Hunter's Briefcase and Rose Levee Rocked the Red Dwarf on Tuesday, December 13th, 2022

LAS VEGAS, NV – On Tuesday, December 13th, 2022 two of Las Vegas’s young and up-and-coming bands joined forces to put on a rocking show at Red Dwarf tiki bar when Rose Levee and Hunter’s Briefcase played a weekday show.

I had previously seen Hunter’s Briefcase at a Halloween showcase in town at The Space, but I enjoyed them so much, I definitely had to come check them out again, and I also wanted to see Rose Levee who I hadn’t gotten a chance to see yet.

First up was Hunter’s Briefcase, and they ripped through about 6 or 7 songs (one song being about 6 or 7 minutes long) with a couple of awesome solos and breakdowns mixed into the set to showcase drummer Nic Mendoza and bassist Carter Woodson who are both incredibly talented.

And that’s not to say lead singer/guitarist Jake Mendoza is a slouch by any means. He absolutely wails on guitar, and when he lays into a lead while hammering on his wah pedal, the guitar gods must be smiling down upon him.

In fact, he was going so hard that on two separate occassions, he had to turn his guitar amp down a bit to keep from blasting everyone out of the bar. Of course, my rock and roll spirit will also live by the creed, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old,” but I defer as this was a free show and not everyone there may have come for the band. 

They ran through a couple of new songs as well as some of their “older songs” (as old as they can be for a relatively new band), and they made sure to bring the rock vibe throughout their set.

The band seems to have roots in vast genres of music from jazz and funk (though the songs don’t have those particular sounds) all the way through classic and psychedelic rock. It’s one of those mixes that doesn’t always make sense on paper, but when you hear it poured out into the sonic universe it absolutely melds into a harmonic kaleidoscope of rock and roll melodies.

They have a great variation of songs in their repertoire too as they can rock out on a high energy ripper or chill out on a melancholy downer equally brilliantly.

They are definitely a band to keep an eye on and already one of my top 10 favorite local Las Vegas bands.

Now, Rose Levee came up next, and yeah, they had to follow a great act, but they knew exactly what they were getting into when they set the show up.

To describe the Rose Levee show experience, I would summarize by saying it is a lot like a psychedelic journey of sound and emotion accompanied by a modernized classic rock soundtrack.

If that doesn’t make sense, let me try to peel back the layers on that.

Lead singer Charlotte Leon is a bit of a free spirit from what I know of her, and her singing and stage presence are very reminiscent of the Woodstock era of gypsy/hippie rock that you could imagine of someone like Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane.

Pair that with a band that has definite roots in the classic rock sound (but played in a more modern way), you get the Rose Levee sound that the band has put out so far.

Before the show started, I had a quick conversation with lead guitarist Daniel Hernandez and mentioned I was excited to see them perform. He didn’t disappoint as he shredded pretty hard himself.

There was about a 3-4 minute full instrumental part when Leon went into the crowd to spectate like the rest of as Hernandez, bassist Jo Avila, and fill-in drummer Joe Kennedy (Elevated Undergrounds, Silent Movie Cinema, 90 Proof) rocked out.

It should be noted that Kennedy was playing with the band as two of the members, Carlos Herrera (drummer) was out on medical leave and Jacob Anthony (guitar) is still under 21 and couldn’t perform at the bar. Kennedy didn’t miss a single beat even during the solos. Pretty damn talented to fill in like that.

I definitely want to check the band out again when their at full strength to see how it changes the experience as well.

The band played about 8 or 9 songs and also had some laid back songs mixed in with their more rocking tunes. Though, I would say, it was like an 80/20 split in favor of the more psychedelic/mellow tunes.

They did happen to throw in at least one cover though, and that was for the song “Psycho Killer” by The Talking Heads which is actually pretty impressive for a band this young to even know OF the song yet alone know how to play it too.

Both of these bands have a ton of upside which is crazy to say since they are already pretty damn good at this point.

Keep an eye on them and check them out if you can. 

Check our Vegas rock show calendar to see when they play next.