Access Showroom Inside Aliante Casino Las Vegas Becomes Ground Zero For Hairball’s Rock Detonation October 3rd 2026

On October 3rd, the Access Showroom inside Aliante Casino Hotel Spa becomes ground zero for a full‑scale Rock & Roll, Classic Rock explosion! (Doors at 7pm. Show at 8pm) 

Hairball will erupt like a metal‑forged war beast, unleashing a 2‑plus‑hour shockwave of molten riffs, blast‑furnace vocals, and arena‑sized fury — a relentless, fire‑breathing onslaught of the biggest titans in rock history, reborn with heavier claws, sharper teeth, and enough voltage to scorch the desert and leave the Access Showroom trembling in the aftermath!

The monsters of classic rock will reappear in full battle mode!

Blasts from the past include Van Halen’s volcanic swagger, KISS’s fire‑breathing spectacle, Motley Crue’s leather‑and‑gasoline chaos, Queen’s operatic thunder, Journey’s skyscraper‑high choruses, Aerosmith’s blues‑soaked strut, and a whole arsenal of legends roaring back to life.

Hairball is locked and loaded, blasting shockwaves with an arena‑sized light show, smoke cannons, fire bursts, and a full‑tilt barrage of stage firepower built to shake the room to its core!

Hairball doesn’t just torch the stage — they leave the night smoldering!

For more info about Hairball and to grab your tickets, hit the links below

Gary England

*Brought To You by Boyd Gaming

Hairball Official Website

Hairball Shows (Tickets)

Hairball On Facebook

Hairball YouTube

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The Music He Left Behind: Honoring Joey Mazzone's Wish For His Music To Live On!

Many early mornings — four, sometimes five a.m. — I wake not to an alarm, but to the soft murmur of voices drifting through my head. What I write about today. This morning was different. I woke to a voice rising straight out of my heart. After reading the obituary for Joey Mazzone last night, I opened my eyes early this morning with a quiet certainty that I needed to speak — to write — about this remarkable friend, musician, and truly awesome man. 

I remember that early day in August, just a month ago, when the weight of losing a friend settled over me — a friend I now wish I’d had the chance to be closer to. It was one of those still, fragile mornings when the world feels thinner, and the things you didn’t say echo louder than the ones you did. 

So today, I say my peace through my writing. 

I was blessed to have Joey in my life for only a short stretch of years, crossing paths in the world of music—in the rooms where he played what he loved and where I wrote about what I loved: music!

 I remember Joey always inviting Dorrie and me to his upcoming gigs; We made as many as we could, and now I find myself wishing we would have made even more! 

Many times, Joey and I would sit together at an empty table and talk about life and music. I remember him as a deeply friendly soul — soft‑spoken offstage, carrying himself with a gentle ease — but the moment he stepped under the lights, he sang loud and proud. I listened to his music not just for the melody, but for the words. So many of his songs were stories, pieces of his life woven into verses and choruses. Through our conversations, and even more through the lyrics he wrote, it was clear how much Joey loved music — how much he loved sharing it with the world. 

He lived with a quiet pain most people never saw, me included, and his greatest relief came from creating the songs that carried him through. My own relief in losing my friend comes from knowing he’s in Heaven now — no pain, no weight — and still making his music.

One thing I do know is that Joey had one clear wish: for his music to live on. That was his heartbeat, his hope, the thing he wanted to leave behind for the world. So here is my part in helping that wish along. To all my readers of my blog, to my followers and subscribers, and to my friends on Facebook, I ask you to join me — hit the link below, listen, share, and keep his songs moving forward. Let’s help Joey Mazzone’s wish to come true. Let's keep his music alive!

Rest in peace, Joey.

Love you always, my brother in music.

7.15.1999 - 8.7.2026

Gary England

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The Lone Ranger Ghostwriter Takes Off His Mask: Is Ghostwriting Really Worth It In The End?

Is Ghostwriting Really Worth It In The End?

