By Royal Hopper

It was cool and breezy by desert standards Monday …a bone chilling 99 degrees( yes that is sarcasm) There was Rock and Roll and the usual mischief and it was hot

“I have Given you 30-years. Give me three minutes,” said the famous Goth Rocker most often known as Rob Zombie as he looked around the arena full of Metal Heads their black outfits contrasting the glow of their expensive cell phones as they filmed and snapped photos of the “Zombie” as he sang.

Zombie wanted those in the crowd to turn off their cellphones. He had asked the audience to turn off their phones for one song and when many kept filming he pointed at them and said “Yes. I am talking to you who are filming me on your cellphone asking you to turn off your cell phone.”   A few listened ..Most did  not and the Zombie man was clearly frustrated. This is Vegas man and it is the 21st century.  We don’t turn off and tune in..we connect and record and post and gamble and drink while we do it. For better or worse that is the way of the world and the way of Sin City.  Outside the concert there was  fight, a Black Hat hacker convention, a working girl struggling to the food court at the end of a long night and paramedics inbound to save a life.

As you might have already guessed we saw an amazing Heavy Metal Rock and Roll show last Saturday. Aging Gothic Shock Rocker Rob Zombie put on a hell of a heavy metal show of undead supernatural attitude. (pun intended) as did his special guest Chick Metal Gothic Rocker  “In This Moment” … Nu Metal Rock Act Korn put on their usual energetic and honestly even more Gothic act with the goblin in the Korn Field intensity fans have come to expect. Korn is great live (better than studio I think) and I recommend seeing them in concert even if you are not a fan of their music.

The Zombie took a moment to lead the arena crowd in a chorus of Happy Birthday for his guitarist John 5 and stage show was a montage of barely veiled nudity, weirdness and old B-movies. In other words it was just like any night in Las Vegas.  Now imagine this you are in the middle of stage show about zombies, bimbos and vintage undead creatures and the entire audience breaks into a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday.
Vegas is a place that doesn’t give two farts about tradition and the sense of connection.  It is loud, bright, sexual and brash like a Rock concert, and like the same, dedicated to the raw emotion of fun in the dark. But unlike Rock and Roll there is no deeper side to the City of Sin _ no story to tell other than gamble, drink, party.
Many people make the mistake of assuming Heavy Metal and  Rock and Roll are like Vegas itself but that is not true. There are similarities. Implied sex, and real sex, bright lights etc etc…. Rock always has  story to tell and a moral to relate. Sometimes the story is a simple as dance and have fun while you can or driving cars is cool.

Other times it prays for peace or calls the brave and faithful to stand fast or relates the glories of love or tells an allegory of modern culture.  Vegas simply is what it is…It has no moral or story except what you bring to it or what those you deal with bring to it… It makes promises, implies rewards and gets you to pay for them.
They do have some things in common though. A hundred year from now somebody will be digging Rob Zombie or Korn or In This Moment record from the museum and remaking them _ 100 years from now somebody will be drinking more than they should, chasing women or men they should not, gambling money they don have and getting rolled for their trouble.

It not really all that weird .. It’s just Rock N Roll, Heavy Metal and Life in the City of Sin
Love You Sinners