You’ve got to hand it to a band like L.A. Guns, who unlike many of their fellow contemporaries out there that are still relying on merely their earlier material/hits, have been hustling both on the live circuit, as well as putting out new music on a two-year cycle consistently since 2017.
Right off the bat the cover imagery for Leopard Skin invokes a welcomed, we’ll say “pair” of emotions (even if it may just be an A.I. photo) in true ’80s sleaze fashion. But once one digs a bit deeper, there’s way more to unveil here.
The first two singles, “Taste It” and “Lucky Motherfucker” put the band in some interesting and amusing scenarios in their respective music videos. But the likes of “Runaway Train,” “The Masque,” and “Hit and Run” all easily steal the show.
I won’t sit here and claim L.A. Guns are my favorite ’80s metal band out there by any means. But their continous tenacity is enough to earn them some respect in just about any of rock’s history books.
Ever since the moment I first got my hands on a fully intact vinyl copy of KISS’ 1979 Dynasty album via a secondhand find as a teenager, I’ve been a loyal, card-carrying member of the KISS Army. But the one and only time I was able to actually catch the band live back in 2012, I could not help but feel there was still something missing…namely the absence of beloved original guitarist Ace Frehley.
But after the week I had just endured, I wasn’t sure I’d even make it to Frehley’s show at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando, FL on Friday, June 21. It was both my sick wife Brooke, and teenaged son Jacob – who had been too young to see KISS with me all those years ago – that helped each motivate and convince me not to miss the Spaceman again by saying “But you love KISS!” (hard to argue with that logic!).
Local Orlando rockers Sick Dogs were still on stage by the time Jacob and I had arrived that night, and although they put in admirable enough effort, their harder-edged sound seemed slighty “off” for the setting. But the moment Frehley hit the stage with 1977’s “Shock Me,” I knew we had made the right choice to catch Ace (who claimed he was literally just dropped off in a car just moments before taking stage).
The immortal KISS anthem “Shout It Out Loud” followed before Ace dropped a new track, the catchy “Cherry Medicine” (which unfortunately a good portion of the crowd did not seem to care much about at all), but the epic Frehley’s Comet track “Rock Soldiers” from 1987 got everything back on track.
Another KISS classic followed in the form of “Love Gun,” which drummer Scot Coogan (also of L.A. Guns) took over the lead vocal duties for, though not before a slight “mishap” the first go-round as the band stopped the song early in it’s offset to berate the lighting techs for improper placement of the spotlight (I can’t make this up!).
The title track to Frehley’s latest album “10,000 Volts” gave the audience a much-needed jolt of electricity before going into “Parasite.” Then the intro to “God of Thunder” segued into a couple from Frehley’s 1978 solo album in the form of “New York Groove” and “Rip It Up.”
From that point forward it was all KISS classics (“Detroit Rock City,” “Cold Gin,” “Strange Ways,” and Frehley’s self-proclaimed, all-time personal favorite, “Deuce”), instrumental jams, and solos (complete with Ace’s signature smoking guitars, of course) before Ace and company (which also currently consists of guitarist Jeremy Asbrock and bassist Ryan Cook, each of Gene Simmons’ solo band, too) exited stage.
Of course things could not simply end there though; within minutes, the band was back on stage to close things out with arguably one one of the biggest rock anthems of all time, the immortal (albeit overplayed) “Rock and Roll All Nite.” It was the only fitting end cap for a night already full of legendary rock, from one legendary rocker.
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.
Things heated up at the Bandshell in Daytona Beach this past Saturday, May 6 for the Summer Throwback Bash featuring Taylor Dayne, Tiffany, and Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory (I realize as I type this, these are mostly all artists I remember my older sisters listening to while growing up, and not so much my own – I was more the Iron Maiden type back then).
Upon arrival (fashionably late as usual, of course) local cover artists Are Friends Electric were well into their set already, and within moments they were having technical difficulties with their mics. After having a laugh or two at its expense, the issue was resolved, and the band was able to resume churning out more hits like “Love Shack” before bowing out and stepping aside for the rest of the acts.
Nineties rapper Freedom Williams, best remembered for his time fronting dance hit makers C+C Music Factory, was up next. He wasted no time as he and co-lead vocalist (whose name I want to say was Smooth Jenny?) ran straight through the hits; “Here We Go (Let’s Rock n’ Roll),” “Things That Make You Go Hmm…,” and of course “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” all made their way into the set.