 In my almost six decades in the media, it wasn’t just being a writer or ghostwriting for other writers; it was a lifelong learning experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to learn the music and entertainment side of the business from some of the best minds worldwide. I stayed invisible for most of that career — a shadow with a typewriter — until 2008, when I punched the time clock for the very last time. From then until today, I’ve been drifting through the rough, unpredictable freelance waters of Las Vegas, still wearing the ghostwriter’s Lone Ranger mask. To about ninety‑nine percent of the people around me, I’m just the old guy who writes about Vegas music, snaps a few photos, and tries not to make too many waves in the local scene. But there’s more to this old guy than meets the eye!

Last month, I decided to try and go clean, calling a ton of the people from my past experiences. Many have already gone to the music scene in the sky, many businesses don’t keep records from back then, and many of the folks I worked with or worked for don’t exist anymore. Guess I’m stuck with all of my learned knowledge and have no place to use it. Or is there?

After I decided to go clean, I took it a step further — I started building a job résumé, something that could put me back in the grind and let me use this head full of knowledge where it works best: right here in the music scene I dig so much.

Turns out me shooting my mouth off about ways to advertise and promote music events — my suggestions about the music biz, and my blog musicentertainmentsports.blogspot.com — has caught a few people’s eyes. The stuff I write about, the ideas I throw out there, the advice I give… it works. And suddenly people are asking: Who is this guy? This guy says the music scene needs fixing, and he’s bold enough to claim he’s the one who can fix it. Is he crazy?

No. I’m the guy with six decades in the biz — the guy who’s been there, done that, and still has the scars and the stories to prove it. A few recent events in my life have changed this old guy, and if you don’t take me seriously, maybe you’ll listen when I finally take the Lone Ranger mask off. I know some will take this post as me shooting my mouth off — ha! — but like I said, a few people have figured the old guy out. And a few have started asking questions about who this old guy really is.

But that’s not the question. The real question is: When is somebody — or someone with a little pull — in the local entertainment scene going to call my “All In” bet that I just might be the old guy who can fix what’s broken around here?

Gary England

Queensrÿche Hit Las Vegas Saturday Night Inside The Cannery Casino Hotel With A Meteor Barrage Of Non-Stop Hits That Left The Club Glowing in the Afterburn!

 Saturday, September 5th, 2026

Queensryche 

Cannery Casino Hotel "The Club"

{The Band}

Queensrÿche’s evolution from their early 1980s metal beginnings to the present day reads like a masterclass in artistic growth! 

They rose quickly with a sound that blended heavy-metal precision, power‑metal fire, and the atmospheric ambition that would make them pioneers of progressive metal. Through the decades, the band kept pushing boundaries, refining their craft, and expanding their musical reach. 

Then came June 2012 — a turning point that felt less like a shake‑up and more like a rebirth. Todd La Torre stepped in and immediately reignited the band’s signature energy, bringing a fresh spark that lit up both studio and stage. 

Joined by founding forces Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson, the return of guitarist Mike Stone, and the dynamic drumming of Casey Grillo, 

Queensrÿche stands today as a revitalized, battle‑ready band, one that honors its legacy while hitting the modern era with renewed strength and unmistakable purpose!

{Inside The Club}

Saturday night, Queensrÿche stormed The Club stage inside the Cannery Casino Hotel and took no hostages, firing off a set of over 90 minutes that hit the room like a precision‑guided missile! 

Queensrÿche hit the Cannery like a detonation, blasting through swirling lights, rolling smoke, and arena‑grade sound. It was a totally awesome experience!

The band erupted like a sonic boom, sending metal shrapnel across the crowd as they launched straight into "Queen of the Reich". They kept the adrenaline spiking with "Operation Mindcrime", "Walk In The Shadows", "Speak", "I Don't Believe In Love", "Best I Can", and "Warning". Before Todd threw the switch and blasted the house lights back on, he leaned into this easy, laid‑back moment with the crowd, a full showroom of diehards packed tight into The Club. He wasn’t “addressing an audience”; he was talking with old friends, thanking everyone for showing up and hitting the night with the kind of energy only Las Vegas fans bring. It felt like one of those catch‑ups you fall into with people you haven’t seen in a while — warm, familiar, and real.

Those few minutes felt like the calm before the next detonation — a rare, quiet pocket in the night where the band caught their breath and the room held still. It wasn’t long, just enough time for Queensrÿche to reset, reload, and let the adrenaline settle for half a heartbeat.

