All Star Jams have been around for many years; some good, some bad, some really ugly, lol.  Tribute bands have as well.  The newer phenomenon is the all star jam group that does covers or is a tribute band, and  add to that the ones that have special guests join them on stage and just jam out, to the music of the special guest and various other great rock songs.  That would be The Sin City Sinners

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This great band was formed by Brent Muscat – Lead and Backing Vocals and Guitar (who has played in various bands including Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Donner Party, Bubble, The Sin City All Stars, and Adler’s Appetite), and is comprised of Todd Kerns - Lead and Backing Vocals, Guitar and Bass (Age Of Electric-formerly known as Electric, The Wicked Infants, Bladerunner, Static In Stereo, and Todd Kerns Odyssey), Mike Szuter – Bass and Guitar, Backing and Lead Vocals (Paul Gilbert Band – Paul Gilbert is also from Racer X and Mr. Big fame, plus the 2007 G3 tour with Joe Satriani), and on Drums is Rob Cournoyer (Raging Slab).

To have been a member or played in any of these various groups and /or projects means that you must have talent and know your stuff.  You can’t be a slouch or just try to get by.  It will become very evident very quickly, you will be found out very quickly, and in short order, laughed off stage.  Take all of this talent and combine it together and you get something very special, very wonderful.  You get the Sin City Sinners. This is one  treasure that Las Vegas is very lucky to have.

The Sin City Sinners are a band which have definitely made a name for themselves, even extending into Canada (they have a street team up there as well). Among the star studded guest list that has played with them are the following:

Clint Lowery (Sevendust) Riki Rachtman Rob Affuso (Skid Row) Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake & Dio) Jeff Pilson (Dokken & Foreigner) Dave Ellefson (Megadeth) Gilby Clarke (Guns N Roses) Blas Elias (Slaughter) George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) DJ Ashba (Guns N Roses, Sixx A.M.) Tiffany (Former Teen Sensation) Bruce Kulick (Kiss) Phil Lewis (L.A. Guns) East Bay Ray (Dead Kennedys) Jeff LaBar (Cinderella Frank Hannon (Tesla) Mark Kendall (Great White) Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard, Supergroup, The Spyderz) Jerry Dixon (Warrant) Simon Wright (AC/DC, Rhinobucket,  & Dio) Carey Hart (Motocross Legend) Jeremy London (Star of Mallrats & Party of Five) Jimmy Crespo (Aerosmith) Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks, NY Dolls) Cheetah Chrome (The Dead Boys)

Cherie Currie (The Runaways) Ian Mitchell (Bay City Rollers) Jizzy Pearl (Love/Hate, Ratt) Ron Keel (Keel, Steeler) Donnie Vie (E'nuff Z Nuff) Michael Olivieri (Leatherwolf) Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt, Quiet Riot, CRS) Steve Riley (L.A. Guns, W.A.S.P.) Greg D'Angelo (White Lion) Randy Piper (W.A.S.P., Animal) Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P.) Steve Summers (Pretty Boy Floyd) Louie Merlino & Ron Mancuso (Beggars & Thieves) Brent Fitz (Vince Neil, Alice Cooper) Lez Warner (The Cult) Mickey Finn (Jetboy) Kyle Kyle (Bang Tango) Stacey Blades (L.A. Guns) Chas West (Bonham) Frank Dimino (Angel) Eric Dover (Jellyfish, Slash's Snakepit, Alice Cooper) Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning) Paul Crook (Anthrax, Meat Loaf) Chuck Wright (House of Lords, Quiet Riot) Chris Frazier (Whitesnake, Steve Vai Mickey Finn (Jetboy)

Kyle Kyle (Bang Tango) Stacey Blades (L.A. Guns) Chas West (Bonham) Frank Dimino (Angel) Eric Dover (Jellyfish, Slash's Snakepit, Alice Cooper) Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning) Paul Crook (Anthrax, Meat Loaf) Chuck Wright (House of Lords, Quiet Riot) Chris Frazier (Whitesnake, Steve Vai) Tod Howarth (Frehley's Comet, Cheap Trick) Jeff Scott Soto (Journey, Yngwie Malmsteen) Alex Mitchell (Circus of Power) Brooke St. James (Tyketto) Pete Reveen (Salty Dog and CRS) Tommy Paris (Britny Fox) Dario Lorina (Jani Lane Band) Frankie Muriel (King of The Hill) Derrick Pontier (Great White) Steve Unger (Metal Church) Duncan Faure (Bay City Rollers) Brian Wheat (Tesla) Dave Rude(Tesla) Russ Parrish(Fight, Steel Panther) Tyler Connolly (Theory of a Deadman) Jason Hook (Alice Cooper, Five Finger Death Punch).

