It has been waaaaaaaayy too long since I've seen the Black Jetts perform. I'm never sure why that is. Is it because they're not really the best about promoting their gigs? Or is it because I'm not really the biggest "Rock N Roll" music fan? I dunno if it's either, but whatever it is, I'm always glad to be seeing the Black Jetts play, because if you catch them on the right night in the right place, they will blow your mind and get you shaking your drunken ass around to what they're laying down. They'll make you a Believer. Tonight they had the unfortunate bit of luck of trying to follow up to what the Mapes had just done, which was basically bring the house down, and in the very beginning it seemed like a lost cause. The energy level of the room just dropped. The Mapes took 70% of the crowd with them outside, myself included, and by the time I got back in it looked like the Black Jetts were playing to a crowd of less than average size. Undaunted, they still played like their lives depended on them rocking the fuck out, playing with an air of bravado and desperation about them which just adds a bit of a grittiness and street sensibility to the music they play.By the time I walked back in from chillaxing outside, the Black Jetts were already laying waste to the small but energetic crowd, throwing out huge, heavy riffs that were as big as a Hummer and just as heavy, and the people were loving it. Gabe has them eating out of the palm of his hand, and Roy and Thom and Chad are right there behind him, pouring the concrete that Gabe is foming into the bedrock foundation they're all standing on. The foundation of Rock! LOL It's great to watch a band like the Black Jetts just convert the non-believers into fans, and to work their fans into a fist-pumping, head nodding, screaming lather. Especially the chicks. They all come up close to check out Gabe (and maybe Thom) and while they're checking them out, they get hooked on the tunes. Fun to see. The Black Jetts had everyone in the bar watching them, feeling what they were playing, and reacting accordingly. Some danced. Some drank faster. Some just nodded their head to the music, sharing there in the moment. Gabe sang from the pulpit like a crazed Southern Minister, all hand gestations and table thumping, with everyone behind him acting as his unholy choir, providing the hymns which were leading us all to Hell without a care or concern. The band only got stronger as their set progressed, and by the time Roy got around to hauling out that crazy theramin noise making thingy of his, the bar had filled up again, and everyone was right there on the same level as the band. Some more so than others, right Brendan? LOL Yeah, it was that kind of night. The Black Jetts are the Real Deal, providers of The Rock, and tonights performance was one for the record books. Damn skippy.

The thereminiest, table climbingest, mutton choppiest band in Vegas, The Black Jetts, play at Wasted Space inside the Hard Rock Hotel along with the Funky Jah Punkys and Corner Stone, plus DJ Sid Wilson from Slipknot. Masks optional.
-jason scavone

Hello,

My name is Meric, and I was at your show with the Detroit Cobras and
I wrote a review that I will be posting on a few sites online.
I used to write a column back east for a small NY rag, and now that I
am in Vegas, I thought I might write a few reviews.

Here is the one I did for the show, I hope you don't take it
personal, but I was less than enthused by the headliners performance.
The rest of the night was great, and I hope to catch a few more of the
shows you put on.

Thanks,

Meric


The Detroit Cobras at the Aruba Showroom
Meric Delung

The Detroit Cobras, The Black Jetts, The Dex Romwebber Duo, Leopold
and His Fiction
Aruba Showroom, Las Vegas, NV
May 22nd, 2009

This is my first show at the Aruba Showroom, which the promoters from
Neon Reverb are hoping will be the next great Vegas spot to catch live
shows.
I arrived early and caught a bit of the sound check before being
redirected to the Lounge area, called the Thunderbird, to sit and wait
among a half a dozen swing dancing guys and girls while the main room
was closed off just before the shows 10 o’clock start time to take
care of a few last minute adjustments to the sound.

Once back inside, I grabbed a drink and headed to the front of the
huge stage area, and took a look around the room. It was a pretty good
sized venue, bigger than most of the ones I have seen in Vegas, save
for the corporate digs of places like HOB and the Joint.