And when they kicked back in, it was obvious that breather didn’t slow them down; it supercharged them. Their internal metal meter wasn’t just back in the green; it was pegged past 100%, redlining like a machine built to run hotter than physics should allow!

Queensrÿche came out swinging like a trained MMA fighter with a score to settle, blasting into the set with "Neue Regel", "Behind the Walls"," Take Hold of the Flame", and "Silent Lucidity". By then, The Club wasn’t just packed — it was alive, every voice locked in, every fan singing every word like they were right up there onstage with the band.

Then came the next barrage: "Jet City Woman", "Screaming in Digital", and "Anarchy X" — each one hitting with the force of a flaming meteor slamming straight into the Las Vegas Strip.

Another quick breather followed, just long enough for Todd to introduce the band and share a moment with the fans packed into the Club. Then Queensrÿche fired off the final salvo: "Revolution Calling", "Empire", and the night‑ending knockout punch, "Eyes of a Stranger".

As for my review grade?

Queensrÿche closed out the night like a band dead‑set on proving why they’re still one of the most lethal forces in metal. Every member was firing at peak power — razor‑sharp guitars slicing through the room, bass lines rumbling like underground Vegas thunder, drums hitting with the precision of a seasoned prizefighter, and Todd’s vocals soaring, snarling, and commanding every inch of The Club. The lighting rig blasted the stage in waves of neon fire, smoke curled around the band like a living creature, and the sound system punched with arena‑level force that felt impossible for a club room to contain.

It wasn’t just a concert — it was a full‑scale metal storm, a night where every song landed like a meteor strike and every moment reminded you why Queensrÿche still owns any stage they step onto.

I walked in as a classic rock writer… I walked out a full-blown metalhead.

Gary England

Brought to you by Boyd Gaming

Yellow Brick Road: Vegas’ Eternal Rock Pulse Erupts Inside Santa Fe Station’s Chrome Showroom Last Night!

 Friday Sept. 4th

Yellow Brick Road

Santa Fe Station Chrome Showroom

It had been way too long since I last got blasted by the powerhouse known as Yellow Brick Road. Too many nights, too many bands, too many neon‑soaked distractions; you know how Vegas chews up the calendar and spits out your free time!

So, when Friday night finally rolled in, I was locked, loaded, and primed to take a full‑throttle sonic hit right to the chin!

I was more than fired up for a night of classic rock heavyweights, delivered by one of Sin City’s longest‑running, never‑say‑die bands — the mighty Yellow Brick Road, still tearing up Las Vegas like the neon never burned out.

The clock slammed into nine, and it was on! If you’ve ever caught Yellow Brick Road in the wild, you already know — this band doesn’t ease into anything. They hit the stage like they’re kicking down a door.

Panama, We Will Rock You, a blast of Eddie Money, Two Tickets to Paradise, and a shot of Sweet Emotion — the whole room lit up. The crowd went from warm to volcanic, bodies shifting forward, itching to spill onto the dance floor the second the groove cracked open!

A couple of shots of Tom Petty — American Girl and Runnin’ Down a Dream — blew through the room, giving David St. John a bright spotlight to flex that low‑end thunder he’s famous for. Then YBR eased off the gas just long enough to slide into REO Speedwagon’s Can’t Fight This Feeling, and yeah… you could hear Mark Cole now.

Mark didn’t just play — he detonated. His Van Halen Eruption solo ripped through the showroom like a lightning strike, every note sharp enough to cut glass.

Then Corky Gainsford stepped up and absolutely wrecked the drum kit with a fan‑favorite solo under the full blaze of the lights — pure rhythmic violence, the kind Vegas lives for.

Frontman Kelly Christian took the reins next, showing off that killer voice with Any Way You Want It, Eminence Front, Cult of Personality, All Right Now, and a scorching Hot for Teacher to slam the door on the night.

Yellow Brick Road didn’t just play a show. They torched the stage and walked off like legends.

If you crave classic rock that still swings a sledgehammer, Yellow Brick Road is a must‑see and see‑again!

A Las Vegas staple since 1997, these guys don’t just play the classics — they make Classic Rock proud!

