A look back at 10 of Vegoose’s most memorable musical moments
10. Sleater-Kinney signs off (October 30, 2005): The Washington trio finally plays Las Vegas, a few months before the group calls it quits.
9. The Shins dress for success (October 29, 2005): What’s cooler than watching nuns bash on guitars and drink cans of Budweiser? Maybe when the same band surprises with a killer cover of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” on the same stage two years later.
8. Buckethead goes Vader (October 28, 2006): The masked crusader made Praxis’ Year 2 set a Star Wars-y good time with the fest’s all-time craziest guitar piece. (Watch it at youtube.com/watch?v=pngkxpmhMAg.)
7. Iggy vs. his microphones (October 27, 2007): The world’s baddest-ass 60-year-old frontman kept The Stooges’ roadies on their toes, demolishing a slew of mic heads and cords with his awesomely destructive behavior.
6. Arcade Fire consents to a cover (October 30, 2005): As if seeing the Canadian collective in Vegoose wasn’t wondrous enough, their version of New Order’s “Age of Consent” was pure heaven.
5. Dave and Panic pack the stadium (October 30 & 31, 2005): Did Rebel football boosters ever check with Dave Matthews or Widespread Panic about the possibility of coming back to play halftime?
4. Mars Volta’s hour-long “song” (October 28, 2006): Yes, it was self-indulgent. No, it wasn’t exactly what we were hoping to hear. But damn, was it ever unforgettable!
3. A Rage-ing inferno (October 28, 2007): Lighting fires when Rage Against the Machine takes the stage would be about the dumbest thing we can think of … if it hadn’t seriously enhanced the experience.
2. Daft Punk challenges the Luxor for pyramid supremacy (October 27, 2007): If Vegoose did nothing else, it brought electronic music’s all-time most over-the-top stage show to Las Vegas.
1. M.I.A. gets, like, 10,000 people onstage with her (October 27, 2007): The Sri Lankan wildcat nearly brought the house down—literally—with the best festival stunt this side of The Flaming Lips.