The Return of Earshot at Vamp'd Vegas with Words as Weapons and The Nocturnal Affair

John Gist and Vegas Rock Revolution put together a triple-header of hard rock at Count's Vamp'd, bringing the LA based alt-metal band Earshot out of hiatus to play with two of Las Vegas' own hard-rockin' groups, Words As Weapons and The Nocturnal Affair.

Words as Weapons had the task of getting the crowd warmed up and they proved more than up to the challenge, as vocalist Stace Wagle took charge and pumped up the crowd. WAW is a fairly new group, with this being only their third live performance - their live debut was quite memorable, when they took part in the Star Treatments Fundraising Benefit, headlined by Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stone Sour) and hosted by Matt DiRito (Pop Evil) back in December. Since then they have undergone a lineup change, having recruited Dirt Halo front-man Bobby Santen to help out on guitar and backing vocals. WAW seem to be heading in the right direction and have already begun to develop a strong local following.

The Nocturnal Affair was next to take the stage, and if you follow the local rock/metal scene you should have heard of them already. They recently made it to runner-up on Top Golf's battle-of-the-bands style music reality show, "Who Will Rock You?", and they have a huge local following and for good reason - this is a band that is going places, and are part of Dez Fafara's (Devil Driver/Coal Chamber) The Oracle Management group. Front to back they are a solid group of musicians, and vocalist Brendan Shane has a distinct sound that fits well with the dark, gothic metal sound that they produce. Check out their latest single, "Into the Darkness" HERE.

Formed in 1999, Earshot has produced 3 full-length studio albums and one EP, and their debut album, Letting Go in 2002, produced the single "Get Away"which peaked at number 6 on the Mainstream Rock Charts and remained in the top 100 for over 60 weeks! Their follow-up album, Two (2004), produced another huge single, "Wait", and their last full album release, The Silver Lining (2008), also had a huge single, "MisSunderstood". This Vegas performance was the first live performance for Earshot in about 8 years, but front man Wil Martin showed no signs of rust, belting out hit after hit and reminding me why I fell in love with his music many years ago. It's hard to believe that "Get Away" is close to 20 years old! Earshot put on a fantastic performance and I hope they keep playing now that they have gotten back on the live stage.