3LH and Los Shadows Do Las Vegas

Written and Photographed by Rick Perez, @goodtimerickstudios

I woke up in the back of a gigantic pick up truck, my face sweating from the heat. Outside was the vast California desert zipping past us as “Come On Eileen” by Men at Work was blaring from the radio. “Nice 80’s playlist,” I sleepily told the driver. “Thanks, man!” he said. The driver was none other than Rafa Heredia, the lead singer of the band 3LH. In the truck were a few other members of 3LH, Favian Vega and Johnny Villanueva. Our destination was Las Vegas, where 3LH, along with our friends Los Shadows, would be playing two shows. We were all ready for a weekend of music and debauchery.

I met 3LH earlier this year at a show at Queens Bee’s in San Diego, California. I was taken aback by their high energy performance and even more impressed with their impeccable retro style that stood from the other bands I had seen in San Diego. I’ve been wanting to work with them for awhile, so when they invited me along to their weekend in Las Vegas, I was ecstatic.

Passing the famous Las Vegas strip, we headed into the suburbs to the house we were staying at for the weekend. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the four locos of Los Shadows: Andy Saldana, Mark Bullard, Pepe Gonzalez, and Xavier Prieto. I’ve known those guys for a while now; I worked with them on a music video and shot the band for a story on Reckless (It’s a Vibe), so I was stoked on spending the weekend the foos. They had arrived the night before and were hungover from the road drinks. We could tell we were in for a weekend we wouldn’t forget.

We slowly settled into the house and the two bands caught up with each other. Everyone cracked open beers and passed around some joints. Our home for the weekend, the one story, three bedroom house with a pool was owned by a local musician and promoter Randy Tena. He often opens his home to touring musicians and helps to book them shows in the area.

Randy gave me a little insight into the music scene in Las Vegas. With little surprise, he told me that everything competes with strip. All the music is either played at large venues on the strip or at house shows that are often broken up by the cops. There are really no venues that are in between. Forget all ages venues; owners don’t want to deal with the extra security that is required of all ages shows and venues want to make money off alcohol. Randy is one of the few people in Vegas trying to keep the music scene alive and flourishing.

After a few White Claws and sips of sweet tequila, we headed to the first show of the weekend. It was held at a venue called The Dive Bar, located on the east side of the city in a strip mall next to a 99 cent store. The bar truly was a dive: complete with a graffiti filled bathroom, dark lighting, and $5 tequilas. Once there, we were joined by the fourth member of 3Lh, Kevin Carranza. Also meeting us were Carina, Paola, and Bianca, the friends and girlfriends of 3LH. They were sweet and fun and kind to me and I like how they showed their dedication to 3LH by coming all the way from Orange County to join in on the adventure.

A few local bands played as people started to trickle in. Rafa introduced to me Jon and Elias, members of the Las Vegas band The Red Seduction. They were both some of the happiest and good natured people I’ve met in a long time. Their eagerness to talk to me about my photography and artistic endeavors made me feel welcome and important and I appreciated it.

After midnight, the foos of 3LH and Los Shadows played and damn, the crowd went wild! Maybe it was the hours of drinking before their sets or the crazy hype the bands brought (or maybe a combination of both) but everyone got out of their seats and started moving, break dancing, laughing, and falling over each other. The first night in Vegas was a success and we were ready to party.

3LH

Los Shadows

After the show, we had big plans. BIG. We were going to finish a bottle of tequila and hit a few clubs, walk the strip, and get wild. We were going to take over, I tell you! But by the time we got home it was 3am and after traveling all day and playing a show, the foos were beat.

My night, on other other hand, had just begun. Earlier that evening, I contacted this guy I knew who lives in Vegas. We matched with on Tinder while he was visiting San Diego last year and although we never met up that weekend, we kept close contact over the past year. We finally came face to face at 3am at Randy’s house. We talked for a long time about art and music and he was everything I knew he would be. Around 4am he invited me back to his house and the rest is a story for another time.

