March 28, 2008
LA Guns are currently on their 20th Anniversary Tour that kicked off on January 19th at the Whisky in Los Angeles. The band made a special stop in Beantown to perform to a packed house at Harpers Ferry in Allston, MA on March 28th.
This show was very special to me, as I made my way to my old stomping grounds where I attended College in Boston and spent many a night performing at Open Mic night right here at Harpers Ferry, a few years back.
It was good to see some things never change, as the dress code was still fashionably black and all the College clientale still strolled into the club at midnight, as LA Guns hit the stage for a riveting 75 minute power packed set.
Opening with "Wheels Of Fire", lead singer Phil Lewis strolled onto the stage wearing a long black leather coat and sunglasses. His signature vocal style sounded great, as he dedicated "Sex Action" to the lead singer of Jaded.
There were a few die hard LA Guns fans sporting LA Guns t-shirts in the front, but what was really impressive was the younger audience seeing the band for the first time and singing along to all of the older hits, as the band ripped into the catchy,"Never Enough".
Phil Lewis commented, "Hello Boston, Thank you for all coming out and getting away from the computer and doing something real. We always seem to pass over this area over the past couple of years". It was so exhilarating to hear 80's music alive and well and being played in Boston again. Back in the day, LA Guns used to frequently play Axis on Landsdown Street but that has since changed since most of those clubs on that street are now closed, as we wait in anticpation for a House of Blues to open. The band also use to perform at The Channel a lot, in which I discussed with drummer Steve Riley in this review.
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Last time I saw LA Guns perform was in Philly, when they opened for Dokken. This time around they also have a line-up change. These days LA Guns features the core of LA Guns, Phil Lewis on vocals, Steve Riley on drums, Stacey Blades on guitar, and Scotty Griffin from Dizzy Reed's Hookers N' Blow on bass. I have to say, the band has found the special chemistry of their heyday with the added addition of these players.
The voice of LA Guns, Phil Lewis proved why he is still one of the most dymanic front man to emerge out of that genre. Phil jokingly laughed as he burst into,"Kiss My Love Goodbye", "This is a song I wrote when I got dumped before I had a record deal. The band also performed,"Gypsy Soul" from |
Our own Deb Rao |
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their "Tales From The Strip" CD, in which Phil commented, lets take a walk down to Sunset Strip", with all the sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll. Although it may be 20 years, since the band made their debut with their inviting sleaze, rock sound, in tonight in 2008 LA Guns never sounded so good, still infusing their raw, sexual appeal that was ever so prevalent in the 80's.
The new version of LA Guns has a cohesive musical bond that clearly showed thru on their performance at Harpers Ferry tonight. Stacey Blades dressed in Black top hat has Tracii Guns signature guitar style down to a science. The rhythm section of veteran LA Guns drummer Steve Riely held down the driving beat that LA Guns are known for. Bassist Scotty Griffin shined onhis bass solo on, "One More Reason".
During the song,"Long Time Dead", Phil commented,"In the early 90's, they tried to tell us they didn't need us anymore. They had the Spin Doctors or some other band take over the radio. Fuck that. Do you want to hear some 80's metal"? The audience cheered.
It seems 80's bands are doing a 180 degree turn over these days. I had the opportunity to tlakto drummer Steve Riley before the show and he informed me."The band just drove from Poughkeepsie last night. We are playing a radio show at WBCN today. We have been touring non-stop."
When I asked Steve about the longevity of LA Guns was he told me,"We are really gypsies; there is no doubt about it. We have to be on the move, we have family lives, and personal lives in L.A., but we are two gypsies. I think our families are gypsies now too. (Laughter) That is the secret to LA Guns. It doesn't matter if we are playing a small club, or on a big tour. We have to play, and we have to record new music. I think that is the difference between us and other bands. We must record for ourselves. If we don't do new material there is no point. We love our old repertoire. We have to play a lot of it every night. We just love it all, but we can't live off of that. We have to be writing new songs all the time. The fans are right there with us. Of course everybody is doing stuff scaled down, we are not trying to play too big of a place. That is good too, because the places that we play get packed out and turn into events. We are open to anything. We just want to keep playing".
Also, as I mentioned earlier Steve Riley hails from Revere. It was so cool to see his family out there in the audience supporting him. Steve commented on his favorite Boston memory,"I think that The Channel is the one that has the most memories in Boston. It was such a great place, the location of it is on the water. It was packed out, all the time. With both Wasp and LA Guns, I played there. It was always insane at The Channel. We played a bunch of places in Boston over the year. The Channel and The Orpheum were two of the better places.
Right after graduation in the 70’s, I started my move out West from Boston and landed in Los Angeles in 1975. I lived everywhere from D.C., to Salt Lake City for a while. I have been in L.A. ever since 1975."
My favortie part of the LA Guns set was toward the end, as the band ripped out their hardest driving hits one after the other in a pulverizing punk fashion. But before the chaos, the Boston set featured a very special song, as LA Guns dug deep into their repertoire and performed the beautiful,"Crystal Eyes".
Only taking a moment to slow things down just a bit, LA Guns then roared into the hard driving songs that made them famous,"One More Reason,", "Electric Gypsy," "Rip N'Tear", and a the moving,"Ballad Of Jayne", which is one of my all time favorite songs.
The band returned to the stage for encore,"No Mercy". As Phil Lewis commented,"Let's live in the moment". As the band revisted their past, and proved that 80's metal is making a comeback in this ever changing musical market. As one of the bands that lit up Sunset Strip in the heyday of 80's metal, proved that there is a whole new audience that can "Never Get Enough" of good 80's metal, as Phil Lewis yelled in his sexy English accent, "Boston, you rock, we will be back here real soon."
Be sure to check out LA Guns on their 2008 Tour. This new line-up rocks.
LA Guns 2008 tourdates www.myspace.com/lagunsofficial
Mar 30 2008 8:00P
Northern Lights Clifton Park, New York
Apr 11 2008 8:00P
OC Tavern San Clemente, California
Apr 18 2008 8:00P
Rascals Moorhead, Minnesota
Apr 19 2008 8:00P
G.B.Leighton’s Pickle Park Fridely, Minnesota
Apr 25 2008 8:00P
Laughlin River Run/ Hollywood Hooligans---Members of LA Guns, Warrant and Cinderella. Laughlin, Nevada
Apr 26 2008 8:00P
Laughlin River Run--Hollywood Hooligans--Members of LA Guns,Warrant and Cinderella Laughlin, Nevada
May 2 2008 8:00P
Hard Rock Cafe Sacremento, California
May 3 2008 8:00P
Betty’s Rock Bar Walnut Creek, California
May 11 2008 8:00P
Oneida Casino/ Phil and Stacey Acoustic Green Bay, Wisconsin
May 12 2008 8:00P
Oneida Casino/ Phil and Stacey Acoustic Green Bay, Wisconsin
May 13 2008 8:00P
Oneida Casino/ Phil and Stacey Acoustic Green Bay, Wisconsin
May 15 2008 8:00P
Ibex Rock Bar Monterrey
Jun 28 2008 8:00P
Spirits Springfield, Ohio
Jun 29 2008 8:00P
Emerald Theater W/Dokken and Skid Row Mt.Clemmins, Michigan
Aug 5 2008 8:00P
Blair County Convention Center-Private Corp.Event. Altoona, Pennsylvania
Aug 9 2008 8:00P
Dawson County Fair Glen Dive, Montana
Deb Rao
