Men in mustaches

By Laura Davis

Friday, March 26, 2010 | 4:27 p.m.

There’s nothing sexier than a man in a mustache. And now you’re lucky enough to catch not one, but five self-described “Kings of Mustache Rock” — known collectively as NAWGAHYDE — on stage every Saturday at Club Madrid in Sunset Station.

The comedic cover band is based in Los Angeles, but once a week it comes to Vegas to live vicariously through the Texas-born, mustached musicians spawned from its member’s active imaginations. The show mixes popular music from both the ‘70s and the ‘80s, and encourages audiences to don their own fake mustache and real cowboy boots, while drinking out of a toilet bowl. Feeling all hot and sweaty yet?

The Weekly caught up with NAWGAHYDE lead singer Matt Starr, aka Dallas Texas, to get a few fun facts on Station Casino’s latest jackasses (hey, their words, not ours!). Move over Steel Panther, there’s a new mustache in town — make that five.

Nacho, the name given to the sombrero wearing guitar player who has trouble staying awake on stage.

“We’ve got Nacho, who just stands there and literally doesn’t move all night. People are just mesmerized by this guy because he’s amazing — he’s a great guitar player, but his face and everything is just expressionless. He’s just this sleepy [guy] from “somewhere else.” All the Spanish dudes that come to the show love him.”

Alf, the '80s sitcom based on the long-nosed, furry alien who likes to snack on cats and the inspiration for the band’s peculiar name.

“We were on a flight together and we were talking about this episode of Alf where he talks about naugahyde luggage and we just said, ‘Naugahyde, remember that stuff? What a word. That’d be a great band name.’”

Whip dance, performed on stage by guitarist Houston — as in Houston, Texas.

“Houston does a whip solo which you just gotta see ‘cause it’s retarded. He’s got a whip and he’s dancing around to 80s’ techno — there’re a lot of left turns [to the show] that keep it fresh.”

Green, one of the many colors of the free mystery shots handed-out on stage.

“There’s one point in the night where we stop playing and it’s a free shot. So people just line up and the waitresses go up and serve them. It’s like [an] orange or green or neon blue [shot] — it changes every week. It’s some sort of mix; it’s a mystery.”

Ass-less chaps, worn on stage by bass player Florida Lee.

“We got Florida Lee in his ass-less chaps, which are always a hit. They’re pants and then he cuts out the ass. They’re just insane. So that adds an element of ridiculousness, and by the end of the show he actually comes out in a pair of underwear, his cowboy boots and like a daisy-duke top tied around the stomach.”

Hillbillies, what the guys from Los Angeles suddenly transform into.

“It’s just five crazy hillbillies on stage, running around, yelling at each other — we got Marshall stacks with deer heads hanging off them. They’re pretty gross.”

Yuck, the general response one would give to drinking out of the toilet bowl of an outhouse ... but not in this case.

“We’ve come up with the most ridiculous ideas. We wanted to have an outhouse that we could serve shots out of, like the toilet part, so there’s a bowl in there and you just reach in.”

Dead caterpillar, what the fake mustaches worn by the guys on stage look like when not plastered to their upper lips.

“My mustaches are so gross, and the thing is, when you just take it off and just put it on the counter, it looks like a dried-up dead caterpillar.”

Equal, the amount of people who come to the show for the music, versus those who come for the stage antics.

“It’s a great band. Everything’s live, we don’t play to tracks and we all sing. That gives us license to act like complete jackasses and have it not be a big joke. We get an equal amount of people come up and say, ‘You guys are awesome! The music, I love the songs.’ And then people saying, ‘I laughed my ass off.’”