LA GUNS

L.A. Guns – Review

By Debbie Brautman

Guns a Blazin’ for L.A. Guns’ Lucky MF’r Tour at The Casino @ Dania Beach, Florida

For hard rockers, it’s “Never Enough” to see this killer live rock band, and it was a real treat to see L.A. Guns at Stage 954 in the Dania Beach Casino. This 80’s Los Angeles hard rock band, formed by guitarist Tracii Guns, briefly merged with Axl Rose’s band Hollywood Rose to form Gun’s N’ Roses in the mid 80’s, but that was short lived, as Tracii Guns left and reformed L.A. Guns. The current lineup is Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (lead vocals/guitar), Ace Von Johnson (guitar, vocals), Johnny Martin ( bass, vocals), and Shawn “Demolition” Duncan (Drums). Phil was lean and mean in a black tank top, thin mustache and French beret cap. Tracii Guns wore a sparkling t-shirt with his bass player Johnny Martin’s name on it, big black beard, and cool pants that ended just below his knee, showing off tons of tattoos. The other band members were dressed in black and all looked like stylish rockers. They are a seasoned, professional rock machine that plays really well together. Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis, with their long history together, seemed happy to be playing side by side. They were “not just playing the nostalgia card,” as Phil Lewis said in an interview. They have a brand-new album out called Leopard Skin, and they played “Hit and Run” and “Lucky Motherf**ker ” from it. Both were well received, especially for new songs. Phil Lewis mentioned, “Hit and Run” was something a little different for us.” It sounded pretty funky. Their previous album, Black Diamonds, was released in 2023, and they played the song “Like a Drug” from that album, with a guitar solo from talented and totally tattooed Ace Von Johnson.

They are not just a band from the 80’s rehashing their hits, instead they offer refreshing new music which gives them excitement and enjoyment.  On their song, “Speed,” from 2017’s album The Missing Peace, they showed no loss of miles per hour. They were fast and furious and hard rocking. Of course, they played their hits, too. Phil said, “We brought the swagger” when introducing their song “Sex Action” from their 1988 self-titled debut album. Out came Olga in her high heels and sexy black leather outfit to do an exotic dance to their song about sex. They also played “Electric Gypsy” and “One More Reason” from that debut album. Phil took Tracii around in a friendly embrace and his vocals were spot on. Phil yelled, “That was from our first single,” proudly referring to “One More Reason.”  Tracii did a guitar solo with his magic fingers, giving the audience a few moments of Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever.” Then they broke right into “I Wanna be your Man,” with the attitude of The New York Dolls. “We Love You” said Phil, who is such a perfect front man and powerful vocalist. He introduced their new song “Lucky Motherf**ker” and said, “the new video is funny as f**k”… which it is. Check it out on YouTube. Their music videos are entertaining and show the band’s great sense of humor. Tracii Guns did a solo of AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” intro, which sounded great, before launching into one of their biggest hits, “Never Enough.” It transported the audience right back to the ‘80’s, and they haven’t lost a beat. It’s just a great song. As one fan noted, “it’s hooks with attitude. Phil interjected, “You can film us, do whatever you want, we’re not a band that minds. We are a LIVE band.” That they are and still a great live one! The sound quality at Stage 954 was outstanding. It was certainly loud, as it should be for a rock concert, but it was also sharp and clear.

Their fans went wild for their beautiful ballad and biggest hit, “The Ballad of Jayne,” which included an audience sing along. Phil complimented the singing crowd, “You all sound wonderful.” Tracii’s guitar also sounded so beautiful. The show ended with a blazing rendition of “Rip and Tear,” and Phil introduced the band, with each member having a moment to solo strut their stuff. Johnny Martin, Ace Von Johnson and Shawn “Demolition” Duncan were all superb. As for Tracii, Phil called him “Their fearless leader.” It was a nice touch, that after their final song, “So Long, Farewell” from The Sound Of Music played for a few moments as they danced around the stage, waved goodbye and exited. They are a classy, sexy and thoughtful band that still cares about what they do. As Phil once said, “Life is short and art is forever.”

The opener was a young band from Toronto, Canada named Sticks N Stones. They are energetic hard n heavy rock. They are promoting their debut album, Dead Memories, and they played four songs from it - “Going Down,” “How Does It Feel,” “Dead Memories” and “Stuck in Your Ways.” They have some more dates on the L.A. Guns tour and they got some guidance from Ryan Roxie of Alice Cooper’s band, who took a liking to guitarist Nick Lisanti’s playing. They even recorded one of Ryan’s songs with him. For all the people out in the lobby who thought they didn’t need to see the opener…you missed a hard rockin,’ up and coming metal band from Canada… Too bad for you.