Photos By Jacob Striewski

It’s been nearly twenty solid years now since I last saw legendary founding Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing onstage at the 2004 Ozzfest (on a bill that also saw the original lineup of Black Sabbath reunited), and about five years now since I last crossed paths with former Priest/Iced Earth frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens during the Dio Returns tour in 2019. To finally see these two icons together on the same stage with KK’s Priest, and allow my seventeen-year-old son Jacob to not only witness, but also photograph it at the Mount Dora Music Hall this past Friday, March 8, was nothing short of legendary itself.

Instantly, there was excitement in the air at the unknown venue we had traveled to for the first time ever, with the line wrapped around the building for what seemed like days. Once the doors opened, it was nearly impossible to navigate around the wall-to-wall people, but we immediately spotted L.A. Guns/former Faster Pussycat guitarist Ace Von Johnson doing his thing over by the merch tables, and took it upon ourselves to go say “Hi.”

Little did I know prior to this meeting that Von Johnson had also gotten into Black Sabbath around the release of 1992’s Dehumanizer album (coincidentally around the same time I had), which was also the very same shirt that I had on that night. This sparked an entire conversation about the late Ronnie James Dio and how amazing he was (and what an underrated album 1993’s Angry Machines truly is). But alas, I ultimately did not part ways with the literal shirt on my back, but rather settled for a photo standing together/next to it.

A mutual love for Black Sabbath’s Dehumanizer album; Rewind It’s Jesse Striewski (left) with L.A. Guns guitarist Ace Von Johnson at the show on 3/8/24.

By the time we had made it to our seats for the opening act Burning Witches, the place had already filled up nicely, and Jacob decided to just get some “practice” shots of them directly from our position (this turned out to be somewhat costly – more on that shortly). I was familiar with Burning Witches via their most recent album The Dark Tower, which for whatever reason I was never able to review despite it being sent to me at the time via their label. After seeing these five ladies live though, I kind of wished that I had.

The girls gave it their all as they plowed through powerful metal tracks like “Unleash the Beast,” “Wings of Steel,” “Hexenhammer,” “Lucid Nightmare,” “The Dark Tower,” and “Burning Witches.” I was honestly too busy low-key falling for frontwoman Laura Guldemond – who at one point left stage to run through the crowd in a frenzy – to fully take in the music. Guldemond’s stage presence was equivalent of a young David Lee Roth (albeit far more sexier), jumping and kicking her heart out the whole time (I’m pretty sure we even locked eyes there once or twice, too).

Burning Witches opening the night in Mount Dora, FL on 3/8/24.

Next up were L.A. Guns, who I have been trying to see for a long time now, but have had several missed calls (they were actually on the same bill for a 2022 Tom Kiefer/Faster Pussycat show that Rewind It covered, but cancelled at the eleventh hour). And although I have also interviewed former members like ex-bassist Kelly Nickels and late drummer Steve Riley over the years, I still needed to see original guitarist (and Guns N’ Roses co-founder) Tracii Guns live at some point, and to have him still paired alongside classic-era singer Phil Lewis was the icing on the cake.

The band were on top of their ’80s-rock game, first with Guns playing guitar over a tapped version of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Diary of a Madman” before ripping through old and new classics alike in the form of “Cannonball,” “Electric Gypsy,” “Over the Edge,” “You Betray,” “Sex Action” (with part of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It, Black” as an outro), “Speed,” (the intro of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” also thrown in there for good measure) “Never Enough,” a tender rendition of “The Ballad of Jayne,” and finally tearing the house down with “Rip and Tear.”

Phil Lewis (left) and Tracii Guns keeping the action going with L.A. Guns on 3/8/24.

And last but not least, the mighty KK’s Priest took stage with an onslaught of original tracks and Judas Priest classics alike, beginning with hard-hitters “Hellfire Thunderbolt” and “One More Shot at Glory” before launching into the immortal “The Ripper.”

“Reap the Whirlwind” was probably one of the least effective numbers of the night, while “Night Crawler” was a welcomed addition. “Sermons of the Sinner” lead to a trio of Priest classics I was not able to hear the band play when I originally saw them all those years ago in the form of “Burn in Hell,” “Beyond the Realms of Death,” and “Hell Patrol.”

