This Saturday night, May 10, will mark the two- year anniversary of a series of hard rock concerts held at Bob Ruud Community Center for the town's youth.

In May of 2006, Wes Clouser returned to his hometown of Pahrump after six years of being away, to find the music scene he remembered from high school and loved so much had faded away. "When I was in school there was always concerts and stuff happening," remembers Clouser. Because of a security deposit and insurance requirements that the Community Center began to request, most of the local rock bands stopped playing.

"We pretty much wanted to bring back the music scene in Pahrump" said Clouser. He and his best friend Vinny Straub decided to make it happen. At the time, they played in their own band, "Ascetic Theory," and invited other bands from around town and from Las Vegas to play too.

They got help from the First Southern Baptist Church to help cover insurance needs, and they paid for the damage deposit out of their own pockets, which has never been a problem for them. Despite the bad reputation of hard rock music and fans, in the entire two years of concerts, they have never had any kind of fight or damage to the auditorium. There is security, but it is all volunteers.

"No drinking, no drugs, no fighting, nothing like that," says Clouser. "We like giving kids a safe place to be themselves."

Since May 2006, the concerts have been happening about every six weeks. A lot depends on availability of the Community Center, but Clouser tries to reserve a Friday or Saturday night. Concerts usually last from 6:30 p.m. until 10 p.m., so kids can get home by curfew.

Clouser's band, "Iscariot Syndrome" has been together for about a year. The name refers to Judas Iscariot, "another way of saying how we as humans betray one another and betray God and ourselves," said Clouser.

Although the name has reference to religion, Clouser assures the band is not Christian Rock. "Some of the lyrics will deal with what we believe - our faith. But some of them are just about life and what we've all been through. We try to keep music open so that everyone can relate." They have recorded an EP of all original music. All of the band members write their music.

This Saturday night "Iscariot Syndrome" is playing along with local bands "Ellamarr," and "Annie Oakley." The bands are described as hard rock although some have tendencies towards "screamo" (a genre of music that evolved from punk rock where lyrics are screamed).

"Vannacutt" will come out from Las Vegas to play too. It will be their first time performing in Pahrump.

Tickets are $4 at the door, and all of the proceeds are split between band members.