Rumble music party debuting in Vegas

He says he wants to bring the magic back, but where did it go?

To hear Larry Little tell it, it has been blasted into the ether through the cross hairs of technology.

"With everyone Twittering and on YouTube, you see everything about everything," says Little, founder of multifaceted Los Angeles-based entertainment company Future Sounds. "It feels like a lot of the magic is gone, but we want to create something special again."

To this end, two years ago, Little started The Rumble, a monthly, multicity music party that's expanding to some 12 different markets, from Seattle to Boston. It's a free show with the emphasis on networking and helping build a better local scene from the ground up. The parties are staggered from city to city, so that a band can play a show in one town one night and then hit another gig the next day.

On Sunday, The Rumble debuts in Vegas at the Aruba, with L.A.'s combustible soul throwbacks Fitz & the Tantrums along with Vegas' A Crowd Of Small Adventures and The Mad Caps. The event will return on the Sunday after the first Monday of every month.

"Our whole thing is buzz bands, up-and-coming bands," Little says. "The end goal is that you almost get to where you just trust the source, where you know that if you go to that party, it's going to be free, you're going to get free stuff, all your friends are going to be there and every month you're going to be turned on to at least two or three artists that are going to be your new favorites."

The Rumble is coming to Vegas in large part thanks to the dudes behind the Neon Reverb music fest, whose grass-roots, DIY efforts caught the eye of Little.

"We're really excited that they're involved," Little says. "We can already feel it. Their energy has made us excited about Las Vegas."

Still, Little knows that it will be a challenge to get an event like this off the ground here, but if successful, something like this could really help bolster the infrastructure of the Vegas indie music community.

"We realize that each one of these is like having a child, there's 24-hour care, there's a lot of fostering, you've got to be there and you've got to listen to what people are saying," Little says. "We're not just assuming that because this works in L.A. or Portland that it's going to work in Vegas. It's paying attention and listening to your partners, listening to people, and giving the people what they want."

Little isn't shy about his aspirations, and maybe that's what makes this whole thing seem like a promising fit for Vegas. This is a city built on big dreams, and Little certainly has no shortage of them.

"Eventually, we want every single (Rumble) to be free, every one of them to have drink specials and things that we give out," he says. "To the fans, to the band, it's like, 'What's the catch?' And the answer to everything is that there is none. There can be magic."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.