M.I.A.: back in its birthplace

By Spencer Patterson

Thursday, June 10, 2010 | 12:05 a.m.

The best-known punk band ever to come out of Las Vegas has certainly lived up to its name over the past quarter-century. Hardcore outfit M.I.A., which left for SoCal in 1981, hasn't been back to play a show here since 1985.

That changes this weekend. The foursome — singer Todd Sampson, guitarist Nick Adams, bassist Paul Schwartz and drummer Chris Moon — marks its return to town with a pair of shows, Friday at the Las Vegas Country Saloon and Sunday at Wasted Space. "Ever since we got the band back together, we've been searching for the right venue," Sampson says. "We wanted to do an all-ages show, but that's pretty much vanished from Vegas, so we finally said, 'Screw it. We just want to play.'"

Sampson, one of two members still based in Las Vegas (Moon is the other; Adams and Schwartz live in Utah), was the band's original singer, handing the mic off to then-bassist Mike Conley when M.I.A. headed west. "I was too young to move," says Sampson, who was 16 at the time. Conley died after suffering head injuries in a fall at age 48 in 2008; since then, Sampson has stepped back in as frontman for a series of shows, including Warped Tour stops and gigs with Jello Biafra's current band.

"Every time we play, I have flashes of, 'I wish Mike were here' ... but we haven't had any backlash, like, 'That's Mike's band — what are you doing?'" Sampson says. "We're a really great live band right now. The last few shows we've done have been amazing."

Bone up with 2001's excellent M.I.A. compilation, Lost Boys, or if you can't find a copy in time, listen to "Boredom Is the Reason" 10 times in succession.

— Originally published in Las Vegas Weekly