M Resort-Las Vegas, Nevada 4/28-30, 2017

- advertisement -

All Photos By Junkman

Recently, I headed to the Nevada desert to attend the Rock Into Spring music and tattoo festival. 3 days of bands, tattoos and more, all poolside at the beautiful M Resort, a true desert oasis, located at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Henderson, Nevada. A beautiful setting for a festival, with a lot of new bands to check out, and many established ones as well. Armed with my camera, and plenty of sunscreen, I encountered lots of surprises and eye opening moments on the edge of “Sin City”.

Set in the pool area of the M Resort, with a huge pool and bar area overlooking a huge stage, flanked by VIP cabana tents, it was an awesome place to have a festival. Tattoo booths featuring some of the area’s best tattoo artists, mixed with various vendors, ranging from cannabis products to the festivals sponsor “Gangster” headphones, who hawked their product to all that would listen.

Friday’s highlights included a few DJ’s to open the festivities, including “DJ Lethal” and a set spun by none other than headliner BUCKCHERRY’s lead singer Josh Todd. A great set from NEVER SAY DIE ended with their sing-along hit “Porn Star Dancing”, while 9ELECTRIC performed an outstanding set. The geeky rock of ALIEN ANT FARM was short and uneventful. The headliners BUCKCHERRY were without long time members guitarist Keith Nelson and drummer Xavier Murrell. Guitarist Stevie D explained that there is some re-organizing within the members of the band, and a new project, featuring himself, Josh Todd and former AMERICAN PEARL guitarist Kevin Roentgen (who performed in Nelson’s place this evening) would be coming out with something later this year. Nonetheless, the re-constructed BUCKCHERRY put on a great set, as they always do.

Saturday was a lot warmer weather-wise, and the bands were young and hot onstage. I was very impressed with QUOR, a three piece band from San Diego who had a terrific set, and opened up a lot of ears, with their pounding, riff heavy sound. Artifas rocked their aggressive brand of industrial metal, while AMERICAN GRIM, a ghoulish looking 3 piece metal band from New Jersey, rocked the Vegas crowd with a very entertaining set. SHALLOWSIDE, from Alabama, despite dealing with technical problems, put on a killer show. It was highlighted by some interesting cover material, including their take on the STYX classic “Renegade”.

Las Vegas hometown heroes ADELITAS WAY delivered a blistering set, but unfortunately, due to earlier technical problems, were forced to cut it short, much to the chagrin of their fans, who were out in full force to support. Without a doubt, they brought the most fans. Saturday headliners, ART OF ANARCHY, a band that features guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and DISTURBED bassist John Moyer welcomed their lead singer, former CREED vocalist Scott Stapp to the fold, and rocked the RIS attendees with an audio assault that was the highlight of the day for many of us. It had been a long time since I had seen Stapp onstage, and wondered about his ability to fill the void in this band left by the untimely death of their previous singer, the late Scott Wieland. I don’t wonder any more. Stapp is back, and sounding great.

Sunday's acts were young and powerful, from the blazing female-fronted LOLA BLACK to the almost classic sound of EVE TO ADAM, it was probably the most consistently rocking day of the festival. Ohio’s BOBAFLEX never disappoint and made waves with their brand of metal as they have done, every time I have seen them. TRAPT it seems have been around forever and their funky, loud brand of rock was a big hit on the weary third day revelers who rocked and ate it up. Naturally, their hit “Headstrong” from 2002 was well received, and a loud (but horse, after 3 days in the desert) sing-along ensued with what was left of the Rock Into Spring crowd. Sunday headliners SICK PUPPIES are a blast to watch. Great material, “War” and “Riptide” are outstanding songs, and this Australian band are serious “road dogs” and have a huge fan base. Their show was well received by all. A great way to wrap up three days of fun in the sun. My thanks to all those who made it possible for me to attend.

Check out some photos from the festival!
All Photos By Junkman