Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns at the Red Eyed Fly - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
L.A. Guns
Hometown: Los Angeles, Ca.
http://www.widespreadpanic.com/
L.A. Guns Concert Photos
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
The Red Eyed Fly (Austin, Texas)
Last weekend felt like a living a VH1 Behind The Music Episode. Way back in 1980, deep in the midst of the "New Wave" rolling across the heart of America, it seemed tough for anyone else to make a mark. Sure bands like Van Halen, AC/DC, Def Leopard, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden were leaving welts, but they had all broken in the late 70's and it seemed as if very few labels were bringing harder edged "traditional rock" bands into their folds as they all raced around trying to find a new "Cars" or "DEVO" to stay on the crest of that new wave.
Out in the west, along the Hollywood Strip, a few new bands struggled to make headway against this wave. Bands like Slayer, Metallica, and Megadeath took the hard core direction and re-invented and re-invigorated the whole metal scene. Other bands like White Lion, Ratt, and Great White took a different path, stealing androgyny from the New York Dolls and Bowie and combining it with the buzz saw guitars of a Priest or Van Halen, and inventing "Hair Metal", where at times there seemed to be contests about which male artists could wear the most makeup or went through the most hairspray.
Here in Texas, when I was in high school, we were less discerning in our labels. You were either a farmer, listening to both kinds of "real" music, both country AND western, a hippie, listening to any kind of rock music in the school's smoking area, or a member of the marching band, the 70's equivalent of a computer nerd. While we got lots of country and western acts playing locally, if you weren't into two stepping, you would grasp at anything that didn't have a steel guitar, and so the "hippies" were just as liable to show up at a punk show as a metal show. If we were lucky we might get 1 touring rock show a month, so they were like hen's teeth and you couldn't be very discriminating.
Paul Black of L.A. Guns at the Red Eyed Fly - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
There was no MTV, no internet, and what rock & roll music news we got came from magazines such as the "mainstream" Rolling Stone, covering Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles, or more underground mags like "Hit Parader" and "Cream" covering the harder grittier bands. It was in these magazines that I got to glimpse at the east and west coast music scenes with jealousy, hearing about bands forming, breaking up and becoming legendary before even recording their first albums. Knowing I would never see many of those bands I always resigned myself to my fate of having to live vicariously through the writings of people like Lester Bangs.
In the mid-eighties, things had changed quite a bit, and punk and new wave acts led the way in touring smaller clubs and venues, opening up the market for everyone to tour nationally. Still many of the bands I had wanted to see had broken up and moved on by then, leaving big gaps in my live show resume. One of those bands was the L.A. Guns.
The Gun's had achieved this mythic status in Hollywood with their original lineup, before even releasing a record, and then all of the sudden they were gone. Poof. Everyone knows that Tracii Guns and Axl Rose went on to form Guns and Roses, but I had wanted to see this seminal band while they were still the L. A. Guns and had missed my chance. By the time Guns and Roses made it to Austin, Tracii had been replaced by Slash, and there was little chance of seeing that lineup again.
I finally got to see the L.A. Guns, albeit not that first mythical version, but some would say in a more "classic" lineup with Tracii Guns, his son Jeremy on bass, Paul Black on vocals, and Chad Stewart on drums. Playing at the Red Eyed Fly, I was suitably impressed by Tracii's fingerwork. I guess after 25 years he has had plenty of time to practice, as has Paul Black who's ability to work the audience has also become well honed. Though plagued at first by some technical problems, Tracii's guitar even coming unplugged at one point, the Guns worked through their set playing songs like "Never Enough" and "Rip & Tear", and inviting the audience onstage for "The Ballad of Jayne", their most popular song. If you have a thing for hair metal and sleaze rock, this is a great show to catch.
Opening for the L.A. Guns were the bands Rubber Monster followed by Honky. I didn't get a chance to catch Rubber Monster's set, but would a couple nights later when they opened for Quiet Riot. Honky I did catch, and I am glad I did. Locals, they sure know how to rock. If Black Sabbath and ZZ Top ever merged, they would sound a lot like Honky. I liked their whole set with the exception of the last song which included a female vocalist. That song just didn't work for me, it sounded awkward and out of context. Loved the band, I will see them again.
Paul Black of L.A. Guns at the Red Eyed Fly - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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