Las Vegas Weekly

Rock Naked Wednesdays lives up to name

The boys of Jupiter crash and Evilution Tattoo pose for a photo with strippers at Little Darlings.

Nubile young flesh isn’t the only thing exposed tonight at Little Darlings.

That isn’t to say there isn’t a lot of skin showcased at this 18-and-up strip club. Actually, meandering through the chairs and tables of the club are more girls than seems necessary, their g-strings and painted nails glowing under the black light. A brunette on stage strips to nothing but knee-high socks. When she bends over she leaves nothing but her interior organs to the imagination. Oh, yes. There’s no shortage of exposed skin here.

Still, in their own way, the four dudes in the back corner are also working on exposure. They’re Jupiter Crash, the first resident band for Little Darling’s Rock Naked Wednesdays. Instead of working the pole, they’re networking with other musicians — and don’t worry, everyone in the band is fully dressed.

A partnership between sex and rock ‘n’ roll seems obvious, but Jupiter Crash lead vocalist Steven Crash has been told it’s never been done in Vegas before. “It’s a cliché,” he concedes, “but it’s a reality.”

The concept of a resident band inside a strip club is a bit atypical, especially considering the fact no actual performance is given. Instead, because the building isn’t equipped to handle live music, the DJ mixes the resident band’s (and any visiting band’s) music into the stream of Top 40 the strippers regularly dance to.

Any patron liking what they hear can meet the band and buy CDs. One patron last week bought multiple CDs for his daughter, Steven Crash says. The band thanked him, and promptly advised him to not tell her where he purchased them.

This one-on-one interaction, as well as having its name displayed on the giant billboard outside, helps the Seattle-transplant band’s name get out in the Vegas community. Meeting fellow musicians also helps. Guest bands to Rock Naked Wednesdays have included Otherwise, Sprockets and One Loud Secret. Tonight, it’s new wave-inspired Lips Like Morphine and Duncan Faure, a singer/songwriter once in Bay City Rollers. “We’re trying to build a community within a community,” explains Steven Crash.

And nothing says bonding like watching two half-naked chicks swing around poles on stage while you gulp down Red Bull (remember, no liquor here) and smoke a hookah packed with a flavor called “Sexual Seduction.”

Jupiter Crash has heard many of their songs (the most fitting being “In The Flesh”) played at Little Darlings since their residency began in January. Often, they sit right next to the stage and “show their appreciation” for whatever dancer is performing during the songs.

Having beautiful women dance naked to your music is surreal – something Steven Crash says Jupiter Crash could have imagined “only in our wildest dreams.”