I have long since flown the flag for ’80s pop sensation Tiffany, and I’ve said before and I’ll say it again; her lesser-known, more recent material is far more interesting than the hits she’s remembered for most. And while I’ve seen her live twice before, I was looking forward to hearing her with a full live band this time instead of acoustic (guitarist Mark Alberici was once again by her side, as well as former and current L.A. Guns members Johnny Martin and Scot Coogan).
After opening with “Keep on Swinging,” she launched into the title track of her latest album, “Shadows,” no doubt one of her best songs in recent memory. A couple more new tracks in the form of “Cried For the Last Time” and the ballad “You’re My Everything” followed before going through a trio of her most well-known hits in the form of “I Saw Him Standing There,” “Could’ve Been,” and of course, “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
And lastly, headliner Taylor Dayne – another female artist I can clearly remember salivating over on my big sisters’ LP covers – closed out the evening. “Prove Your Love” and “With Every Beat of My Heart” initially paved way for bigger hits like “Don’t Rush Me,” “Heart of Stone,” and “I’ll Always Love You.”
More than once Ms. Dayne gave a little back story on some songs before performing them, including with “I’ll Be Your Shelter,” “Love Will Lead You Back,” Can’t Get Enough of Your Love,” and of course, “Tell It to My Heart.” While these songs might not have been my cup of tea per se at the time of their original releases, it’s no doubt easier for me to appreciate them now all these years later as a father and husband (especially with my beautiful bride by my side; it turned out to be yet another one of our many adventures together).
The moment “You Betray” kicks Black Diamonds – the latest from ’80s hard rockers L.A. Guns – into high gear, it’s apparent the guys have still got plenty left in them, and more than plenty to prove here.
Said intro track instantly brought me back to another album opener, “Face Down” from the band’s 1994 Vicious Cycle record (which ironically was my “true” introduction to the band all those years ago). This is followed up with “Wrong About You,” which features mammoth lead-off guitar riffs from Tracii Guns and Ace Von Johnson that seem primed for cruising the strip on a Saturday night.
“Diamonds” shows the band’s abilities to still maintain a softer side, while “Shattered Glass,” “Gonna Lose,” and “Like a Drug” all echo respective ’70s punk and/or Led Zepplin vibes. Sure there’s some clunkers (see; “Shame”), but that’s to be expected. Overall, this is worthy of putting alongside any of the band’s classic material; shame indeed it will likely fall under the radar like most “new” music from its era does.
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.
Few fictional ‘rock’ flicks have ever perfectly captured the essence of sex, drugs, and rock and roll as well as 2001’s Rock Star. Tagged with the line “The story of the wanna be, who got to be,” its source inspiration was drawn from the real life fairy tale of Tim “Ripper” Owens, who landed the dream job as frontman for heavy metal legends Judas Priest after being discovered singing the band’s material in a cover band.
Directed by Stephen Herek, the film uses this idea to tell the story of Chris “Izzy” Cole (Mark Wahlberg), who goes from singer for a Steel Dragon cover act, to the real deal almost overnight. He instantly feels all of the highs and lows going from obscurity to the big leagues, with many of his personal relationships ultimately straining as a result, including his romance with girlfriend/manager Emily Poule (Jennifer Aniston).
Having previous experience as lead singer for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Wahlberg pulls off playing Cole like a pro. He’s surrounded by more ‘real life’ musicians throughout the film, with guitarist Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society), bassist Jeff Pilson (Dokken), and drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin) making up the rest of the lineup of the fictional Steel Dragon.
The author (left) with former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens in 2019. Owens inspired the plot of Rock Star.
Outside of Steel Dragon, there’s use of many other notable musicians in the film; Slaughter drummer Blas Elias, Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy, and even one time L.A. Guns/future Steel Panther lead singer Ralph Saenz (a.k.a. Michael Star – see photo below) all pop up at one point or another. There’s even an homage of sorts to the 1984 classic This is Spinal Tap, when the band is seen photographed on the same rooftop featured in said film.
Aside from featuring many original songs by the likes of KISS, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard (among many others) throughout, it also contains a number of covers re-imagined as Steel Dragon originals, such as the Steelheart track “We All Die Young.” And while the other members of the fictional outfit perform on these songs, oddly, Wahlberg does not sing on them. Instead the vocal duties are handled by Steelheart vocalist Miljenko Matijevic, and one-time Journey singer Jeff Scott Soto.
