ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH is in Session…. With a Special Guest Star!

The latest ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH gig took place Sunday, September 27, 2026 at the Copa Room inside the Tuscany Hotel and Casino.

Following the closure of Count’s Vamp’d last year, no other venue in Vegas has done more to pick up the slack than the Tuscany Hotel and Casino, with their Copa Room venue (not to be confused with the similarly named venue at the Bootlegger restaurant), with the room continuing to book local, national, and international talent alike, giving rockers in Sin City what they want and then some! My thanks as always to an incredible crew of people, including Mike, Brian, Mitch, Grayson, and everyone else who has turned this spot into the best gathering place for local rock and roll in Las Vegas over the past year.

The final Sunday of every month in the afternoon is time set aside for ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH, a monthly combination of a brunch buffet and rock and roll jam. The band consists of Andrew Freeman, Barry Barnes, Christian Brady, and Shon McKee; these names will be immediately familiar to anyone who follows Sin City’s music scene. The jams can also include special guests… and we got an unexpected and major one at the latest ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH. More on that later.

Patrons to the ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH gigs have the option of paying a small cover charge, and/or purchasing the brunch buffet as well as bottomless mimosas. The assortment of food for the buffet differs slightly each month, but some of the highlights this month included eggs, breakfast potatoes, fried chicken breast with white gravy, waffles with syrup, and some delicious apple fritters that I may have eaten a few too many of. Unsurprisingly, each gig seems to attract a larger audience than the last. You’ll be hard pressed to find entertainment and a buffet for this low of a price anywhere else in Las Vegas, let alone under the same roof at the same time!

The band was quickly underway; the average ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH gig opens doors long enough prior to the performance that patrons can find seating and begin enjoying their food and drinks. The actual performance usually goes from around 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, usually lasting just shy of two hours. And while every member of this band is musically proficient, these guys aren’t shy about breaking out a sense of humor as well. Whether those moments are intentional or not. Everything from a dropped mic stand to a flub in a song quickly becomes a punchline. No matter how much talent is under this room, there are no elitist attitudes or egos. That’s part of the reason I love attending this show every month.

The sheer array and variety of music speaks for itself. Once second, you can hear the band playing classic rock fare like Genesis’ “Turn It On Again” and the title cut from Pink Floyd’s seminal 1975 album WISH YOU WERE HERE (complete with Andrew Freeman on 12-string guitar!) The next, you have Christian Brady assuming lead vocals for “Hey Joe,” the old blues tune popularized by Jimi Hendrix. This set also went into 80s hard rock territory with songs like Motley Crue’s “Live Wire” and Mr. Big’s “Addicted to That Rush.” Even the grunge and alternative eras aren’t left out. And some ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH gigs have surprise guests… but perhaps none as surprising as the one we got on stage this time.

This time around, the ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH guest was none other than David Ellefson! Ellefson was the original bassist and co-founder of the band Megadeth in the 1980s, having served two stints with the band over the years. Following the parting of ways, he formed a new group called Kings of Thrash alongside fellow former Megadeth members Jeff Young and Chris Poland, who’ve been doing a fantastic job keeping those old tunes and sounds alike. He’s even played with Metal Church! Ellefson took the stage and did two songs with the ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH band, those being a cover of the Megadeth classic “Symphony of Destruction,” and a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” (Megadeth actually recorded a cover of the song in the 1990s for a Black Sabbath tribute album). While it would’ve been nice if we could’ve gotten a few more tunes with Mr. Ellefson rocking the four strings, I’m damn grateful for what we got. It was an unexpected surprise of the best kind.

Everyone in the house had a great time, with the band and the audience equally enthusiastic. Following the conclusion, members of the band as well as Mr. Ellefson were kind enough to mingle with the fans. This is my most awaited rock show of the month, every month, and it isn’t hard at all to see why. If you love rock and roll, good food, and all of the above in the same spot, don’t miss the next ROCK AND ROLL CHURCH!