The Renaissance Rock Orchestra played a exclusive showcase for some of their investors and management last Weds at Count’s Vamp’d and I had the honor of covering the show in photos.

The Renaissance Rock Orchestra is the worlds newest symphonic rock concert experience. This powerful “Rock meets Bach” rock show features performances by rockers from some of the biggest bands in rock history including Foreigner, Survivor, Ted Nugent, Whitesnake, RATT & Yngwie Malmsteen. The music combines elements of classic rock, progressive metal and symphonic influences into a highly energetic and beautiful blend of powerful, spellbinding rock majesty. Brain child of Gregg Fox and Mikey “Bones” Gerbino (RIP), this has been in the works for several years and is finally coming into fruition in 2019!!

They had some excellent players in the band on this night, and as time goes, there will be many other talented musicians added to this line up of what could well be called a “Super Group!”

RRO performances will be known for being highly energetic sonic and visual experiences with a live orchestra, state-of-the-art digital graphics and sound, and often include elaborate theatrical presentations with dancers and actors.

RRO’s album “In Times of Olde” has broken new ground in the world of progressive metal and symphonic rock. It is a definite “must-have” for anyone who is into powerful and epic melodic metal.

This show was with Robin Mc Auley and Mark Boals on vocals. Gregg Fox on keys, Brian Tichy on drums, Christian Brady and Toni Aleman on guitars, and Ralph Ciavolino on bass and an four piece string section consisted of (V1) Krista Solars / (V2) @Kat DeGarcia / (Viola ) Micaela Nielson / (Cello) @Rachael Brown.

This band is totally fantastic!!! Imagine the talents of the two incredible vocalists, Robin and Mark together along with the symphonic styling’s of keyboardist Gregg Fox. The heaviness of Tichy on drums is epic as well as these two amazing guitarists, Toni and Christian who are a perfect fit for this kind of neoclassical and symphonic melodic metal!! This music is right up my alley!!! When this band goes on tour, this will be a show to see, hear and feel!!! It is an amazing experience you guys will love!!!

By: John Gist

This past Thursday at Count’s Vamp’d was a spectacular night of excellent high level heavy rock.

The Watchers came down from The Bay Area just for the show and blew people off their chairs and closer to the front area. I have seen The Watchers twice before this including SXSW Ripple Fest and this was their best. Always delivering an excellent pro show with amazing songs that just naturally get you rocking as it has a fragrance of familiarity but you can’t quite pin them down. Anyways I am already in talks with them to come back to Sin City again. Importantly they rocked and were cool to work with along with of course being good people. Ripple Music was very smart grabbing these guys. Buy their music and support if you can! Their newest album, “Black Abyss” is truly amazing!

Local act, Honor Amongst Thieves slid into the middle spot and torched the place for 30 minutes of fury sure to leave a mark. The boys ignited fans and had the floor good and crowded. Some rumor this might be the last show of the year for them?

Kyng returned to the land of Milk and Honey… Oh those were the stripper’s names… I kid I kid… SiriusXM Octane stalwarts came in with full set of their killer songs from their three releases (Two of the releases charted) as well as a few tricks up their sleeves. Front-man Eddie Veliz whispered delicately (Kidding) in my ear that Christian Brady of HELLYEAH was coming up to join with the band to do “Hot for Teacher.”  Folks were so fired up to see Christian Brady one of our hometown heroes getting up there randomly and shifting Eddie to just sing the David Lee Roth part… This was a masterful set and the crowd was non-stop rocking all night long!

Excellent showcase of killer heavy rock from Vegas Rock Revolution brought to Count’s Vamp’d by John Gist.

By: Leah Burlington 

Guitar Center: Daisyland

We got up front and personal with The “Mighty” Dead Daisies at our Las Vegas Guitar Center at Town Square here in Vegas. The fans that showed up were treated to a short acoustic set (Four songs!) with the band and a short Q&A. After that we were escorted to the store where we were all given posters, stickers and photo ops with the entire band!! They signed anything we had and treated all of us fans like GOLD!! This is how done!!! That was a very special moment for all of us! Thank you to John Corabi, Doug Aldrich, Deen Castronovo, Marco Mendoza and to David Lowy! We appreciate all you guys did!! Thank you!! No one out there does what this band does. They do the acoustic sets before the show, (called Daisyland!) with a FREE meet and greet. They sign anything and everything! They pose for pics and smile and chat. They also put on a KILLER show and then after the show another quick meet and greet and more signed posters and guitar picks!! The guys are just so generous with their time for the Fans!! These guys are one of the most FAN friendly bands I have EVER seen!! Thank you The Dead Daisies for ALL you do for the Fans and all the great energy you give to us!!

A few hours after the acoustic set at Guitar Center we all headed downtown to see The Dead Daisies with Hookers & Blow at Fremont Country Club!! Was good to see so many friends come out for a kick ass rock show on a Weds night!! The show was off the hook!! Both bands brought the rock n roll spirit to the stage and blew everyone away! I had a blast shooting and rocking, like I always do!! Fan for LIFE!! Music like this and bands like this, makes life so worth living!! The Dead Daisies, we love you guys!! I had the best time on Weds night’s show at Fremont Country Club!! They Rocked!!!