Gary England

Classic Rock Friday Explosive Metal Saturday: Las Vegas At Full Volume This Weekend!

 This weekend on garyengland.com, the city is getting a two‑night sonic beating delivered by two of the most respected bands working today, each in a venue built to amplify their signature chaos.

Tonight: Friday at 9 PM, inside the Chrome Showroom at the Santa Fe Station, Yellow Brick Road takes over. One of the longest‑running, most beloved rock institutions locally in Las Vegas. They don’t just play classic rock; they resurrect it with arena‑grade precision, soaring vocals, and guitar work sharp enough to slice through the neon haze. The Chrome Showroom’s tight acoustics and chrome‑trimmed glow turn their set into a time‑warp back to the golden age of stadium rock, where every chorus feels like a victory lap, and every riff hits like a memory you forgot you missed!

Then tomorrow night, Saturday at 8 PM, the entire vibe detonates as Queensrÿche storms into the Club Showroom inside the Cannery Casino Hotel in North Las Vegas. This is a progressive metal royalty band that built its legacy on technical firepower, operatic intensity, and dark, cinematic storytelling. Their live show is a full‑scale metal assault, engineered with surgical precision and delivered with the kind of force that makes the walls vibrate. The Club Showroom is the perfect battleground for their sound: close, loud, and designed to let every kick drum thump and every guitar line slice straight through the crowd.

Classic Rock Friday. Explosive Metal Saturday. 

One legendary local band grinding its legacy into the Local Las Vegas music scene, one show at a time, and one band whose legacy is welded into the very genre they helped create! 

* For tickets to Queensrÿche, head to Ticketmaster: ticketmaster.com.

Gary England

Direct Link for Tickets

Come Witness The Hardcore Metal Devastation Of Queensrÿche This Saturday September 5th Inside The Cannery Casino Hotel in North Las Vegas

 Las Vegas metal faithful, brace yourselves — Queensrÿche is storming into the Cannery Casino Hotel this Saturday, Sept. 5th (8pm show), and they’re bringing the kind of firepower that built an entire genre from the ground up!

Queensrÿche didn’t just stumble into metal history; they carved their initials into it! Rising out of the early‑’80s Pacific Northwest scene, Queensrÿche fused precision musicianship with dark cinematic storytelling and helped define what progressive metal could be. Four decades later, after world tours, lineup evolutions, and more than 20 million albums sold, they’re still ripping stages apart with a blast so violent that it feels like Las Vegas itself is detonating in neon‑soaked chaos, leaving the other bands stumbling through the wreckage like they never should’ve stepped into the Queensrÿche firestorm!

Queensrÿche hits Vegas with a lineup built to rattle the Cannery to its core. Todd La Torre fires off the classics with skyscraper‑high range and jet‑engine force, giving the band’s legacy a fierce modern edge. On guitars, Michael “Whip” Wilton and Mike Stone deliver a twin‑attack of razor‑sharp riffs and heavy, metal power that slams like a freight train. Eddie Jackson anchors it all with thunderous, melodic bass lines that hold the whole beast together, while Casey Grillo drives the show with explosive, precision drumming that fuels Queensrÿche’s full‑throttle live assault.

Their show this coming Saturday is going to feel like a guided tour through the band’s entire evolution: the atmospheric epics, the riff‑driven bangers, the emotional heavy‑hitters.

You’ll get the essentials — “Silent Lucidity,” “Eyes of a Stranger,” “Jet City Woman,” plus deeper cuts and newer tracks that prove Queensrÿche is still pushing forward, tearing into Vegas with a shockwave of Sin City arena chaos that hits like a neon‑charged blast and leaves everything else shaking in its wake!

*If you’re ready to get swept into the chaos, the power, and the full Queensrÿche experience, lock in your spot now — tickets start at $36.10, and you can snag them through Ticketmaster.com, cannery.boydgaming.com, or grab them in person at the Cannery or any Boyd retail gift shop.

Come dive headfirst into the full metal chaos, the kind of electrifying, all‑in metal experience only Queensrÿche can unleash!

Gary England

Roxy’s Battle Cry: — A Music Venue’s Fight To Keep The Amps Warm And The Doors Open For Business!

