About the author  ⁄ Aaron Mattern

I like tacos, pictures of cats, and sleeping.

The annual celebration of everything shitty is returning for its 12th year to The Dive Bar September 27-28.  Check it out! Las Vegas’s longest-runny music festival,” Life is Shit Festival, will return for its 12th year, Saturday, Sept. 28 at The Dive Bar, 4110 S. Maryland Pkwy. The festival is expanding this year to add the “Shitkicker Kickoff” pre-party, featuring country/blues artists (and country karaoke after the bands), Friday, Sept. 27, at The Dive.  Life is Shit Festival was founded in 2013 by members of the Las Vegas music community, as a free, DIY, locals-centric, punk/rock alternative to the corporate, mainstream Life is Beautiful Festival. However, Life is Shit quickly became a cultural institution of its own, and has been featured by The Washington Post, Las Vegas Weekly, KNPR 88.9 FM’s “State of Nevada,” KUNV 91.5 FM’s “Our Kind of Music,” and other media outlets.  Despite its cheeky name and ...

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We completely failed last October to make it into the Fremont Country Club Green Day show, so when we saw that Electronic Arts was throwing the Madden Bowl MCS finale at House of Blues with Green Day headlining, we knew we had to be there.  Also on the show was Outkast’s Big Boi, Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike, and Breland. Special thanks to EA, and Fleishman-Hillard for hooking us up, and supporting DIY local press!   ...

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“Punks in Vegas would really cover Aqua?” –Aqua’s publicist’s response to my media request for the show. Hell yea we would!  Punks in Vegas has always been a fan of pop music.  PiV founder Emily Matview’s first song she’d always put on a commandeered jukebox would be Mark Morrisson’s “Return of the Mack“, followed immediately by “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”.  Several discussions occurred between us over many tense burgers and pizzas arguing Madonna’s best song, finally both agreeing that it’s “Open Your Heart”. Aqua’s biggest hit “Barbie Girl” was release April 1997, the second semester of my sophomore year of high school.  Around this same time, my friends were getting their driver’s licenses, first cars, and being the 90’s the crucial shitty first car accessory was a subwoofer.   Obviously, we needed something with a lot of bass, and pounding beat to test the subs, and Offspring’s Ixnay on the Hombre wasn’t ...

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