10 under-the-radar concerts not to miss this month in Las Vegas
Vegas Amplified is a monthly feature highlighting must-see concerts in smaller local venues.
It’s like a CliffsNotes of the Vegas scene.
Local label Asteroid M Records — long one of the city’s best — is hosting its third annual Halloween Block Party from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 24 at Goodman Plaza, 525 S. Main St.
The all-ages event doubles as a showcase for some of Vegas’ finest acts, the stacked lineup featuring vets and newcomers alike, including punk mainstays Anti-Vision, the fast-rising The Dollheads, garage/surf rock favorites the Desert Island Boys, the “outlaw emobilly” Wyatt & the Ashes, anthemic punks Twist Off!, up-and-coming metallers Death Tape and metallic hardcore standard-bearers Life’s Torment.
Wait, it gets better: Did we mention it’s free?
Other shows to catch this month:
Sextile
Oct. 9 at Swan Dive, 1301 S. Main St.
“Women, we respond to bass,” electro duo Sextile contend on their latest album, “Yes, Please,” delivering ample amounts of said low-end on the record in question, which flies by in 36 absolutely unrelenting minutes. Their intensely adrenalized live gigs register as a cardio fitness routine as much as a concert.
Yellow Claw
Oct. 10 at Substance, 450 Fremont St.
This love-’em-or-hate-’em Dutch electronic music duo was one of the first acts of its ilk to merge trap music with high-energy hardstyle, forming a relentlessly raucous sound that doubles as a knee to the groin of subtlety. Every time they play Electric Daisy Carnival they draw massive crowds — including probably 25,000-plus in May — meaning they might have to fit Substance for a new roof after these two hit the place.
Angry Zeta
Oct. 12 at Grey Witch, 722 W. Sunset Road, Henderson
“Gypsybilly,” Southamericana,” “street grass” — Argentina’s Angry Zeta come with a whole new vocabulary of inventively named subgenres for the band to kinda, sorta fit into. They hit Vegas as part of their first U.S. tour, so see ’em now or you might not get a chance to see ’em again.
Vader
Oct. 12 at Backstage Bar & Billiards, 601 Fremont St.
Get an international pummeling when Polish death metal lifers Vader team up with their Canadian counterparts Kataklysm as well old-school Florida brutalists Malevolent Creation and Los Angeles’ Skeletal Remains. You want heavy? This one’s the musical equivalent of being pelted with bowling balls.
Patrick Wolf
Oct. 12 at The Griffin, 511 Fremont St.
Among the range of instruments that British singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf incorporates on his latest album, “Crying the Neck”: viola, Appalachian dulcimer, baritone ukulele, kantale and … vintage Atari computer. It’s this mix of semimodernity and instrumental antiquity that informs Wolf’s literary, intricately arranged baroque pop.
Cowgirl Clue
Oct. 15 at Swan Dive, 1301 S. Main St.
“Ballet Flat$ on the Ga$ Pedal” is both a song on the brand-new album from Cowboy Clue and an apt descriptor of her light-footed, creatively agile yet propulsive sound, which escalates from starry-eyed dream pop to full-on dance floor mayhem, often within the same track.
Messer Chups
Oct. 18 at The Dive Bar, 4110 S. Maryland Parkway
From Russia with a love of reverb come coed surf rockers Messer Chups, kicking out the (mostly) instrumental jams to celebrate “Freddy Krueger’s Holiday” and other far-out frights in a hard-swingin’ songbook filled with zombie girls, blood suckers and a whole lot of open coffins.
Current Joys
Oct. 24 at 24 Oxford at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
Henderson native Nick Rattigan may be best known as the singer-drummer for garage rock favorites Surf Curse, but he also explores his indie rock side in Current Joys, whose by turns elegant and exultant latest album, “East My Love,” splits the difference between Elliott Smith and Sparklehorse.
N8NoFace
Oct. 25 at The Usual Place, 100 S. Maryland Parkway
“I’m so sick of all these (expletive) cool kids and cool bands,” a dude snarls on one of the tracks from N8NoFace’s latest release, “Bad Man Back Again,” where synthesizers grow teeth and challenge you to a fight in the parking lot. Aside from creating some of the angriest lo-fi synth pop ever, though, N8NoFace’s catalog can be as beatific as it is biting when he delves into dark-hued new wave, keeping it grim all the while.
Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @jasonbracelin76 on Instagram.