All in all, as much as I love my Vegas friends (one of whose couches I slept on while I was there) this was probably the worst vacation I have ever had. Bad timing coupled with stress, anxiety and lack of funds (which was plaguing ALL of us) forced me to gamble with strangers all day (who then became friends) and even though I managed to keep my blackjack money alive for hours and hours of play, I ended up losing it all… my budget, not my shirt. (I’m a responsible gambler…whatever that means.)

I did, however, drink for free for 3 days which can’t be beat… and I attended the Down show at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay on the last day of my vacation.

Down is out with the Melvins and Weedeater. Weedeater was UNBELIEVABLE. I adored every single song (“God luck and good speed”) the energy, the synergy – all fantastic. I will most certainly catch them on their next tour, regardless of which bands they may be out with on the road. I had never seen the Melvins before either, and they were rocking their two-drummer ensemble (which apparently means they’re not exACTly the Melvins that way) and I wanted to get up on stage and take over for one of them. (I played drums for 9 years and quit when I was living in dorms in college – no room for a set there.) But quite seriously, I may look into getting back into drumming soon…

One thing I’ve neglected to mention thus far is that even though I had four tickets to the show, none of my compatriots had shown up yet (due to all the reasons listed above…and some extra time at work for another one.) So, standing alone at the House of Blues, I was noticed for doing so and one kindly gentleman from the Air Force (Nellis is a rather large air force base near Las Vegas) invited me to come hang out with him and his friends so that I was no longer alone…which at first I thought was sweet. But then I realized how drunk this dude, Josh, was and I had to rename him Rapist Air Force Douchebag. I had to spend the entire set of Weedeater avoiding his hands and finally got away from him on the floor of the venue halfway into the Melvins set when one of my friends finally arrived… phew. Finally I settled in to watch the show.

Down started their set with “Ghosts Along The Mississippi” and within 2 minutes, R.A.F.D. was apprehended by two security guards for slamming into the people in the front row (moshing by himself.) But the two guards couldn’t get him under control, and he ended up being thrown out with force by five security guards. Scary.

I managed to secure a spot in the front row on stage left, literally five feet away from Kurt and often Phil (which if you know me = heaven.) Phil is back to rocking the Cowbows From Hell hair again (yes, I’m a girl, and yes I was drooling. I’ll stop that now.) So even though Down’s set seemed short because we have been spoiled with tours like an “Evening with Down” or whatever the fuck it was when they played for over two hours and included “Jail” in their setlist… the whole show was great. Phil did a lot of interacting with the audience, Pepper’s playing was right on point and you know Jimmy Bower always brings it… I’m not sure where Rex was, they had a bassist from Canada who filled in quite nicely… It’s funny that I fly all the way across the U.S. to see a show that I could see within an hour’s drive from my house… but I didn’t want to wait until September 8th to see them.  And now, I don’t think I will even be making it to the Baltimore show due to complications back in NoVa – however I think YOU should go. You should ALL go. And don’t miss Weedeater.

Tue 09/01/09 Atlanta, GA Center Stage

Wed 09/02/09 Lake Buena Vista, FL House Of Blues

Fri 09/04/09 North Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues

Sat 09/05/09 Charlotte, NC Fillmore Charlotte

Sun 09/06/09 Knoxville, TN The Valarium

Tue 09/08/09 Baltimore, MD Sonar

Wed 09/09/09 Clifton Park, NY Northern Lights

Fri 09/11/09 New York, NY Nokia Theatre Times Square

Sun 09/13/09 Boston, MA House Of Blues

Tue 09/15/09 Hartford, CT Webster Theater

Wed 09/16/09 Rochester, NY Main Street Armory

Thu 09/17/09 Buffalo, NY The Town Ballroom

Fri 09/18/09 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre

Sat 09/19/09 Mount Clemens, MI Emerald Theatre

Mon 09/21/09 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue

Tue 09/22/09 Cleveland, OH House Of Blues

Thu 09/24/09 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium / Underground

Fri 09/25/09 Sauget, IL Pop’s

Sat 09/26/09 Mokena, IL Pearl Room

Mon 09/28/09 Louisville, KY Expo Five