Twice a year, downtown Las Vegas experiences a surge of live music during the four-day Neon Reverb Music Festival. This spring’s celebration, the sixth bi-annual, is March 10-13, and is sponsored by Las Vegas CityLife and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. It features more than 80 bands across multiple venues, including The Bunkhouse, Beauty Bar, The Griffin, Las Vegas Country Saloon, The Gypsy Den, The Beat Coffeehouse, Royal Resort and Yayo Taco.

In early summer of 2008, Thirry Harlin and James Woodbridge decided to do something to revitalize the Las Vegas music scene. Harlin had already organized a variety of weekend shows in recent years as entertainment coordinator for The Bunkhouse, including the three-day Downtown Music Festival in 2006. Woodbridge had been booking rising national acts at several local venues since 2007. Expanding on Harlin's earlier festival idea by adding multiple venues, more bands and an additional day, the two of them created the first Neon Reverb in September 2008, which included shows at The Bunkhouse, Beauty Bar, Brass Lounge and Jillian’s. Jason Aragon joined as a third Neon Reverb partner in 2009. All three remain passionate supporters of the local music scene and have dedicated their combined expertise to building Neon Reverb into the highly-anticipated local event it is today.

Aragon, a musician and accountant, oversees the business side of the festival and says the team’s primary goal for Neon Reverb is to make it self-supporting. “We have hit the roof locally,” said Aragon. “Our next step is to expand to a larger regional audience. Eventually we hope to attract bands and audiences from all over the country.”

Harlin points out that Las Vegas is uniquely qualified to be a major festival city, and that downtown is the ideal location with a variety of live music venues within walking distance. He hopes to see Neon Reverb grow to the size of an event like SXSW in Austin, Texas. “That’s where we’re heading,” said Harlin. “The expansion plan is pretty exciting.”

Still, Aragon says the team will always consider locals a top priority. “Losing sight of our local audience or making it cost-prohibitive for them would defeat our entire purpose,” he said. He cites inexpensive passes ($50 for All-Festival) as one way Neon Reverb appeals to locals and visitors alike.

The festival has expanded to include several non-music events earlier in the week and throughout the month, including independent film screenings at the Sci Fi Center, a comedy showcase in the Fiesta Room at El Cortez, a special edition of Dayvid Figler's storytelling event, The Tell, in the Fiesta Room, the Neon Reverb Art Show at PWC Gallery and Vegas StrEATS at the El Cortez promenade, featuring gourmet food trucks and street artists.

For tickets, information and schedule, visit http://www.neonreverb.com/.

Photo: Spindrift performs at The Bunkhouse Saloon during Neon Reverb; photo by Spencer Burton