TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT 3/24 and 3/25

... Five DIRTBAG Endorsed Artists will be rocking the bill at the APOCALYPSE IN THE DESERT Metal Fest in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hosted by our good friends at BACKSTAGE BAR AND BILLIARDS / FREMONT COUNTRY CLUB. These folks know how to put on a great event, and surely... rock n' roll will be had by all who attend!

HEMLOCK will headline the festival.

DIRTBAG ENDORSED ARTISTS who will be performing at the fest:

DYING OATH
EDGE OF INSANITY
DREAMS IN PERIL
WE RISE TO FALL
THE WATERFALL KING

TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT THIS LINK: 

We spent last week in good ol’ SIN CITY.. taking over the Fremont District, and celebrating the tenth anniversary of #HAPPENS Rock and Alternative Radio Convention, presented by MEDIABASE… where label and streaming executives, culture-tastemakers, radio stations, brands, and recording artists old and new come together to create the ultimate curated new music experience.. inspiring new ideas in the ever-evolving music community. We spent the week networking and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the biggest names in radio, label reps, promoters, rockstars, and a host of other DIRTBAGS. Rock n' roll was had by all.

Wednesday night brought us all together once again at Backstage Bar & Billiards for our welcome party, featuring musical performances by Skratch n Sniff DJ Mike Czech, Cairo Knife Fight, Little Image, and Des Rocs. We also had some celebrity cameos from Chris Daughtry, Tommy Vext, and Dana White— a known Des Rocs stan ;)… DIRTBAG furnished all of the greenrooms for the week with fresh snacks, drinks, and PBJs.. as well as stickers, buttons, lanyards, and some free SCORPION PERCUSSION sample pairs.
 

We reconvened early Thursday morning for some brunch n’ convention. We hung out with, and heard some awesome new tracks from Nita Strauss, Spinefarm Records, Culture Wars, Letdown., Chad Tepper, and Better Noise Music. Then, we watched the radio folks conduct a panel on the many ways stations are reaching audiences who aren’t listening to the radio. 

The Thursday night party took over Backstage Bar & Billiards with performances from Letdown., The Kaleidoscope Kid, Starcrawler, and Weathers… AND ALSO took over Fremont Country Club with performances from Black Heart Saints, Saliva, Pistols at Dawn, and DAUGHTRY. The folks at BBB and FCC know how to put on a great event. Venues far and wide could stand to learn a thing or two from them.

At the speed of snails, we rose once again Friday morning for one more brunch n’ convention. We had our socks rocked off bright and early with acoustic sets from CROBOT and Stone Horses.. then we kicked it with, and heard new music from GXTP (Guns and Toilet Paper), Revivalists, Weathers, Stone Horses, White Reaper, and Jason Hook (5 Finger Death Punch).

The last party of the week was once again at BBB, and featured Felly, The Moss, and our old friend, Jared James Nichols..

If you’re not familiar with Jared, look him up. These days, it is nearly impossible to find a well-known artist as humble, warm, and charismatic as Jared James Nichols. When I first entered the room during his soundcheck, he was knelt down at the front of the stage, talking and laughing with the five or so people watching him soundcheck. When I approached the stage, he looked me directly in the eye, and said, “Hey there! Welcome! My name is Jared, what’s yours? It’s great to meet you.” He then proceeded to do the easiest soundcheck I’ve ever witnessed. This guy plugs his guitar in, and is ready to play a show.. Bands everywhere need to see a video of JJN soundchecking and take notes.

After surviving the most gut-wrenching, terrifying airplane landing of my life, I arrived in Vegas last Saturday to 65MPH winds, and the news that the first day of the When We Were Young Festival had been cancelled (on account of those aforementioned winds).  For those unfamiliar, this festival was sold to be the ultimate revival of the legends of POP PUNK/EMO- that silly little genre we were always told was JUST A PHASE…

We arrived at the Stratosphere hotel (which we are now just calling "the STRAT") mid afternoon to a sea of tens of thousands of disappointed, misplaced elder emos with absolutely nowhere to go. Security was top-flight, and the biggest man I have ever seen was at the front door, only letting folks into the hotel if they were confirmed hotel guests. Getting past that guy made me feel like a true VIP.  The reason for the crowd was- the festival cancellation had resulted in some of the acts putting together secret last-minute consolation shows in intimate venues, and one was happening in the 200 cap sidebar on the STRAT casino floor. RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS, ARMOR FOR SLEEP, and HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS filled half of that casino, and rocked the tiniest little show in a space like I’d never seen. We caught wind of a subsequent SENSES FAIL, THURSDAY, and BAYSIDE popup show at a 350 cap venue on Fremont street. By the time we arrived by bus, there were already 1000 people in line, so we called it a loss, and went to gamble. Shout out to ZACH at the AZTEC dive casino across from the STRAT. My new favorite place in Vegas.

