On March 15, 2025, at Hotel Vegas, CREEM may have answered the eternal question: Does guitar deity Matt Pike perform shirtless even in breezy, temperate climes? The answer is decidedly yes, although we prefer "attack" or “pulverize” instead of “perform.” Headlining the 2025 edition of Fiesta Destructo, High on Fire were joined by an armada of guitar assassins like Riverboat Gamblers, Tear Dungeon, TVOD, Suckling, Population II, and so many others. Of course, it might have been more like Fiesta Coward-o if it wasn’t for our friends from Orange Amps, who made sure that all those sweet, sweet riffs got the muscle to rattle our innards, which, after a few days of SXSW, were seriously alcohol-compromised. Now that we think of it, that must be why we had so many bathroom trips! Check out some photos from that unseasonably mild and unreasonably wild Saturday afternoon at Hotel Vegas.