Pretty impressive by any standards!!!

Tonight was no exception. It was the legendary Chris Holmes, Guitar Extraordinaire with a pretty impressive resume in his own right (W.A.S.P., Creature, Buster savage, LAX, Slave, Sister-pre WASP, Psycho Squad, Touring Guitarist for L.S. Guns, Animal-with Randy Piper, and Creature).  The night started off with the Sin City Sinners doing the first set by themselves, jamming away and having an awesome time. Everyone there was just rockin’ out, all happy to be there. The first set was a mix of everything you loved back in the 80’s with a little dash of their own stuff thrown in for good measure.  You might get a little Faster Pussycat and Todd Kern’s material thrown in right off the bat, or you might start off hearing AC/DC and Bon Jovi. No matter what, it NEVER disappoints. This is a band that has had so many diverse guests that you would assume that no matter who they play with, it will go off without a hitch. I mean, after all, these are truly consummate professionals, who masterfully take you down the Rock-N-Roll Highway, at full speed, and blazin’ thru the night, with the only stops along the way being those thrown in for good comedic effect, the occassional one-liner, or zinger, and it’s only thrown in when it is appropriate.

The second set started off in typical “Sinners” fashion with a song everyone loves, “Detroit Rock City”, by KISS.  Then they went into a Todd Kern’s original, which also is a Sin City Sinners song, “It’s Not You, It’s Me”, which can be found in the multi-media section of the magazine, if you would like to check it out.  Then the moment everyone, including me, was waiting for.  They brought out the man himself, the legendary Chris Holmes.  He seems to just tower over the crowd as he comes out, due to the magnetic presence of the man, and a height of 6’5”.  They started off playing a song that, if you’re a W.A.S.P. fan, you know oh too well; “Animal”. From this point you could tell the entire band was on fire, along with the crowd, all together, as one, in unison, for a concert of proportions we did not expect. A lot of times when a guest star joins the “Sinners”, they just do a few songs they are known for and then leave. But this was to be a very different guest and very different night.  Todd Kerns had made mention that Chris had decided to not only play a couple WASP songs, but to just stay and jam.  Now we would see him in true form, our hero come to play. They blistered their way thru AC/DC, W.A.S.P., and Led Zeppelin songs in a way that would make any of those bands feel proud, with Chris at the guitar helm, and Todd Kerns, just on vocals tonight, leading the way. And they made them their own.

The performance tonight shows that Chris Holmes is not just another guitar player, but someone, who in my humble opinion, who has definitely earned his place in Rock-N-Roll History.  He came out from the very beginning just rocking away, and doing things with his guitar that just were mind blowing, all the while looking like he was barely putting any effort into it.  He can make a guitar rock, bark, and do everything but make you breakfast, uhm maybe he can make it do that to, lol.  He has an electricity to him that is contagious, and awesome. He is not a “Rock Star”, in the sense, that he doesn’t have time for his fans, but quite to the contrary, he takes time for everyone.  But he is a “Rock Star” in the sense that he has done his job, achieved his goals, and left an impression so deep and stunning on both fans and the rock and roll world that he will never, ever, be forgotten.

He is a man who just loves to play, and that was evident this night.  Whether it was W.A.S.P., AC/DC, or Black Sabbath, he was there wailing away on that guitar, his partner in crime, taking “Total Command” of the night, and blowing thru everything in his path.  Angus Young, and Tony Iommi could only smile on, if they were there.  Could we ask for anymore???  Only more music. Other than that everything was “PERFECT”.  All I have left to say is that the Sin City Sinners are one hell of a band and Chris Holmes is one hell of a musician. Remember the song, “Rock And Roll Heaven”, and one line from the song, “If there’s a rock and roll heaven, Well you know they’ve got a hell of a band”? Seems to sum it up pretty well, this night of Rock-N-Roll ecstasy.

Set List with Chris Holmes

Detroit Rock City

It’s Not You, It’s me

Heaven and Hell

Animal

I Wanna Be Somebody

Sin City

Dirty Deeds

Wild Child

War Pigs

Paranoid

Highway To Hell