“Brothers of the Road” was epic enough on its own, but lead to a slew of more Priest staples such as “Metal Meltdown,” “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown),” “Breaking the Law,” and of course, “Victim of Changes.” As if this was not enough, the guys still broke out two more strong ones in the form of “Raise Your Fists” and “Strike of the Viper.” As a die hard Priest fan for God only knows how long now, there was very little worth finding to complain about that night.

After the show, we ran into Ace one more time before exiting the venue. After exchanging some more pleasantries, I unfortunately had to let him down as easy as I could, and let him know I in fact could not bare to part ways with said Sabbath shirt (thanks for the guitar pic that you nailed me with during your set though – good shot, Ace!).

Metal legends KK Downing (left) and Tim “Ripper” Owens ran through both new hard-hitters and classic Judas Priest staples on 3/8/24.

Cinderella’s Tom Keifer and Faster Pussycat at Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach, FL on 7/23/22 By Jesse Striewski/Photos By Brooke Striewski

Volusia County was pulsating with the sounds of boisterous ’80s hard rock this past Saturday, July 23, as the criminally underrated Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer and his band blistered through the hot and humid night with fellow ’80s rockers Faster Pussycat in direct support (L.A. Guns were originally scheduled to perform in between the two acts, but unfortunately cancelled at the eleventh hour).

Faster Pussycat have always been one of those bands from back in the day that I tend to forget about sometimes (often times due to inactivity), but am always quickly reminded by how fun they truly are. Opening with “Jack the Bastard,” Taime Downe and company (it should also be noted that although L.A. Guns were not able to play, Faster Pussycat bassist Danny Nordahl and drummer Chad Stewart previously both served some time with them between 2007-2012) quickly got bodies moving.

More heavy-hitting cuts followed, including “Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way,” “Cathouse,” “Slip of the Tongue,” “You’re So Vain,” “Ain’t No Way Around It,” “Number 1 With a Bullet,” and “Sex Drugs & Rock-n-Roll” before they finally slowed things down a bit to play their hit 1989 power ballad, “House of Pain.” The guys then brought out guitarist for Tom Keifer’s band Tony Higbee to finish off their set with “Don’t Change That Song” and of course their signature rowdy anthem, “Bathroom Wall.”

Faster Pussycat vocalist Taime Downe with Tom Keifer Band guitarist Tony Higbee performing at Destination Daytona on 7-23-22.

Finally, the legendary Tom Keifer took the stage, armed with a stellar band of musicians, and that unmistakable voice, kicking things off with the solo track “Touching the Divine,” before treating fans with some favorite Cinderella tracks in the form of “Night Songs” and “Coming Home.” “It’s Not Enough” and “Somebody Save Me” followed before Tom and company slowed things down a bit for the piano-driven title track of his latest album, “Rise.”

Another Cinderella classic in the form of “Nobody’s Fool” got the crowd back on their feet again, before one last solo tack, “Solid Ground,” paved the way for a slew of Cinderella staples, including “Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin’ Apart at the Seams,” “The Last Mile,” “Don’t Know What You Got (Til It’s Gone),” “Shake Me,” and “Shelter Me.”

The band took a brief reprieve before taking to the stage once again for an encore that included dueling guitar solos between Keifer and Higbee, then finally closing out the night with “Gypsy Road,” leaving the audience dripping with sweat, yet fully content. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Keifer often does not always receive the recognition he truly deserves, and any list of greatest hard rock frontmen should include him right alongside the best of them. At least those of us catching him on this tour right now understand the true depths of his greatness.

Guitarist Tony Higbee (left) and Tom Keifer performing at Destination Daytona on 7-23-22.

Interview with L.A. Guns Bassist Kelly Nickels By Jesse Striewski (Photo By Mike Pont)

Kelly Nickels 1

L.A. Guns are a complicated bunch to say the least; for the second time in the band’s history, there are two separate versions of the band currently active (a practice becoming more and more common among groups from their era). Bassist Kelly Nickels was a part of their “classic” era (as well as an early member of another notorious Sunset Strip group, Faster Pussycat), playing on the first four L.A. Guns records and classic tracks like “Never Enough,” “Rip and Tear,” and “The Ballad of Jayne.” After a number of years absent from playing with the group, Nickels recently re-joined the Steve Riley-led version of the band; I recently spoke with him regarding just how that reunion came about, among other things.