From here, it was just a short bit before the spinning disco lights
gave way to the sound of guitars being handled and a few tentative
kicks and tings to the drums.


First up were The Black Jetts, who are led by Gabe Stiff, as a high
energy storm of leg shaking quick lyric spiting Rock and Roll front
man, surrounded by pounding drums and wailing guitars. This bands
dirty rock-cum punk sound was great opener for the night, as it really
got the blood going and left you wanting more.


Next up were the Dex Romwebber Duo, fronted by Dex of the Flat Duo
Jets from the PsychoBilly scene (one of the White Stripes influences,
noted by Jack White in several interviews), and along for the ride,
his sister Sara on the drums.
This band, a bit of Blues, surf and Garage rock spread out over a
Rockabilly sound, gave a genuine and solid performance, shifting
seamlessly from one great tune to another. I was really surprised at
the fullness of sound these two brought out of such a small set up.

I noticed one odd thing between sets for the night: No Music.
According to a few in-the-know regulars, the DJs for the night had not
shown up, and the lack of a cable connection kept the promoters from
keeping the room rocking between acts.

Up next were the nights headliners, The Detroit Cobras. I have heard
a lot about these guys, which are form of cover band who belt out
obscure oldies, soul and rock and roll, and I was really looking
forward to catching this Las Vegas stop which they added onto this
tour last minute.

But about 10 minutes into the Detroit Cobras long awaited Vegas set,
I was starting to think that I may have wasted some money. Singer
Rachael Nagy was bored, or upset, or just so over Vegas already that
she seemed like she was just counting down the minutes to get back to
the tour van and get the hell out of town.
The sound was good, the crowd was good, and even the performance was
good. But what was lacking was any real sincerity on Nagy’s part.
Unlike most of the bands of the night, who seemed to really be having
a decent time of things, Nagy was rolling her eyes and shifting about
with real impatience. Several people around me had noticed this, and
after just a few songs, headed off to the venues lounge, removed from
the show by a few doors and a few pool tables.
And although this performance was better than the last Vegas show I
caught at the Double Down Saloon, where a sometimes sloppy and drunk
lead overshadowed a great band, I still was left thinking that they
were the let down of the night.

The last band of the night was Leopold and His Fiction, of which I
had read about after March’s Neon Reverb festival.
I was pretty much blown away by this three piece outfit hailing from
San Francisco. Daniel James, who leads the trio, gives off a great
vibe and keeps the room moving with a soulful balance of rock in’
blues and hip shaking and catchy tunes.
Even though this was a late night set, (albeit not by Vegas
standards, as I am learning) and the room had cleared some after the
Detroit Cobras left the stage, that never stopped these guys from
giving an all out performance that was easily the best of the night.
I thought it would be tough to top last weeks show at the Bunkhouse
Saloon (of which I only caught the last four songs), but they did it.
With what seemed like endless energy, James and company belted out a
nice long set for a very grateful crowd and left everyone asking when
they would be back to Vegas.

In the end, the night was a good one, well worth the measly ten
dollar admission price, and the guys at Neon Reverb have made me a fan
of what they seem to be doing here in a city without much music
ambition. Sometimes it just takes someone to get out there and get it
going.

