wiggle Stick” will long be remembered for the exposure they gained on Beavis and Butthead and “Big Red Rocket of Love” for the exposure it gained in the Mazda Miata commercials. You can pretty much tell when you are in for a good rockabilly show when the band breaks out the stand-up bass and a signature Gretsch guitar, and REVEREND HORATON HEAT had that and much more!
Keep up with the calendar of music coming to Backstage Bar & Billiards on our events page or you can find our more HERE.
Red Elvises Photos: Paul Rock Santos / PRSRoctography
Voodoo Glow SKullst Photos: Paul Rock Santos / PRSRoctography
Reverend Horton Heat Photos: Paul Rock Santos / PRSRoctography