When we woke up Sunday, the wind was present, but the show was on… The festival entrance was only a few blocks from the STRAT, and we waited in a line of thousands of people to enter the main gate, only to find out that the line was not a requirement, and the gate was wide enough for everyone in line. We entered the festival to see another mile long line, this one full of people waiting to buy official festival merch. I figured, eh- I’ll hit that line later. After a good 4 hours of festival-ing, I was ready for a snack. The Las Vegas Festival Grounds was slowly filling up as the day went on, and I could see the lines for food and merch getting longer and longer, so I figured it was time to make a move. I found a LA-style hotdog line, and it appeared to have about 8 people waiting- far less than any other line in the venue. Not to mention, the grill smelled phenomenal. 45 minutes later, when I got toward the front of that 8-person line, I saw that the hotdog I was waiting for was going to cost me $16 (clever menu sign placement). It was too late; I was in too deep. Plus, I knew I wasn’t going to get a better deal anywhere else in there. I thought- well, at least this will be the best hotdog I’ve ever tasted…. it wasn’t.

Hunger suspended, I went on to watch some of my favorite bands play some awesome sets. There was never a minute of the day where NO band playing that I wanted to watch. The booking detail for this festival was incredible. I was truly impressed to see that some of these guys still have it after all these years. As much as I thought the lines and the crowds would die down eventually, they didn’t. They only got longer and stronger. When it was time for nature to call, I saw the third mile-long line of the day. THE FESTIVAL HAD ONLY TWO MEN'S BATHROOMS AND TWO WOMEN'S BATHROOMS, and THAT WAS IT. 60,000+  concert-goers/hard seltzer drinkers sharing a total of about 50 toilets. After 50 minutes of bathroom line, I noticed that there were more women in the men's bathroom than men… because of course, the line was shorter. I watched a man get his face bashed into a metal sink for trying to cut the line, and a woman break the fight up. This was enough to fuel my decision to stop ingesting liquids for the remainder of my time there. $15 PBR had its part in that decision as well.

By the time my bathroom adventure was complete, the sun had completely left us. The temperature dropped from a nice, comfortable 65 to a very cool sub-50, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I needed to get inside. I was trying to catch up with my friend, who graciously offered me the ticket to attend, but the festival grounds had ZERO cellular reception, and communication was impossible. Looking for faces in the crowd was also impossible- the entire venue was lit with blinding colored stage lights, pointed directly at the eyes.. It was like the Twilight Zone in there. In the worst case, if there had happened to be an emergency or tragedy, things would have been very iffy for everyone in attendance. I spoke with several folks who waited over two and a half hours for official concert merch, only to find out that they were sold out of many styles and sizes.. despite having missed an ENTIRE day of festival sales. (If any WWWY festival organizers read this… I know a pretty good merch guy who can get you what you need ;)) It seemed that the people who were willing to wait that long for merch were more interested in being able to say they were there, than actually being there.

In the end, I suppressed my bladder, and bared with my body temperature for as long as I could, and then it was time for me to leave. I caught a porta-potty on the way out, and that boy was SLOSHED (see picture below). I survived about 10 hours of a 12+ hour show, and I was pretty proud of my elder emo self for that.. I was in no shape to brave the crowd of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE fanatics..

...but that’s ok. I remember seeing them when we were ACTUALLY young… long before they were cool ;)

I can't even begin to guess what happened in this lavatory...

My ratings:

Band Lineup: 10/10 .. seeing that many classically awesome bands in one place is unheard of. The first of its kind.

Festival Logistics: 4/10 - allowing re-entry was a good move.

Festival Food: 4/10 - the hour wait for a $16 hot dog was a massive disappointment.

Festival Security: N/A .. after entering the fest, I saw 1 security guard all day- helping a puker.

Festival Audio: 2/10 .. the sound was absolute dogshit, but if you knew the songs, you could still have fun.

Festival Amenities: 2/10 .. can an elder emo get a chair? Just one chair. The closest thing to a chair in that venue was a piss covered toilet, and you’d better be willing to wait for it (or get your head bashed into a sink).