 

Thanks to Christina Vitagliano and Rob Hussey— two of the undisputed trailblazers in our Las Vegas music tribe — for dropping a Facebook flare this morning and spotlighting Hangout Bar & Grill’s post about the heavy reality hitting ROXY’S BAR & GRILL. Not about the circumstances around the post. But the reality of the venue side of the music industry.

ROXY’S BAR & GRILL is grinding in the trenches of bar life, kitchen chaos, and the live‑music battlefield, fighting to keep the amps warm and the doors open.

If you want the straight, unfiltered truth about what it takes to survive in this business, their post is a must‑read. Hit the link to get enlightened Here.

Las Vegas needs to stay wide awake to the hazards lurking in the music‑venue game — this town has watched more stages go dark in the last few years than any city built on neon and nightlife should ever go through! Each closure should be a reminder of how brutal the fight is to keep live music alive in a city that claims to run on it!

After reading ROXY’S BAR & GRILL’s post about their fight to stay alive, it doesn’t just tug at you — it detonates in your chest like a stack of Marshalls pushed past redline. It’s the kind of raw truth that should light a fire under every fan in this city.

Because this isn’t just about cheering for your favorite local bands. This is about backing the venues — the gritty, neon‑soaked battlegrounds where those bands are born, tested, and unleashed. These places pour their souls into the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, the stage, the sound, the whole damn experience… and people forget one crucial thing:

These aren’t just hangouts. They’re businesses fighting for survival in a city that claims to worship live music.

So, if you love the bands, love the scene, love the nights that turn into memories, then you need to show some love to the venues that make it all possible!

Gary England

The Local Las Vegas Music Scene Is Tired: It's Time To Wake It Up!

 

Just so you won't think that this old rock writer has gone mental, this blog came from 9 calls, 7 text messages, and a handful of Facebook Messenger conversations from both musicians and fans from this weekend alone. 

So, I felt like it was time to address what was said to my local readers.

For years, my phone buzzed with positive vibes from musicians and fans. I’d walk into a music venue or club and get hit with that familiar surge: “Hey man, big show coming up!” “Got something new dropping!” It felt like the whole city was tuned to the same frequency — loud, proud, hopeful, electric!

But somewhere along the line, the tone shifted. The buzz faded. Conversations got heavier. Where musicians once talked about momentum, now they talk about burnout. Moving away from Vegas!

Where fans once hyped upcoming shows, now they vent about drama, fatigue, or the scene feeling “different.” And the strangest part? Nobody’s saying it out loud. From what I see, people are carrying this shift quietly, keeping it tucked behind their stage smiles and social posts — 

But they trust me (The Old man in the business) enough to let the truth slip through in side comments, phone texts, and through conversation just between me and you, ok!

So, I called my poker‑playing psychologist friend — the guy who can read a human being the way most musicians read a setlist — and asked him what the hell was happening. He told me the scene isn’t dying; the people in it are tired. Emotional fatigue, validation withdrawal, saturation, burnout contagion — a perfect storm of pressure hitting everyone at once. And tired artists talk differently. They feel differently. They react differently. The vibe changes long before anyone admits it.

In other words, Vegas didn’t lose its music. It just lost a little of its spark — and everyone’s waiting for someone to flip the switch back on.

So, I asked my poker‑playing doc friend: how can our local music scene get its spark back, and how can the switch get turned back on?

Here’s what my $150‑an‑hour, lay‑on‑his‑couch, poker-playing psychologist friend told me.

He didn’t blink, didn’t flinch, didn’t soften the edges. He broke it down like he was reading the Vegas music scene the same way he reads a table full of players on tilt — straight odds, no emotion, just the truth musicians don’t want to say out loud.

{My Doc Friend's Take}

The fix isn’t complicated, but it does require intention: musicians need to reconnect instead of isolate, celebrate each other’s wins instead of compare, rebuild trust with venues, make fans feel valued, and bring back the fun that made everyone fall in love with playing in the first place. Vegas didn’t lose its music — it just needs a jolt of unity, gratitude, creativity, and community to light the room again.

If the scene wants its old fire back, it has to choose to turn the switch on together!

No more jealousy, no more haters, no more talking behind other people's backs!

Gary England