Crashing Wayward, Colossal Street Jam, and Noize Complaint – Three Sets of Rock at Vamp’d!

Crashing Wayward played Count’s Vamp’d on Saturday, June 8, 2024, with support acts Noize Complaint and Colossal Street Jam.

Vamp’d remains Las Vegas’ top house of rock and roll, with Danny “The Count” and Korie Koker continuing to book the best bands from Vegas and Beyond. With the release of a new comic book, Crashing Wayward once again took the stage at Vamp’d to rock audiences and deliver another killer show. Along for the ride were two support acts as well. One local, and one from the other end of the nation.

Starting off the festivities on this evening was Noize Complaint. Although I’ve seen Jake Bruen on the Vamp’d stage a few times with various acts and events, perhaps most notably the KISS Night in Las Vegas fundraiser a few months back, this was my first time catching this group. And I have to say, I was certainly not disappointed! Definitely a harder-edged modern-sounding band, this was a refreshing change of pace to the same old bands around town who do nothing but cover old 80s songs; the tunes Noize Complaint does certainly would be right at home on modern-rock radio and rightfully so.

In addition to their originals, Noize Complaint did throw in a few solid covers, including Avenged Sevenfold’s “Bat Country,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark at the Moon,” and even a great rendition of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” for which Bree Elizabeth Forsberg joined Jake and transformed it into a duet. There were many great moments in this set, and it certainly won’t be the last time I check the band out.

The one non-Vegas act to play this set was Colossal Street Jam, from New Jersey. Completely the opposite of Noize Complaint but no less excellent, this group has a fantastic throwback sound, sounding like they could’ve walked out of a time machine from the 1970s. And the fact that their set was almost entirely original songs that sounded like they were of this bygone age was even more remarkable. The group also included a keyboard player, which is something many rock bands these days are sorely lacking, fully completing the group’s retro-style sound.

Featuring many surprisingly talented and diverse players, their set was anything but boring. Clearly wanting to close things out in a big way, the group did just that with a cover of Sugarloaf’s classic anthem, “Green Eyed Lady.” They were one on the expected surprises on this evening of rock, and I hope we’ll get them back in Sin City soon!

But of course, the headliners for this evening were Crashing Wayward. The group released their first full-length album of material a year ago, and was gathered once again at Vamp’d to celebrate something more – both the release of their newly-made comic book, as well as the release of a new single, “In Bed With My Head.”

The group features vocalist Peter Summit Ross, drummer Shon McKee, bassist Carl Raether, and guitarists Stacey David Blades and David Harris. Although Blades had a long association with classic 80s rockers LA Guns, Crashing Wayward is a whole different animal, taking in more of a modern/alternative rock style sound.

Having released an album last year, Crashing Wayward has plenty of material to form a whole set of music around. I was worried that, seeing as how this was a gig with three bands playing, the group would have to perform a shorter set, though this thankfully was not the case. The band played a lengthy and very full set, featuring their originals plus several covers from groups including Filter, Stone Temple Pilots, and Velvet Revolver, to name a few. The group has a great chemistry on the live stage, with vocalist Ross being right in the face of the audience, up close and personal. The chemistry of the band members showed from start to finish, as it does every time around.

A Crashing Wayward show is many things. Boring is not one of them. Even when audiences thought this gig was over following a performance of the band’s newest single (and music had already started playing over the venue speakers again), the audience returned for one last one-two punch of music, further satisfying an already impressed crowed.

Crashing Wayward’s star is still rising, and it’s great to see them rocking both the studio and the stage. If you haven’t heard the group, what are you waiting for? And while you’re at it, add their comic book to your collection as well.

Live photos by Taylor Carlson for ZrockR Magazine 2024 – All Rights Reserved.