Psycho Las Vegas SOLD OUT Day 2!! King Diamond, Ace Frehley, Carcass, Gojira and More!

This was a BIG Day 2 at Psycho Las Vegas, with solid metal bands from opening to close. Virginia's COUGH opened the Joint stage, a sludge / doom metal band that really set the tone for the day. Old school metalheads DIAMOND HEAD were next, formed in Stourbridge England in1976, and are best known for their big hit "Am I Evil" that all true metal fans know, and the crowd loved every minute of it.

Diamond Head Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

Surprise of performer of the day MYRKUR followed Diamond Head, andis a solo project of Danish musician Amalie Bruun. Bruun's sound is haunting and sinister and larger than life.The name Myrkur is Icelandic for 'darkness', and her sound is eerie black metal and she performed under dark blue lighting which adds to her haunting stage presence. She is definitely a must see!

Myrkur Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

Things really heated up as the next band took the stage, and got the biggest crowd reaction of any band all weekend. CARCASS stormed the stage and the bodies started flying - huge mosh pits opened up and the crowd surged forward toward the stage and people were crowd surfing over the front barricade. Carcass was formed back in 1995 and are an extreme metal band and they brought all they had on this afternoon - totally a blast!

Carcass Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

Flashback to when I was much younger going to concerts, and 'the hottest band in the land' was KISS! Most of the photographers were excited about shooting this legendary KISS guitarist, the one and only ACE FREHLEY and his band took the stage with Richie Scarlet on guitar, Chris Wyse (Cult) on bass and Scot Coogan on drums and vocals. Ace opened the show with the KISS song "Parasite" followed by "Toys" from his Space Invaders solo album. Ace played more KISS songs including "Rocket Ride", "Love Gun", "Detroit Rock City" and "Deuce", classic Ace "New York Groove", and no Ace Frehley show would be complete if he didn’t perform his infamous smoking guitar solo.

CAce Frehley Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

EARTHLESS from San Diego was a psychedelic instrumental band that really fit the theme of Psycho Las Vegas, with long non stop songs and hard trippy guitar playing. But the #1 band I wanted to see live (they just performed 2 weeks earlier before 100.000 people opening for Metallica at the Rose Bowl) GOJIRA put on the best performance of any band this entire weekend! Their live show is something to behold, between the lights, sound and smoke canons Gojira was on fire and a force to be reckoned with. Gojira played their current monster hit "Stranded" early into their set sending the crowd into a frenzy. I have not heard another band sound like them and their live performance is not to be missed - catch them on their current continued tour.

Earthless Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

Gojira Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

Dark and eerie NEUROSIS from Oakland, California (who also is another old school band formed in 1986) took the stage, with their experimental sludge and hard heavy metal sound, and disturbing videos of death and live autopsies playing on both screens located on the sides of the stage.

Neurosis Photos: Harold Mountain / JustAFan Photos

You could feel the energy rise in the sold out venue as the crowd prepared for headliner KING DIAMOND. This was the biggest crowd of any band all weekend, as it was standing room only even upstairs. The house lights went down and the huge two story stage of King Diamond was revealed, to the cheers of the enormous crowd. Out comes the creepy old woman in a wheelchair as the band rips into "Welcome Home", and you heard the screeching sound of King’s voice scream "GRANDMAAA…!" King Diamond's microphone was made up of a femur and a tiber bone in the shape of a cross, and with a top hat and black and white facepaint, King Diamond was an imposing figure on stage, singing throughout the show with his trademark falsetto voice. King Diamond gave us both musically and visually a show you to remember!!