A&E

Five acts to catch at this year’s Las Rageous fest

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Rob Zombie headlines Saturday at Las Rageous.
Courtesy
Josh Bell

Beartooth (Courtesy)

Beartooth (Saturday, 7:20 p.m., U Stage) Las Rageous fans were disappointed when these Ohio hard rockers canceled their appearance at last year’s festival just days before, so consider this year’s booking a welcome make-up date. Masterminded by frontman Caleb Shomo, Beartooth mixes memorable hooks with aggressive guitars in a slick, radio-friendly format that owes as much to pop-punk as it does to hardcore and metal. The band’s latest project is an acoustic EP with country-style arrangements of songs from 2018 album Disease, combining two genres that reliably draw live-music crowds in Vegas.

He is Legend (Courtesy)

He is Legend (Friday, 6:10 p.m., U Stage) There’s a bit of Southern drawl and a bit of stoner sludge in the hard rock from this North Carolina band, which has been steadily building a fan following and critical acclaim over the past 15 years of heavy touring. Las Rageous tends to give a bit of space each year to an act or two that could fit in at fellow hard rock festival Psycho Las Vegas, and this year that’s He Is Legend, with its grimy (yet accessible) mix of heavy riffs and catchy, slightly twangy melodies.

Poppy (Courtesy)

Poppy (Friday, 5:20 p.m., U Stage) The latest reinvention from YouTube performance artist and all-around internet weirdo Poppy is as … a metal singer? After releasing albums ranging from deliberately sleep-inducing ambient music to radio-friendly electro-pop, Poppy has now signed with influential metal label Sumerian Records and put out a series of singles drenched in heavy guitars. Her full-length Sumerian debut won’t be out until January, so it’s tough to say how metal Poppy will really get. But whatever she does, it’s bound to be presented in the meta, avant-garde context of all her work, with arch commentary on the nature of metal itself. Expect the Las Rageous audience to wind up either mesmerized or confused.

Rob Zombie (Saturday, 11:20 p.m., U Stage) It’s sort of surprising Las Rageous headliner Rob Zombie hasn’t become the first metal artist with a full-on Vegas residency. His over-the-top stage presence, with its substantial influences from grindhouse and horror cinema, is like a fun-house ride through Zombie’s snarling hit singles, both solo and with former band White Zombie. Zombie has been more focused on his filmmaking career lately (his most recent film, 3 From Hell, came out last month), but that just means he’s got more kaleidoscopic visuals to add to his live performances, exactly the kind of spectacle that fits Halloween season in Vegas.

The Hu (Courtesy)

The Hu (Saturday, 6 p.m., U Stage) This Mongolian band, which combines the ancestral folk music and throat singing of its native country with modern rock elements, has become one of the most surprising successes on rock radio in recent years—and one the most adventurous bookings in Las Rageous’ three-year history. Playing indigenous instruments like the morin khuur and the tovshuur and singing entirely in Mongolian, The Hu sound nothing like any other rock band. The focus on ancient warrior culture (one of The Hu’s most popular songs is “The Great Chinggis Khan”) has a long history in hard rock and metal, making The Hu simultaneously radical and traditional.

Las Rageous October 18-19, 4 p.m.-1 a.m., $67/day, $113-146/fest. Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, lasrageous.com.

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