Pictured above: Chad Gray at Fremont Country Club/Backstage Bar & Billiards (Credit: Lina Lecaro)
Las Vegas has become a bonafide festival hub and Sick New World, which took over the city last weekend, brought the most ferocious crowds to the desert yet. At events like Punk Rock Bowling and When We Were Young —sadly, both canceled this year seemingly due to the U.S. wretched economy— the pre-party action always takes place at Backstage Bar & Billiards and its adjacent music space Fremont Country Club. Last week was no exception.
Chad Gray, known for his work in Mudvayne and Hellyeah (his band with departed Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul) returned to the stage after a notable break, celebrating “30 years of Madness” with both bands. Backing the singer —known for his wild makeup and manic metal performances– was Hellyeah guitarist Christian Brady and Mudvayne touring guitarist Marcus Raffety. Gray said he had just started rehearsing with some of the other musicians there, a couple of whom he’d only just met, but this wasn’t evident on stage.
The band was on fire, serving ear-bleeding riffs and Gray’s meld of shrieks and darkly melodic song stylings. The concert marked Gray’s first-ever “solo” performance of this material and as he said during the show, he does not view the set as one band or the other (though it did seem to lean heavy on HY, which he hasn’t played live since even before 2020; the band’s tour was canceled due to the pandemic). Gray did reunite after 12 years with Mudvayne, in 2021, but there are no plans for that band to tour anytime soon, likely due to guitarist Greg Tribbett losing his wife to cancer last year.
Even if you’re not a big metal fan, you’ll probably recall Mudvayne and their creepy videos. They broke in 1996 at the height of the nu-metal movement, and sold over six million records thanks to their intense and sonically diverse sounds, imposing face and body paint, and immersive live presentations, which, even after all these years, Gray clearly still loves to create. The man was in the crowd repeatedly throughout the Friday night show, which was moved from Backstage to Fremont after it sold out the smaller Downtown Vegas space in 20 minutes.
We also loved Gray’s opening act Kami Kehoe, a singer and drummer who manages to annihilate both on stage and on record. If there’s any proof that rock is still just as popular as pop, look no further than Kehoe’s 1 million+ followers on Instagram and TikTok.
After attending Sick New World in LV, we’re actually starting to think that Billy Corgan was right. There just may be a conspiracy of some sort that makes it appear that rock is not viable in terms of radio play and streaming… Either way, Kehoe, who is from L.A., delivered a dynamic, genre-blending set, highlighted by alternative-rock rhythms with shades of shoegaze, punk, sould and even a little hip-hop/rap metal energy.
We had a cool interview with the rising star for YouTube. Watch it now.
Look for many more musicians and performers to be featured soon, both in their dressing rooms and at home via Zoom. We’ll be sharing them first here for Music Connection and in this column, “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”
Keep BBB and its sister club Fremont on your radar whenever you’re in Sin City. Owners Big Daddy Carlos and Ava Berman, are legendary in the live music space having turned Cahuenga in Hollywood into a lively music-filled “corridor” with their now-closed hot spot Velvet Margarita. They did the same thing to Downtown Vegas, which some call “Old Vegas” but which actually feels very new and young with sexy club goers swarming the area every night (and we're not talking about the touristy covered “experience” part). Ever since the couple left LA and vowed to make Fremont the next big music scene, it's been a true alternative nightlife destination.
Known for other L.A. clubs including Grand Slam with Prince in Downtown LA and Sweet Daddy Browns in Hollywood, the couple are also working on a new streaming network, called NETWRK, scheduled to launch by the end of the year and a boutique hotel project (dubbed Hotel Indigo) which will stand on the property behind their clubs soon.
In the meantime, check out their stellar bookings and lineups, including Gilby Clarke this Wednesday (5/6), Bad Brains’ HR (5/21) and a full week of K-pop vibes at the BTS Rave (5/22- 5/27). More info HERE.