John Gist review:

Yesterday was a really cool day. We went to Guitar Center and got to meet all the guys from The Dead Daisies John Corabi, Marco Mendoza , Deen Castrovono, Doug Aldrich and David Lowy. They played a few songs, answered some questions from the audience and told stories.

Then off to Fremont Country Club to catch the show The Dead Daisies with Dizzy Reed’s Hookers & Blow + one more, local boys Honor Amongst Thieves got an earlier start than many of us were expecting but for me the good news is they are playing the Kyng and The Watchers At Count’s Vamp’d next Thursday at my Vegas Rock Revolution Showcase. (More on that show in this issue!)

Dizzy Reed of Guns N’ Roses band Hookers and Blow guided us through various GNR songs to keep the energy pumping some as the crowd continued to fill up this large venue. The darn song “Pretty Tied Up” has been in my head all day now!

The Dead Daises took the stage and really showed what an amazing collection of musicians are part of this band. Highway Star got the crowd in a frenzy. The Dead Daisies put on a hell of an energetic show and brought the house down!

Dimmu Borgir at The Joint @HRH 8-19-18

Photo’s: Leah Burlington

The Sinister Minister review of Dimmu Borgir at Psychofest Las Vegas;

On Sunday, August 19th, Vegas felt the burn of Hell…. And not from the summer heat… We were treated to an amazing show from one of the leading Symphonic Black Metal bands on the planet… Dimmu Borgir! And this Minister was fortunate enough to get a killer last minute hookup from my good friend and Rock Photographer extraordinaire, Leah Burlington…

Just before the show I was able to join Leah in DB’s dressing quarters and got to meet (Guitarist) Silenoz! He was very cool and accommodating he was good enough to sit down and grant me a quick interview for The Black Mass on Loaded Radio! We had a beer during and chatted about the bands immediate plans…  Awesome stuff! Then we moved to a different room and shortly after, in walks (Singer) Shagrath… Nearly made up for the performance and I got to say a quick hello… It was really awesome to finally meet this band I have so admired since 1996! After the show, we got to hang at the center bar at the Hard Rock with Silenoz for pretty much the remainder of the evening…  And a great time we had! On to the performance…  Well, what can be said aside of, ‘you had to be there’, cuz you kinda did!  But if you weren’t, let’s just say you missed a show of absolute epic proportions! And this was technically a warm up show for Dimmu, they’re gearing up for their own world tour in support of the new album, ‘Eonian’ I can imagine how killer the entire production is gonna be! I’ve seen Dimmu in full force with the Symphony and it’s amazing what they can do in full effect… So, it kinda goes without saying that if you have the opportunity to witness this spectacular spectacle of Metal… By all means in Hell and on Earth, Don’t miss it!

Dimmu Website: Dimmu Borgir 

YouTube: Dimmu Borgir Videos

The Alice Cooper Pre-Party was a total blast!! Most of the Cooper band was there jamming with people from here and rocking Coop covers and many other covers! Jesse/Josiah Camp hosted the event!! Yes he is alive and well!! He was such a blast!! Everyone hung out and met with the Vamp’d crowd and we had SO much fun! This band truly rocks!!

Onstage: Calico Cooper, Ryan Roxie, Chuck Garric, Sheryl Cooper, Tommy Henriksen, Glen Sobel, Jesse Camp, Marque Martinez, Maryann Cotton, Eric Stacy, Mary Kryah

Dirty Pairadice Reunites onstage during Smashing Alice’s set @Vamp’d

Smashing Alice played Count’s Vamp’d for Dallas William’s Birthday Bash and for the first time in five years, Dirty Pairadice reunited together again onstage for a few songs! Dallas and Ruzz Roxx, who are in SA, exploded onstage with guitarist, Dylan Dice and drummer, Donald Decceco and played their original songs, “Nightlife”, “Dirty Pairadice”, “Can You Feel It?”, and ended with a bang with “Cowboys From Hell!!”I stood there, on the barricade, in tears when I saw them ripping up “Nightlife” again!! They were totally tight and full of new found energy!!! It was very emotional for me to see these guys rocking together again!! It brought back so many memories of hanging out and seeing these guys tearing shit up all over Vegas and especially at Vamp’d five years ago. I did my first band promo’s with these guys!! I have always believed in them 100%. Dylan and Dallas have that “Power Duo” chemistry, like Axl and Slash or Steven and Joe. I have always said that and to this day, I believe this band could make it big. Ruzz and Donnie balance them out with their boundless energy and heavy rhythm section! These four personalities are perfect for a kick ass rock band to conquer the world, not just in Vegas!! It is rumored that Dirty Pairadice is back together, writing songs and maybe even adding another guitarist, for that “Double Axe Attack!” Keep an eye out for more shows in the future!!