Powerman 5000 and Kottonmouth Kings bring a night of nostalgia and diverse music to the House of Blues Las Vegas with support from Julien-K.
It is hard to imagine a tour lineup more diverse than this one. Tonight’s show has it all, from electronic to hip-hop and rock. There is definitely something for everyone. The floor of the House of Blues is full when electronic rock band Julien-K takes the stage. While this band has been around since 2003, their roots go back further, having left Orgy to form this three-piece. Frontman Ryan Shuck is exciting to watch live. He is definitely a performer, and the chemistry he has with the other founding member, Amir Derakh, is great. They are totally in sync with each other while performing their songs before ending the night with the Orgy cover “Blue Monday.”
Up next is classic hip-hop with Kottonmouth Kings. Founded in 1996, this band has an impressive 15 album discography. The stage is simple, with a flag-draped turntable flanked by two large inflatable bongs. They play songs that span these albums, with one of the highlights being “Where’s the Weed At.” For a simple stage setup, they have theatrics in the best way. Hypeman Taxman has various props, including a backpack of weed and buckets of confetti he tosses on the crowd. The crowd is jumping and singing along to all the words. Towards the end of the set, they are joined on the stage by three individuals carrying very large python snakes. D-Loc, Chucky Chuck, and Judge D fly around the stage and each take time at the turntables. It is at this time, watching the crowd rap along, that you really begin to embrace the diversity of this show and everything going on on the stage. It is an exciting performance full of energy.
It is now time for Powerman 5000. They enter to a dark room with their signature lasers on their guitars and drums as they launch into “Supernova Goes Pop.” Frontman Spider One is one of the more energetic performers from this time period. He is leaping into the air, and the rest of the band matches his intensity, specifically Evan9 and Dan Schiz, who don’t seem to stop moving. Spider One gives a little speech about him forming a cult before they launch into “Cult Leader,” and the crowd seems on board with that. It is easy to forget how many great, fun songs this band has, from “Bombshell” to “Super Villain,” both of which are played tonight. Spider interacts with the crowd throughout the show, talking to them about the different songs, and even thanking them, tongue in cheek, for coming to the show tonight and passing on the Usher and Chris Brown show happening at the arena next door. He touchingly thanks Las Vegas for being one of the cities that embraced them early on, reminiscing about a local radio station, and poking fun at the old record labels who said the songs on their Tonight the Stars Revolt album were no good, before closing the show with “When Worlds Collide.
If you want a high-energy night of diverse music that is extremely fun and that takes you down memory lane with all your favorite songs, this is the tour for you. Go early and stay till the end; you will not be disappointed in any of these bands.
POWERMAN 5000
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