Festival offers alternative to Life Is Beautiful

Sometimes there is beauty in rough edges, too.

For all its positivity, downtown's Life Is Beautiful fest puts a glass ceiling on how loud and obnoxious its programming can be. Yes, Carnage or Ghostface Killah still might annoy your parents, but they will be too busy watching Stevie Wonder and Snoop Dogg to care.

Hence, for the third year, there's the Life Is S--t festival. A dozen punk and alternative bands convene starting at 6 p.m. Friday at the Dive Bar, 4110 S. Maryland Pkwy. Admission is $5, which might cover a beer at the downtown gathering.

The first crap alternative also was motivated in protest of the Beautiful people throwing a festival for locals that didn't leave much room for local bands. But bridges have been built. The Las Vegas hardcore trio Illicitor will play LIB's Container Park stage at 6:20 Friday, then head to the Dive Bar to be one of the top-billed acts at who-knows-what hour.

The crap alternative also includes Boulder City punks Dangerboner, Phoenix's Shovel and California garage pop from the Wild Lungs, along with the Astaires, Swamp Pussy, Leather Lungs, Headwinds, Blood Dumpster, Toxic Dump, Darby O'Gill Trio and No Tides.

If you haven't figured out these folks have a sense of humor, part of the charity raffle proceeds go to Ndoto Afrika, a group devoted to providing toilets and improved sanitation for schools in Africa.

— Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.