Images: Garrett Dale (Red City Radio), No Red Alice, Paige Overton, Girls and Wolves March 4, 2016 at the Beauty Bar

Whenever there are music festivals in surrounding cities, we here at Punks in Vegas always hope we’ll end up with a one-off show from a great musician as they travel through to the big gig. That said, it never occurred to me that Vegas’ own Cannabis Cup would bring out one of my favorite punk rock frontmen, Red City Radio’s Garrett Dale. In town for what he lamented as a largely weedless weed festival, Dale was kind enough to drag himself away from the haze of a Ludacris performance to play a free show for us at the Beauty Bar.  

The joyfully inebriated Dale was in high spirits, alternating between joking with the crowd of the usual punk rockers (and hip hop kids looking for a breath of fresh air from the DJ set going on inside), and crooning out songs like Red City Radio favorites “In The Meantime” and “Spinning in Circles is a Gateway Drug.” He also played some tracks from his upcoming Red Scare solo album like the instant earworm “Dead Bodies,” (“the finished version will have a sax” Dale exclaimed during the song’s bridge, before humming the melody in its place) and covers like Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire,” Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me,” and the set ending singalong “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks.

In direct support was local trio No Red Alice, led by professional Garrett Dale lookalike Sal Giordano on bass. Old favorites like “St. Josephine” were given new life thanks to the bouncy, almost pop punk-like lead guitar work by Chris Bitonti (Eliza Battle). As she always does when she graces the stage, Paige Overton wowed us with her amazing vocal chops, while first band Girls and Wolves celebrated their one year anniversary in the Vegas music scene with an energetic, early performance.

All told, it was a pretty fantastic evening that weirdly, we seem to have High Times to thank for. So thanks, High Times. Keep on keepin’ on.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Aaron Mattern | https://www.flickr.com/photos/akmofoto/