🖤🎶 ROCK FOR THE SUMMER 🎶🖤

PART 1:

Well….hello there!!! Did ya miss me? Yes, I get it… I’ve been completely and totally MIA in the rock scene. But this past Saturday June 8, I changed all that. With KOMP 92.3 putting on a summer kick off concert at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The headliners for this show were nonpoint and P.O.D. And this was exactly what I needed to plunge back into the rock world I’ve been missing so desperately.

Luckily, I got off work just in the nick of time. I’m a cocktail server/bartender so this is never an easy task. I’ve never rolled silverware so fast in all my life. It was 6 o’clock on a beautiful Saturday night and I was completely FREE!! First thing was first… I needed a dang ticket. I had my special KOMP code and I was ready to buy my ticket…wait, what? No more tickets?? Um no. I immediately took action and posted on Facebook. Boom, my beautiful friend who’s husband is a killer rock photographer responded within seconds. She had an extra freebie ticket with my name on it. And although this seems like a small favor in hindsight it really reignited my love and passion again. And for that I’m eternally grateful.

Straight black hair, black make-up, brand new Jackyl tank and I was good to go. Armed with my favorite road soda (Boulevard Wheat from KC) and my fully charged phone I loaded myself into my Lyft ride. I do not condone drinking and driving in this town especially when it’s too easy to get rides. My Lyft driver showed up, and didn’t seem remotely pleased with my road soda. But, he also didn’t protest. Ricardo was driving like a damn maniac though. Probably secretly hoping I’d spill all over his back seat so he could charge me a clean up fee. Little did he know I’m a trained professional. We made it safe and sound.

Pulling up to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino I have an overwhelming feeling of being home. Which immediately made me feel a little sad because it’s all coming to an end very soon. Richard Branson will soon be transforming the Hard Rock into Virgin Casino. Which to me just screams contradiction considering things that have happened here and even things I’ve done. But we can leave that up to the imagination. Sooooo many concerts and far too many late nights to even begin to count.

Reaching for the gold guitar shaped door handle and opening the heavy ass door, that oh so familiar Hard Rock Casino smell smacks you in the face. And then the music fills your ears and the vibe confirm that fact that I am indeed home. I head around the infamous circle bar keeping my eyes peeled for my peeps. I always make a pit stop at my favorite little bar on the way to the pool to have a shot or two with my favorite bartender. She always had a new crazy look and this time didn’t disappoint. She had hair everywhere. Two shots of tequila and I’m feeling pretty good. Time to head to the show baby!

As I enter the show poolside at JBL soundstage, the sun is nearly set and it’s a gorgeous night. I had been here plenty of times before, but this was so different. I had to stop on the bridge overlooking the entire venue and to snap a quick Facebook live and BOOM!!! Literally out of the bushes my best rocker buddy attacks me and scares the shit out of me. Let the shit show begin!!

My rocker buddy whisks me away to where the real party was happening. Rockers, fans, singers, tattoo artists…you name it. Vegas’s finest rock n’ rollers all in one spot. I’m immediately bombarded by everyone saying hello and giving me hugs, feels pretty rad. It’s the perfect cabana overlooking the stage and pool. Nonpoint was already raging on stage and the place was freakin packed. I’m not overly familiar with nonpoint … but that’s not the POINT. They killed it! The singer had these crazy long dreads and he was jumping and thrashing them everywhere on stage. Dude was killing it!

And now it was time for some tequila. Holy shit. Hard Rock definitely didn’t expect this big of a turn out. The line for the bar was wrapped around the pool nearly. But we made the most of it and saw a ton of friends while waiting for our drinks. My rocker buddy doesn’t drink on Saturday’s so naturally he remembers all the dumb shit that I do. “Hey remember when that guy carried you out of the Otherwise show?” Funny thing is…I didn’t even recognize that guy. But moving on I kept hearing my name “twiggy, twiggy”…. really makes a girl feel loved for sure.

I swear after what seemed like an eternity later I received my double shot of Patron and pineapple back for the whopping price of $40 plus $10 for tip. Walking back to the cabana ever so carefully as to not spill my overpriced Strip drink. Sweet, more rock n’ rollers had arrived and the vibe was killer. Everyone was hugging, chatting, taking tons of pictures. The whole time I was just feeling super grateful to be there with such rad people and great music. Most people wouldn’t think much about the Vegas rock community. But what they don’t know is that we are a very close FAMILY.

My girl friend who is basically in charge says, “I’m going up front to get some shots of the band!” Now this to me is a no brainer…of course I’m going! She grabs my hand and off we go into the crowd and the lights. The music fills my body and I just go. She’s pulling me and we are weaving in and out of fans. And even nearly went for a dip in the pool at one point. The final push to our destination involved some minor rock climbing. I seriously love her no bullshit rocker spirit. We arrive at our destination which was actually the KOMP 92.3 cabana directly next to the stage. It was sexy. Holy shit.

We met more friends up there and I’m starting to feel like this was my rock reunion. Looking out onto the crowd below I felt super ready to rock my ass off. So I polished off my expensive tequila and prepared myself for P.O.D. And everyone just ended up in the same spot for the show. A couple of buddies flagged me down to the very front of the stage. One of which was my rock photographer friend who’s wife hooked me up with the ticket. Always so good seeing him and his wife. Seriously great people. I said my hellos and claimed my spot front row, stage left.

Now just to be clear P.O.D. is not by any means my favorite band. Truth be told I actually think their new stuff is a little too rappy. But holy shit when the singer Sonny Sandoval took that stage I forgot all my original opinions. He was commanding everyone’s attention. And getting the crowd even more pumped up. I was directly next to the largest sub woofer speaker and prolly could’ve gotten off it was vibrating me so hard. It literally made my hair fan out with every hard hitting beat. I listened to several songs down front and wiggled my way back up with my friends.

But the drinks were flowing and everyone was singing at the top of their lungs, including me. Which was funny that my good pal informed me I was singing the wrong words? Maybe I was a little tipsy…because EVERYONE knows the words to that song.

“We are, we are the youth of a nation!!!”

My pal is obviously a very serious front man. You understand right? Ha. Much love.

The crowd was electric and the lights looked so vibrant shining out onto the pool. Fans were chilling all around the pool and some even dipped their feet in the water. Some people were out on their hotel room balconies enjoying a free show. We took some great pictures of just us girls. One of which will never be published, but was funny as hell.

P.O.D. had played all their hit songs and were saying goodbyes. We begged them to keep playing naturally. But wait…it was so early!! 11 o’clock on a Saturday??? This was my rock reunion tour and this was merely the appetizer to my night out. Oh wait…there’s more coming…stay tuned for the entree at Vamp’d.

Huge thanks to KOMP 92.3 and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for putting on one hell of a summer kick off concert. And a seriously special thank you to ALL of my Vegas rock family for making me feel so much love and support. I’m super excited to get back out there and start going to rock shows again. And more importantly to start enjoying my passion for writing my rock stories. I proclaim this the summer of rock!!! Love ya!

🖤🎶twiggytalksrock🎶🖤