VEGOOSE IS COMING!

Las Vegas welcomes Vegoose!.

Vegoose is Coming!

Vegoose is coming to Las Vegas at the end of the month. So what the heck is Vegoose? Vegoose is a Halloween music festival taking place on October 29th and 30th at Sam Boyd Stadium that features non-mainstream bands and acts that normally play at the summer Bonnaroo festival. It was a great idea to bring some of those amazing bands and artists out West. In addition, a big name like Beck joined the lineup at Vegoose along with the legendary New Orleans band The Meters.

Las Vegas often gets overlooked as a place to book bands. Usually Las Vegas is just a stop over between gigs in California and Colorado or Arizona. But in one single weekend, a slew of quality bands will all be sharing the stage at Sam Boyd Stadium on 7000 East Russell Road. They will be offering shuttles to and from the Strip to the concert area. Tickets are onsale at www.vegoose.com.

 

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Vegoose will draw inspiration around the Halloween holiday in addition to it’s locale in Las Vegas. Organizers are encouraging participants to get dressed up in costumes. Not only will you be able to see an eclectic group of music performers, there are tons of other forms of entertainment such as interactive attractions, performance artists, and art installations. I am told that the Las Vegas entertainment and performance community will also be heavily involved.

Like Jazzfest in New Orleans, the coolest thing about having a huge music festival running during the day means that the evenings are open for late night gigs. Several top bands will be playing at both the Vegoose festival and participating in late night shows scattered all over the Strip and Las Vegas.

Here’s a list of confirmed acts that will be playing at Vegoose:

Dave Matthews & Friends
Widespread Panic
Jack Johnson
Beck
Phil Lesh & Friends w/ special guest Ryan Adams
The Meters (Art Neville, Zigaboo Modeliste, George Porter, Jr., Leo Nocentelli)
Trey Anastasio
The Arcade Fire
The Flaming Lips
The String Cheese Incident
Primus
Ween
Gov’t Mule
The Shins
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Spoon
Talib Kweli
Sleater-Kinney
Digable Planets
North Mississippi Allstars
Michael Franti & Spearhead
The Decemberists
Umphrey’s McGee
Atmosphere
Blackalicious
The Magic Numbers
Lyrics Born
Devendra Banhart
ALO

Some of my favorite bands are on the list. It’s going to be cool to see Beck play in a large festival like Vegoose. Umphrey’s McGee is another band that has slowly been growing on me over the years. I first saw them for $5 many years ago and they’ve come a long way. Jack Johnson is a guy that every female I know is in love with. The Hawaii-based Johnson is not just a pretty face, he’s one of the more amazing lyricist in the industry. The North Mississippi Allstars know how to bring some a tasty mix of delta blues-rock-groove to the party. I’m also pumped to see The Flaming Lips, Talib Kweli, and Primus. The hardest part about Vegoose is trying to decide what band to skip!

Of course, many of them will be playing Late Night Shows at Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues, the Joint at the Hard Rock Casino, the Thomas & Mack Center, The Aladdin Theater, and at the Orleans Arena. Some of the late night highlights will be the Widespread Panic concert at Thomas & Mack on Halloween. The Athens based band has been trying to pick up the pieces after their lead guitarist Mikey Houser died from cancer in 2003. After a short hiatus, they went back on the road last year and they’ve been playing excellent music. Since Phish broke up, many people in the jam-band community were looking towards Widespread Panic to take the lead. It seemed that after Jerry Garcia died, Phish’s popularity boomed and they indirectly took over as the main band to follow around. And since Phish broke up, there’s been a void.

Speaking of Phish, former Phish frontman and guitarist, Trey Anastasio will be playing with his band during a late night show at Aladdin on October 28th. He has a new album to pimp called “Shine” that will be released on November 1st.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Galactic. They are a New Orleans slam-funk band and they bring a New Orleans party to wherever they play. They were on tour when Hurricane Katrina hit their city and most of them lost their homes. They’ll be playing at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on October 30th in what might be the highlight of the late night shows.

Phil Lesh, bass player from the Grateful Dead, will be playing a night show at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino on October 30th as well. With so many quality musicians in town, you never know who is going to show up to sit in and play a set with your favorite band. Visit for more details.