SUPERCHARGED LAS VEGAS BASED BAND MOKSHA
BRINGS THEIR LIVE ENERGY GROOVE AND ROCK VIBE TO
‘MAMMAL OR MACHINE’
The powerhouse Moksha—whose name, appropriately, means “liberate” in Hindi—has been blistering audiences in their hometown of Las Vegas with a similar hard to contain sound that guitarist Jeremy Parks calls, “An anything goes approach to music.” While they’ve traditionally embraced the “jam band” tag that fans and raving critics have given them, the band—which also includes John Heishman (bass, vocals), Patrick Gray (drums), and Brian Triola (organ/keys, vocals) —is crossing over with wider main stream appeal, thus releasing their highly anticipated debut, Mammal Or Machine.
Mammal Or Machine features Santana’s horn section, saxman Peter Apfelbaum, guest vocalists Angela Kerfoot and Sam Lemos, DJ Logic and New Orleans guitar legend Brian Stoltz (Funky Meters, Neville Brothers, Bob Dylan). Moksha succeeds in capturing a multi-faceted sound that, as they like to say, is “swirling in subtlety, painting a sonic landscape that unfolds in the moment and feeds on the dynamic ebb and flow of audience and band interconnection.” To achieve this, the group recorded about half of the eleven tracks live in the studio.
Aside from their whirlwind sound, the two most fascinating elements of Moksha’s live performances are the unique set lists-never playing the same set list twice-and a powerful audio visual element incorporating the talents of numerous local Las Vegas artists. In a town where full scale entertainment a la Cirque Du Soleil is the norm, having body painters, art installation wall projections and performers such as magician Jeff McBride accompanying the band helps them stand out.
Since forming the group in 2007, they’ve held court regularly at the Hard Rock Cafe, the House of Blues in Mandalay and will take stage on the rooftop venue at Binion’s Horseshoe on Fremont Street for two back-to-back shows on Friday, July 23 and Saturday, July 24 in Vegas. Moksha is rapidly expanding their shows throughout the west coast and will also be performing at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, CA (July 28), Winston’s in San Diego (July 29), and The Blue Café in Huntington Beach, CA (August 1) Plus, the band will showcase three days at Blake’s On Telegraph in Berkeley, CA, Thursday, August 5 through Saturday, August 7 and perform on August 14 at The Key Club in Los Angeles.
EVENT RECAP:
July 23
Binion’s Horseshoe
128 Fremont St.
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 382-1600
www.binions.com
10 p.m.
$15 at door
All ages
July 24
Binion’s Horseshoe
128 Fremont St.
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 382-1600
www.binions.com
10 p.m.
$15 at door
All ages
July 28
Alex’s Bar
2913 E. Anaheim St.
Long Beach, CA
(562) 434-8292
www.alexsbar.com
9 p.m.
$7 at door
21+
July 29
Winston’s
1921 Bacon St.
San Diego, CA
(619) 222-6822
www.winstonsob.com
9 p.m.
Free
21+
July 31
Kat Club
8911 West Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA
(310) 657-0888
http://www.myspace.com/thecatclub
Time TBA
Ticket pricing TBA
21+
August 1
The Blue Café
17208 Pacific Coast Hwy
Huntington Beach, CA
(562) 592-1302
www.bluecafelive.com
9 p.m.
$5 at door
21+
August 5
Blake’s On Telegraph
2367 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 848-0886
www.blakesontelegraph.com
11 p.m.
$15 at door
18+
August 6
Blake’s On Telegraph
2367 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 848-0886
www.blakesontelegraph.com
11 p.m.
$20 at door
18+
August 7
Blake’s On Telegraph
2367 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 848-0886
www.blakesontelegraph.com
11 p.m.
$20 at door
18+