The Black Jetts are all about DA ROCK !! And they're also all about being LOUD !! I stood by the door and watched in amazement as this massive amount of wood and electronics was dragged into the Bunkhouse and assembled into position on stage. Roy plays through a full stack of Orange amps. Gabe plays through a full stack of Marshall amps. And Tom plays through a black bass cabinet as big as a small building, with 8 12" speakers in it. Nice. :-) Chad is still playing Roy's mis-matched drum set, and I'm wondering if he will even be heard over all that assemblage of speakers and amp heads to either side of him. Doesn't take them that long to get their heads on straight and before you know it, things are rocking. I had almost forgotten at how much the Black Jetts just play and live and breathe Rock 'N' Roll, and to watch them go about things was pretty sweet. I was in the mood for it, and they were dishing it out in big, heaping handfulls of sticky 70's goodness. Heavy New York Dolls. Heavy Alice Cooper. Worshipping at the altar of the MC5. And I got no problem with any of that... heh heh heh Roy is weeble-wobbling to and fro while laying down these fat, greasy, slinky rock god riffs, and his set-up is waaay louder than Gabe's, so he's the one you're hearing playing the tunes. Tom is right behind him, playing so fucking loud it's shaking everything in a 1oo yard radius, and he plays his bass like it's a guitar, running all over the fret board and playing bass solos mid-song every now and then. And he does it all while looking like he's somewhere else, if that makes any sense. Chad is just bashing the ever loving shit out of his drum set, usually with a psychotic grin on his face, trying his best to be heard, but the real soul of this band is Gabe. The guy just has an aura of Rock 'N' Roll permeating all about him. Looks, attitude, stage presence, vocal delivery. The guys got it all, and to watch him strutter and jump around and thrash about while playing his music is infectious. He makes you wanna rock out even more than you already are. It's hard not to. The Black Jetts play some real cool Rock 'N' Roll tuneage, and it's easy to see why the Review-Journal voted them Las Vegas' Best Rock 'N' Roll Band. It's in everything they do. Their little choreographed moves... the posturing... hell, even the stuff their singing about is 100% rock approved. No Poseurs here. Too legit to quit. They got the girls up front shaking their asses, and the guys in the audience wishing that they played that good. When Roy takes off his guitar and busts out the Theramin, you know it's the last song, and after an 8 minute full on rock-out-with-your-cock-out session, the band called it quits, confident in the fact that they just blew the roof off of the Bunkhouse. Quite a spectacle to see. It's good for your Soul. Cheers to the Black Jetts, who are the living proof that nothing can kill the Rock. Nothing.

THE BLACK JETTS



When
Gabe Stiff calls for some protective headgear, it’s time to clear the
kids from the room. “You better strap your helmet on,” the Black Jetts
frontman howls early on his band’s latest disc, “Sever The Serpents
Head Before it Strikes,” one of the best albums to come out of Vegas in
’08. Alive with slobberin’ guitars, spine-tingling organ fills and lots
of leering catcalls, this rock and soul powerhouse gets both fists and
hips a shakin’. “The line has been drawn, we are the solution,” Stiff
thunders on “Electric Revolution.” “And you’re either with us or
against us.” Count us among the former.

The Black Jetts

Sever the Serpent's Head Before It Strikes (Rank Outsider)

The Black Jetts remind me of Phish: Their recordings are but teasers to the live show. Relax -- that's where the likenesses to the defunct jam band end. But if the comparison is true, the quartet's new album, Sever the Serpent's Head Before It Strikes, is already a letdown. Well, not really. The Jetts offer another slab of rock 'n' roll goodness using the same template as albums previous, which is the same template they've always used: classic Brit rock and early garage punk with an old R&B twist. That R&B distinction is an important one; it separates the Jetts from the rawk squawkers that are all riff and no hip. Furthermore, it's the subtle touches that elevate the record above its raucous melodies -- the organ in "I'd Sooner Slit My Wrists," the ethereal backing vocals (credited to "Chastity") in the wonderfully sprawling "Brothers & Sisters," where the Jetts unleash a mighty jam. But not like Phish.

MIKE PREVATT, mprevatt@lvcitylife.com

05/16/2008
  Las Vegas NV
  The Rox

05/22/2008
  Las Vegas NV
  Sin City Saloon

05/23/2008
  Las Vegas
  Dive Bar

05/24/2008
  Las Vegas NV
  Squiggy's

06/14/2008
  Las Vegas
  Sin City Saloon

well the new record is finished " Sever The Serpents Head Before It strikes" and will be hitting the streets in the next few months  so keep your eyes open

Well were in the studio right now working on the new record which should be released in late january  with a tour in March so stay tuned for more details

Love,
The Black Jetts