Noise

[Noise]

Book ’em, Roxy

Squiggy’s turns to veteran promoter to beef up concert calendar

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Roxy and Jesse Amoroso really love green.
Photo: Aaron Thompson

Booking manager Roxy Amoroso is stressing, and it’s not yet 9:30 p.m. There’s a bartender trying to enforce parking restrictions while her bands are trying to set up, and making noise about all the $20s she’s getting. No matter. Amoroso isn’t going to let it ruin her night. It’s simply life for the primary talent booker for Squiggy’s—a bar making the most noise in post-Cooler Lounge Las Vegas.

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“It’s my friend’s bar and a cozy little dive, but in a way, it’s also an ode to Rich Connicks,” says Amoroso, referring to the former booker at the Cooler, which closed in 2007 after a 20-plus-year run. Connicks, Amoroso’s onetime roommate, still influences her when it comes to putting together shows.

But where the Cooler had a long history of punk and metal, Squiggy’s—a 77-capacity bar located on West Sahara Avenue near Valley View—seems more open to other musical genres. “We don’t want to get in a pigeonhole by only doing a certain kind of show,” Amoroso says.

Future plans include everything from punk to indie, with a heavy emphasis on local-based acts. “I like dealing with local bands; they seem more down to earth,” she explains.

The 28-year-old mom-to-be has been here before. She and husband Jesse promoted at both the Roadhouse and the Club House—the former closed when a shooting occurred outside the club, the latter when a business partner pulled out. Though slightly apprehensive about getting back into the booking game, Amoroso says she won’t stop helping the scene she loves. “I’m anxious, definitely,” she says. “It’s like I’m a burn victim, and I’m like, ‘Do I want to play with fire again, or am I going to get burned?’”

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