The past 15 years have not been kind to the record industry. From giants like MCA to indies like Nitro, the change brought about by the digital age has caused countless labels to shut down. But the folks at Geykido Comet Records have somehow managed to weather the change and continue to put out awesome CDs, vinyl and books. Husband-and-wife team Shahab Zargari and Heela Naqshband along with family and friends make the Vegas scene proud by continuing to put heart and soul into their passion label, and on June 29th, a smattering of music fans came out to celebrate a decade and half of existence with the GC team and some great bands.
When I arrived at Civilian Clothing HQ, I was met with free sliders from Slidin’ Thru, Jarritos, $2 beer, shaved ice, a Husky puppy being carried in a duffel bag and a squishy amalgam of confetti and watermelon all over the blacktop. The watermelon, I would soon be told by a dazed crowd, was the result of a melon sacrifice offered by GC’s Shahab Zargari himself – as frontman of his spoken-word-esque performance art band Kill the Scientist. I was very sorry to have missed those shenanigans – as I hear gorilla masks were involved, and I hate not knowing the specific manner in which the watermelon met its final demise.
After stopping by the Pop Goes the Icon booth to peruse some awesome comics, it was time for the only touring act of the evening, Anaheim’s Four Letter Words, a self-described “punk rock circus band on wheels.” I had seen the very well dressed frontman walking around earlier in the evening thinking that he must have gotten lost on his way to a swankier locale – but no – he was ready to rip off his suit jacket and rock with the rest of us. Backed by a keyboard, bass, three guitars, a keytar (yes. a keytar), and intermittent Daft Punk-style robot vocals – it was quite a sight to see.
Locals and most recent GC signees Illicitor killed it in the manner in which we’ve already become accustomed to Illictor killing it. The band features former members of one of GC Records’ best known bands – Holding Onto Sound – and they’re doing a great job maintaining the high quality we’ve come to expect from the label. Guitarist and co-frontman Bob Gates garnered some laughs during sound check with “check. check Czech Republic” before plowing through “City of Gold,” their contribution to the upcoming GC Records Snapshot of the 2014 Vegas Music Scene. I seriously can’t wait to get my hands on some recorded material from these guys – if only to know the names of the songs so I can stop saying things like “I like that songs that goes [air guitar] ‘should have known better than to flllllyyyy alone.’”
The Quitters were up next, on loan from fellow local label SquidHat (who had a booth at the event), nicely demonstrating the type of comradery we have here. They’ve quickly become one of my favorite live bands, probably because I’m just a sucker for musicians who are actually having fun. The crowd had thinned quite a bit by the time they started (around 11 p.m. on a work night.) but after giving condolences to any Mexico fans in the audience (a soccer reference I pretended to understand while thinking about how Quiddich is the only sport I could really find myself getting excited about) – they dove right into a set which included “Sons of Siuslaw” and “Hipster” from their upcoming Contributing to Erosion EP. They had just wrapped filming on a video for “Hipster” which based on the casting call seems like it’s going to be pretty amazing, and pretty heavy on scarves and ironic eyewear. Their chants of “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” were especially resonant with me that night – fighting against a 5 a.m. wake time for my day job, but I couldn’t miss drummer Micah Mayhem banging on that cowbell like cowbells were made for punk. We’ve been “all Quitters all the time” around here lately, so jump on that bandwagon and stream the EP here, check out our recent Stripped Down Sessions with them, and be sure to pre-order their EP now or get it at their EP release show on July 11.
Aside from the sweat dripping down my back in a fashion unbecoming of a lady and the Jarritos sugar shakes (just kidding, I love those shakes) – it was an amazing and most of all, celebratory night. Here’s to 15 more years, GC. Support all the awesome by pre-ordering their Snapshot of the 2014 Vegas Music Scene here.
-Ashleigh Thompson (GC Records photo by Aaron Mattern)
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