Author: Anahid Yahjian and Amy Withey
The Sam Boyd stadium and Star Nursery field transformed from hollow structures on the outskirts of Las Vegas to a temporary mecca for the freaks, geeks and crazies of the music world from October 25-28. Vegoose, a Halloween concert in its third year, has established itself as a festival of extraordinary traditions. In addition to two days of jam-packed quality musicianship, night shows throughout Vegas and after parties, the event boasts the Great Evil Pumpkin (a giant pumpkin head that spins endlessly as it watches over everyone), the House of Axe (a haunted house/strip club), a fake Wedding Chapel, the Impersonators’ café, listening and sports lounges and some of the greatest costumes one will ever see. From Tom Cruise in Risky Business to a shower curtain to Team Zissou from The Life Aquatic, there were no dull moments. Spread out across three stages, the performers presented an eclectic mix of styles, origins and ages; from Blonde Redhead to Atmosphere to Infected Mushroom, there were musical treats to satisfy any trickster.
Day 1 By Anahid Yahjian
First to blow fans out of the water was Gogol Bordello. The Eastern European crew—notorious for their bucket-banging, language-switching, accordion-ridden antics—played a ferocious 90-minute set. Frontman Eugene Hutz pranced around the stage screaming obscenities and sending his love to the crowd with his middle finger as backing vocalists Pamela Racine and Elizabeth Sun riled the crowd with their cymbals and tribal drums. The crowd was as diverse as the band, with children and even elderly women dancing to the coupling of Hutz’s trademark Slavic accent and Sergey Ryabtsev’s violin. After their encore, MC Pedro Erazo launched his sweaty self into the crowd and surfed his way to a standing ovation.
Lead guitarist/singer Brent Hinds of Mastodon led a heavy, guitar-driven set, prompting their overly intoxicated fans to mosh violently enough to tear out a girl’s nose piercing. Hinds introduced the last song with “Vegas sucks! That’s all I have to say,” but was met with audience cheers anyway.
A massive crowd gathered to hear the iconic Cypress Hill tracks “Insane in the Brain” and “How I Could Just Kill a Man” as lead rapper B Real lit up a joint and encouraged his fans to follow suit. The band’s well-known stage prop—a blow-up skeleton king with a marijuana leaf beard and massive joint in its right hand—presided over the performance. Audience members danced to DJ Muggs’ beats, throwing their fists into the air and screaming the lyrics as a giant cloud of smoke rose into the desert sky.
As night fell, Sri-Lankan born British artist M.I.A. took the stage and gyrated to her own beats. Colored lights and videos projected onto a screen made her performance seem like an intense pop painting—not to mention her silver stockings and sequined jacket. M.I.A. played her popular track “Galang Galang,” but used the opportunity to tell the crowd “Let’s talk about Africa” as she started off the politically charged “Sunshowers.” Like her colleague Peaches (of “F*** the Pain Away” fame), M.I.A. had her fans bouncing along to every beat.
Large crowds gathered to hear Queens of the Stone Age, Iggy and the Stooges and—at last—the headlining Daft Punk. QOTSA’s Josh Homme led an excellent set with perfect sound and relaxed visuals, including classic tracks such as “Go with the Flow” and “In the Fade,” as well as ones from their latest album Era Vulgaris.
Iggy Pop destroyed any possible notions that his 60-year-old body didn’t have the energy to perform Stooges tracks. He pin-balled all over the stage, straddling amplifiers, flipping mic stands and inviting fans to “Come on up, now, come on up” and dance with him. He introduced “I Wanna be Your Dog” in classic Stooges fashion, concluding it with his infamous ramblings of “I’m thirsty. I wanna die!”
The night was truly alive—no pun intended—when Daft Punk came on for the last performance of their Alive tour. It took a while to set up their famous LCD-screen pyramid, but the crowd held no grudges as the first sounds of “Robot Rock” blasted through the speakers. Dressed in their signature robot garb, Daft Punk mixed “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” “Digital Love,” “Around the World,” “One More Time” and countless others on the spot, with a light show to mesmerize anyone, sober or intoxicated. Images of faces and shapes flickered constantly on the pyramid while a huge digital screen and triangular electronic nets synched with the songs’ beats. There wasn’t a moment went the crowd wasn’t jumping, dancing or cheering; their excitement reached deafening decibels at the conclusion of the night as Daft Punk’s suits turned orange and they turned their backs on the audience, their name scribbled in neon on their backs.
Day 2 By Amy Withey
I trekked up to that familiar gate with a sense of deja-vu. My mind was still blown by Day 1, but I had come all the way to Las Vegas for two more reasons: Muse and Rage Against the Machine. The stench of rotting hippies overcame me as I passed back into the world of Vegoose. The ground was already terribly littered and Day 2 seemed to indicate that the crazy dream I had the night before was in fact real.
I went straight to the main stage, where Muse would play. I was determined to get a good spot and excitedly sprinted to the barricade. Then I waited. I conversed with other hardcore Muse fans that shared the same obsession as me. They were my people, waiting anxiously and fervent with excitement.
The lights were killed and then Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard took the stage. Howard, the drummer, was dressed in a tight Spiderman costume while Bellamy wore his usual red blazer. Wolstenholme was dressed sharp as usual in his black polo and pants. They opened with “Knights of Cydonia” and then launched into “Hysteria,” an accurate word to describe the crowd. I was among the thousands shouting and jumping along with the epic music. During “Starlight,” Matt reflected light off his guitar and shined it onto a plane that was flying overhead (yeah, they are that epic).
Muse played a varied set list that ended with “Stockholm Syndrome” and the politically charged “Take a Bow.” Much to the despair of the screaming fans, they did not play an encore, but they did play for the entire hour and a half allotted to them. The set included all their hits as well as other favorites such as “Plug In Baby” and “Feelin’ Good.”
As soon as Muse ended, I knew I had to get out of the front. Rage was coming, and Rage fans are notoriously violent. I weaved my way out of the madness and into the more spacious, relaxed environment of the back and spent the next hour people-watching and observing costumes such as Towlie from South Park, Waldo (yes, he is no longer lost), and Raoul Duke (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). At 9 p.m., everyone slowly convened, waiting for Rage to take the stage.
The massive red star backdrop shined majestically as Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello and the other members of Rage took the stage. Rocha shouted to the crowd, “Is Vegas ready to rage against the machine?!” Everyone went wild. After coming out, the band tore into its set, quickly pummeling through “Testify,” “Bulls on Parade” and “People of the Sun.” They played an impassioned 80 minutes that surprisingly did not include any political tirades by Rocha. The music sounded better than ever, providing the perfect ending to the weekend.
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