Will I go again next year?

…if it’s free again, maybe.

Last week, we had the honor and pleasure of attending the 2022 MEDIABASE #HAPPENS Radio Convention in Las Vegas, NV.

#HAPPENS is a rock and alternative curated new music experience. The event once again will bring together the best radio programmers, label and streaming executives, culture-tastemakers, artists and brands, inspiring new ideas in the ever-evolving music community. 

This was our eighth year in attendance, and one of their best events yet.. We spent the week networking and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the biggest names in radio, label reps, promoters, rockstars, master distillers, and several other DIRTBAGS. Rock n' roll was had by all.

Opening night brought us all together again for a welcome party at the Backstage Bar & Billiards / Fremont Country Club. It was so good to see all of those familiar faces in the same room again, after 2 years of no rock n' roll. We picked up right where we left off in #HAPPENS 2020.. our last hoorah before COVID, and our first hoorah after it. The showcase was opened by Giovannie & the Hired Guns, and went on to feature Spirit of the Bear, Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle), and Our Lady Peace. Then some folks went straight to bed, and others overdid it on the first night like we always do :)... 

Breakfast was served at 10AM sharp, and the crowd sluggishly filled the seats of the convention hall. We got a sneak peak at new music videos from MESSER and Capital Theatre, and then listened to an engaging panel from Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) and Elliott Wood (94.5 The Buzz) about NFTs and their emergence in the music industry. The next panel, headed by Alissa Pollack (iHeartMedia) discussed DATA, and the ever-changing, ever-confusing metrics that go along with radio and streaming. We then boarded the tour bus and rolled over to Rockstar Bar for a Metallica whiskey tasting party. The band couldn't make it, but we got to meet and chat with master distiller, Rob Dietrich, while drinking unlimited amounts of his delicious whiskey. We were then blessed in our earholes with live showcase performances by Kaleidoscope Kid, Almost Monday, Whole Damn Mess, and Dorothy. We boarded up the tour bus again and headed over to House of Blues at Mandalay Bay for a VIP lounge party, with performances by The Warning, Mammoth (Wolfgang Van Halen), and Dirty Honey. Again-- bed for some, and bad decisions for others.

The next day, 10AM came way too quickly for most. Breakfast saved our lives again, while we enjoyed video previews and premieres from Deepfall, The Black Moods, Concord Music Group (Korn, Ghost, The Offspring, The Pretty Reckless), Fame on Fire, Epitaph Records (Falling in Reverse, Parkway Drive, The Interrupters), Yelawolf, Sumerian Records (Black Veil Brides, Nita Strauss), and Shinedown. Then The Black Moods played us a few acoustic jams while we all woke/sobered up. Jason Flom (Wrongful Conviction Podcast) led a panel on justice for wrongfully convicted people, and Danny Wimmer (Danny Wimmer Presents) led a panel on live performances, radio and revenue, and getting back face-to-face again for concerts and festivals. To close out the week, the tour bus brought us over to The Barbershop Cocktails and Cuts for a special event sponsored by Edgeout Records with performances by ASHBA, Bluphoria, and STRATEJACKET.

As usual, it was a hell of a week in Las Vegas, and we can't wait to go back. The best parts about this #HAPPENS event are seeing new bands break, chatting with all of the faces, and seeing the intersection of art and business clash in the most beautiful of ways. Vegas, we love you.

New Rock Single "The One" Released Friday, 3/13/2020:

BRAVO DELTA's brand new single "The One" was released Friday on all streaming services and retailers. The song is available for immediate playlist adds and news articles. It is the latest release for the Las Vegas-based rock band since their full-length album "Unbreakable" in February 2019. The song showcases a heavier and slightly more produced sound than previous material, but has all the makings of a rock radio hit.

Find the song via your preferred streaming service HERE

The Band:

BRAVO DELTA has been seen on tour with bands like Nothing More and Hinder, as well as at major rock festivals like Las Rageous and Blue Ridge Rock Festival. Eddie Trunk described their music as “a modern edge…right in the wheelhouse of what is happening now”. In 2019 their single "Unbreakable" entered Active Rock radio charts, getting spins on terrestrial radio stations across the US. For interviews, songs placements, articles, or anything else email contact@bravodeltamusic.com

you can also hear BRAVO DELTA along with many other DIRTBAG Endorsed Artists on the DIRTBAG UNDERGROUND PLAYLIST