Around noon the following day, I came back home and Rafa, Favian, and Johnny happened to be outside. I got out of the Lyft barefoot, shoes in hand, my hair in disarray, and with the same clothes from the night before. “Walk of Shaaaaame” they yelled, laughing at the mess of a photographer they brought along. I think of it more as a stride of pride, but hey, to each his own.

Inside, Los Shadows were making a feast to end all feasts: carne asada, grilled pollo, chorizo, tortillas, michelada, and ceviche were just a few items on the menu. One of the many things I can say from this experience is how glad I was being with two rock bands from Latin backgrounds. Although I’m not fluent in Spanish, hearing Spanish words tossed around and Latin references is extremely comforting to me. There’s a certain hospitality and flavor that comes with the culture and it made me feel more proud.

After the feast, the entire house went into a-coma. Besides a few snores, the house was completely silent for two hours. When everyone woke up, it was time to get ready for the next show.

Night two in Las Vegas was my favorite. The venue was located in a warehouse on an empty backstreet off the strip. It was beautiful. Really good graffiti and quotes from previous patrons lined the walls. My favorite quote was, “Kill the cops that took away underage drinking at the PUSSY DISPENSER! BABIES WANT BOTTLES.” Whatever that means.

Some really good local bands played that night. The Hideaway, a band that our host Randy was the drummer in, and The Escapers, to name a few. Cumbia was played in between sets and everyone got down. The crowd was a mix of artists from all ages, backgrounds, and colors. Everyone was crazy friendly and excited to get to know us out-of-towners.

I met an artist who moved to Las Vegas from New York City. He compared the art in the two cities and said that he preferred Las Vegas because it was small; everyone in the scene knows each other and offer a lot more support. Having lived in New York City, I could see where he was coming from. When you see the same people all the time, it’s difficult to not lift up one another, especially when you have the same goals. In a big city like New York, it’s easy to dismiss someone because there are at least a hundred other people doing exactly the same thing.

LOS SHADOWS

3LH

After another successful night of performing, the foos of 3LH and Los Shadows were determined to make the last night in Vegas an epic one. After finishing off the ceviche from earlier, hearing about how Andy “fell in love”, and chugging the bottle of Tequila, we headed to Downtown Las Vegas.

Our first spot was this club called Oddfellows. It was filled with goth-punk-queer-friendly people and I was into it. There was a bar in the front and a narrow hallway with Ouija boards that led to the dance floor in the back. It was EDM night, which I didn’t care for, but still danced a lot. At one point, I made eye contact with this woman and we started dancing. I had to show the foos how Good Time Rick gets down, so I shook my butt all the way to the floor and laid on my back while she danced over me. It’s my classic move but after that I lost my breath and had to sit down. Don’t get older, guys!

After the club we ventured around Freemont Street, which to my surprise was dead at 4am. We were stopped by a magician who asked for cigarettes and in exchange performed a magic trick. He made Favian choose a card and that card appeared on the magician’s mouth. He was good. After some exploring we wanted to smoke a joint so we headed back to the house to get high.

During our night cap, I felt like the bonding of the weekend really came together. Passing the joint, we talked. A lot. Each person revealed something about themselves: experiences that have hurt us in the past, our current struggles, life in the music scene, and the things we desire from life. As the sun rose, we decided it was a good time to head to bed. I picked a little corner on the floor and fell asleep.

As I drove back to Los Angeles, I reflected on the weekend I spent with 3LH and Los Shadows. I’ve connected with these bands plenty of times before, but mostly through photographs; connecting with them beyond the photos was a whole new experience. A unique intimacy was formed, adding a level of trust and appreciation for between myself and them that we couldn’t get from shows. Without really knowing who I was, they brought me into their lives to document, share, and create and I value that faith in me. I witnessed first hand their hard work, dedication to the music, and love for the other members and all that motivated my own work ethic. I’m excited to see how much 3LH and Los Shadows grow as musicians and where their music career takes them. No matter where they go, I’d be happy be in the back of that pickup truck.

3LH and Los Shadows Do Las Vegas

3LH

Los Shadows

LOS SHADOWS

3LH

It's A Vibe

Lucha De Los Muertos

Lock Down Dreams

Bittersweet

Heaven or Los Angeles