ZAR POWER Out in the backyard at a house on the westside, Mercy Music finished up a midday set as a sea of heads looked on. To the left of the sweaty throng, partiers cannonballed into the pool as a smaller music fan—the house pup Krieger—waited for Dark Black to set up inside. The house show, dubbed Zarfest 3 to mark the DIY gathering’s third year, switched things up this time. Former sessions have focused more on punk and hardcore, and while bands like Anti-Vision, Narrowed, Unfair Fight and Hard Pipe Hitters participated on Saturday, acts like Rusty Maples, Special-K, Twin Cities and The Rifleman broadened the musical spectrum. The house, known as Zarfest Fairgrounds (search around for the address; we won’t post it here), hosts shows all year long, and plans are already in the works for Zarfest 4.
VIDEO VICTORY The Las Vegas Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday, and local electro-rock band Glass Pools and Vegas filmmaker Steven Z. Smith were among its latest batch of winners, taking first place in the music video lab contest. They paired up to create a cute yet terrifying narrative for single “Dumb” to come out on top of a field that also included Alaska, Hassan, O Wildly , WNTRBRK and Dusty Sunshine, the latter taking second place (with director Justin Bergonzoni) for “Baby Girl.”
FRIEND ZONE The Bunkhouse hosted an eclectic night of progressive and folk rock on Thursday, featuring Vegas acts Wax Pig Melting and Dear Friend Time, marking the latter’s first gig in more than a year. Featuring the animated Seth Babcock (formerly of Hoka Hey) on vocals and Rafael Lemos (Days After Hail) on guitar and vocals, Dear Friend Time mixed elements of hip-hop, folk and spoken word and featured a guest appearance by scene compatriots Dana Dau and Ang Kerfoot. DFT is currently working on new recordings.
ALSO Vegas synth-poppers Rabid Young will release a follow-up to the band’s EP 1, titled Before You Go, on July 1. The band’s first EP is available at rabidyoung.com.