Before getting in to band business, I asked Nickels what he was up to during his time away from the band. He tells me; “I’ve done all kinds of stuff! I’ve done a lot of carpentry, I’ve got my own design company where I do a lot of graphics and computer work, and the last few years I’ve been working on a shark cage diving boat off of Long Island. And of course raising kids in there, too, so I’ve stayed busy!”

Nickels then painted a picture of just how things played out getting involved with L.A. Guns again; “Well, Steve (Riley, L.A. Guns drummer) called me and told me what was going on with M3. They asked him to put a version of the band together to play that festival last year, and he basically asked me if I’d be interested in doing it or not, and the timing was good in my life, and it’s felt good to get back out there”

He goes on to explain how this incarnation of the band came to be; “When we first started the project, we had two other people who were into doing it, but dropped out. So we looked at Scott (Griffin, L.A. Guns guitarist), who had played bass in the band before (from 2007-09, and again from 2011-14), but Steve said he was an amazing guitar player too, which I had no idea. But I thought that was a great cause I already knew him a little bit from meeting him throughout the years. And Scott knew Kurt (Frohlich, L.A. Guns singer) and said he’d be a good fit. Kurt sent us a tape and we liked it, so we flew him out from FL to L.A. for a few days of rehearsal, and the chemistry and energy were really good, so we just said ‘let’s go’.”

The band released a new single last month called “Crawl,” and also have a full length album coming out soon titled Renegades. I asked how the songwriting went, and Kelly tells me; “We all chipped in and brought in songs. We basically took the best of what we had in a short amount of time to put it together. We wanted to just keep it a high energy record, which I think it is. A little punk, a little thrash mixed in there. But it’s been a really fun project, and we’re just looking forward to playing it and getting it out there. Just to put a song out into the world is an amazing gift, and we’re looking forward to sharing it with people.”

I also had to ask if Nickels, who is the only member of L.A. Guns to ever sing lead vocals on a song other than a lead singer (on the track “Nothing Better To Do” from 1994’s Vicious Circle album), would be singing lead again on any of the upcoming album’s numbers. He explains; “First of all, “Nothing Better To Do” was an accident (Laughs)! We were in the studio doing it, and everybody went to dinner, and I stayed with the engineer and decided to put just a guide vocal down for Phil (Lewis, L.A. Guns vocalist in the Guns/Lewis version of the band), and when he got back from dinner I played it for him, and he said it was ‘already done.’ I never had any intention of singing lead on a song (and probably never will again!). I was just trying to help him out, but he thought it was good the way it was, so it just kind of ended up the way it is.”

Still, the band revived the track last year during the previously-mentioned M3 Rockfest, alongside a host of classics, including perhaps the band’s most well-remembered hit, “The Ballad of Jayne.” I asked Kelly what it was that made so-called power ballads like it so enduring to fans all these years later, and he says; “I think that a good song is a good song, any way you want to label it. But there were a lot of really good ones that I think were pretty solid, heartfelt songs that a lot of bands put out at the time. Being a hard rock band known mostly for your ballads, it’s a weird thing. But hey, as long as they like you, man (Laughs).”

With the situation being as unique as it is with two versions of the band, I had to ask if there might ever be a chance for the two fractions to ever play together again. Nickels says, “I never want to say never, but I would say it’s pretty unlikely. It’s unfortunate L.A. Guns is the way it is, but it’s a rock n’ roll soap opera (Laughs). But if you like them (the Guns/Lewis version), it’s totally fine with us. We’re not trying to hurt anyone, but this just is the way it is. We just wanna be able to play as musicians, and these are the songs that we wrote, too, that are a big part of who we are, you know? And we’re all getting older, and don’t really wanna start over from scratch at this point in our lives. But like I said, we’re not trying to hurt anybody here, we’re just trying to play some music, too.”

And finally, with the uncertainty of live events still hanging in the balance, I asked Kelly what the future looked like for the band as far as playing live. He informs me; “We have a lot of shows that are being rescheduled for August, September, October, etc. It’s giving us some time to make sure the coast is clear, and if it’s safe to do them, of course we’d love to do them. I know people are ready to go, and a lot of people are ready to bust out their windows (Laughs). Obviously we have to make sure it’s safe for everyone to go before we do them, but we’re hoping for sometime in the fall though, so we’ll see how it goes.”