REVIEW: VEGOOSE

by Benjy Eisen
photos by Big Croppa

There’s a Las Vegas that exists beyond the Strip, beyond Fremont Street, and beyond the suburbs, but I was always warned not to go there. If you follow someone into that desert, only one of you will return. And it’s probably not going to be you.

Yes, but the Sam Boyd Stadium is not in the desert; it’s in some weird buffer belt between. One direction it’s all red rocks and rugged mountains, the other you see the light that shoots out the top of the Luxor like an advertisement to God. Yo dude, down here! All you can eat prime rib!

The Grateful Dead used to own this stadium. When they pulled into Sam Boyd, residents of Sin City would flee to New York, Miami or Honolulu. Gamblers and gangsters and drunks they could deal with, showgirls and circus freaks they could handle, but Deadheads were another story altogether.

In the ’90s, when Phish came to town for multi-night runs at the Thomas and Mack Arena, it was a different scene for a different time. The Strip had transformed into Disneyland sans Mickey Mouse, and giant playgrounds like the Mandalay Bay, Treasure Island and the MGM Grand welcomed the trustafarian vibe. Phish phans had no problem blowing a hundred bucks on blackjack before hopping a cab to the arena and then rolling on molly in the psychedelic gamerooms after the show.

So when the minds behind Bonnaroo announced Vegoose—a multi-day festival during Halloween weekend that transplants the best of Bonnaroo to a Las Vegas environment—the outlook was bright. By Thursday evening, Oct. 27, Vegoose-bound travelers had already begun to settle into the hotel casinos, taking advantage of the loose atmosphere, getting ripped on free drinks and stoned on slots. Technically, the festival would begin when gates opened on Saturday morning at the stadium, but the festivities began on Friday night with a number of official Vegoose late-night shows at various venues on the Strip.

Gov’t Mule kicked things off at The Joint—a large, showcase room inside the Hard Rock Casino—inviting DJ Logic, Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), George Porter (Meters) and Rob Barraco (Phil & Friends) to jam with them throughout the show. Meanwhile, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds performed as a duo at the Aladdin, followed by Trey Anastasio, touring on behalf of his new solo CD, Shine.

A few Vegas-sized blocks away, Umphrey’s McGee delivered an all-night marathon at the House of Blues, located inside the casino at the Mandalay Bay. Even the sterile and disgustingly corporate vibe of the venue (which still paled in comparison to The Joint) couldn’t deflate the energy in the room provided by the nation’s fastest-rising jam-band. Unexpected covers (Motley Crue’s “Wild Side,” Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy”), surprise guests (Al Schnier from moe., Warren Haynes), and the requisite improvisational jam known as “Jimmy Stewart” were highlights of this lengthy show.

Four hours after the encore and eight miles away, the parking lot opened its gates at Sam Boyd Stadium for Day One of Vegoose proper. Phil Lesh & Friends delivered their most exuberant show in years. Dressed up as a Boy Scout, Beck and members of the band pitched a tent and sat around a faux campfire in between songs. Three annoying audience members temporarily detracted from the show when they jumped onstage and forced their drunken way into the skits, but it wasn’t enough to damper the 90-minute performance, which integrated material from Beck’s latest album, Guero, with all of his expected crowd pleasers.

That night the Vegoose crowd scattered to various late-night shows after shuttle busses returned everyone to the Strip. At the Orleans Arena, String Cheese Incident put in a lackluster performance despite the addition of acrobats and other theatrical elements. moe. treated the crowd at the Aladdin to a Halloween-style concert that split the themes of “good” and “evil” down the middle for their two entertaining sets. At House of Blues, Sound Tribe Sector Nine’s dance party went until practically dawn.

On Sunday, Umphrey’s McGee’s afternoon set couldn’t quite match their Friday night performance, though they were still impressive. Conversely, a main-stage performance by Trey Anastasio restored faith in jam nation’s guitar icon. He ripped his way through a set that was much more powerful than his Friday night show.

While Anastasio was busy reconnecting on the main stage, captivated audiences were glued to the grass at the two field stages for a reunited Meters and the always-entertaining Flaming Lips, respectively. With Digable Planets in the Clubs Tent, fake wedding ceremonies at a fake chapel, raucous and risqué happenings in the Cabaret Tent, celebrity look-a-likes in the Impersonator’s Café, a central vending village, and an interactive crowd that had come dressed for the occasion (many donned Halloween costumes), it was simply impossible to do it all. But that didn’t stop everyone from trying.

If you played your cards right, you caught Animal Liberation Organization (ALO)—dressed as silver space sultans—sing the praises of kind bud with “Wasted Time,” heard Michael Franti ask the crowd “How ‘ya feeeeeling?” at least a dozen times, and still clinch a good spot for Ween’s deliciously twisted set.

Those who chose to catch all of Jack Johnson or Widespread Panic likely missed my favorite band of the weekend—the Arcade Fire. Closing out the Joker’s Wild Stage, the band passionately brought to life most of the songs on their critically acclaimed debut, Funeral. The last show of their tour, and the band’s first time in Vegas, the Arcade Fire performed as if they believed Bugsy Siegel was in the audience about to call a hit if they didn’t deliver. Band members switched instruments, banged drumsticks on the scaffolding, and twitched to the music as if the beats were patched into their spinal cords. One of the few acts afforded the honor of an encore, singer-guitarist Win Butler launched into an acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper,” and then lead the band into a rousing version of “Neighborhood’s #1 (Tunnels).” It was one triumphant finale.

About Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson said that “collapse is out of the question,” and so even after Vegoose officially ended on Sunday night, the party continued for at least another 36 hours. Back in the Strip area, Phil Lesh decided to keep fans up for a third night in a row, and pulled out a three-set marathon show at The Joint, which ended after dawn.

That night, the Merry Pranksters staged the 40th Anniversary of the original Acid Test at a nearby nightclub. Meanwhile, at the Thomas and Mack Arena, Widespread Panic enlisted the help of the Crystal Method to finally close out the inaugural Vegoose.