Making under $20 million on a $50-plus million dollar budget, Rock Star fell short of making the impression filmmakers had hoped it would; this could likely be attributed to the fact it was released just days before the September 11 terrorist attacks. Still, the film has since maintained a life of its own among fans, and remains a go-to, rags-to-riches rock journey to this day.
Steel Panther performing live in 2013; vocalist Michael Star makes a brief appearance in the film (photo courtesy of the author’s personal collection).
While neither the album cover, nor the name of this current project between L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns and Stryper frontman Michael Sweet really grabbed my attention at first, what the two have achieved here is no doubt sheer heavy metal greatness.
Opening track/single “Life” packed enough of a punch to convince me to check out the rest Evil and Divine, and it was soon clear that this was a well-thought out effort from start to finish, with Guns unleashing some of his heaviest Sabbath-inspired riffs, and Sweet belting out each and every track with full passion. Some more album highlights include the timely “World Gone Wrong,” the ballad “Been Said and Done,” and epic single “Better End.”
It’s apparent the folks at Frontiers no doubt know how to put together a winning combination of established musicians at this point and let them do their thing. However, it would’ve been slightly more interesting had Sunbomb been a true “supergroup” rounded out by a full band, instead of only having Guns and Sweet as the faces of the project. Regardless, this still works for everyone involved.
With renewed interest in the decade of decadence continually growing each year, there’s no shortage of various media information on ’80s hard rock (a.k.a. ‘hair’ or ‘glam’ rock) and heavy metal out there these days. But this new book by rock journalists Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock (with a brief forward by Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor) is truly the new bible on ’80s hard rock and heavy metal.
Largely tracing it’s roots back to the influence Van Halen had on the movement in the mid to late ’70s, here the two authors put together a collection of interviews that includes numerous musicians, producers, promoters, magazine editors, and the like, to help tell the tale of arguably one of rock’s greatest eras. Various key members of such staple acts as Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns N’ Roses, Quiet Riot, Dokken, L.A. Guns, W.A.S.P., Poison, Cinderella, and Warrant, – as well as numerous Rewind It Magazine interviewees from over the years – including Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister, Jack Russell of Great White, Brian Forsthye of Kix, and Rachel Bolan of Skid Row (among many others), are just some who help recall the foundation of the genre that changed it all in great detail.
The perspective is unique and fresh, despite some of the stories already found in other published works (many of those involved have previously published their own individual biographies). There’s even a brief but brilliant collection of many never-before-seen photos included as well. In short, Nothin’ But a Good Time is a rollercoaster ride of literature from start to finish, and one of the best of it’s kind currently available on the subject. It simply ‘don’t get better than this.’
When I spoke to Quiet Riot/Hookers & Blow guitarist Alex Grossi via phone from his Las Vegas home last week, one of the first things I mentioned was how our paths had already crossed previously back in 2006, when I saw him perform with Quiet Riot on a bill that also included Skid Row in Ormand Beach. To my surprise, he actually remembered the exact show; “Oh yeah, during one of those Bike Week events! I vividly remember going to a Waffle House afterwards with a bunch of bikers and meeting with some fans (laughs). That was a good show!”
While technically it was actually Biketoberfest and not Bike Week (though I won’t fault him for it too much, it does get confusing!), I was still impressed none-the-less for remembering, and knew it was primed to be a good conversation from then on out. So of course I tested his memory further and asked him to recall how exactly Hookers & Blow, his cover band he formed along with Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed (one of two GN’R members Grossi has worked with extensively, the other being former drummer Steven Adler in Adler’s Appetite) around the same time he joined Quiet Riot (in 2004), originally came together. He tells me; “We met at a place on Sunset Blvd. that’s no longer there called the Cat Club. It was sort of like the local musicians watering hole, where they would have an open jam there every night. I approached him to see if he wanted to maybe do some cover gigs. We exchanged numbers, and a couple of days later he said, ‘yeah, let’s book some shows, but call the band Hookers & Blow.’ And I said, ‘sounds good to me,’ and we gave it a shot, and it sort of snowballed from there. Now seventeen years later we’re finally putting out a record (laughs).”
The band has seen it’s share of members come and go, and Grossi did his best to clarify; “We’ve had a bazillion guys in and out of the band over the years, but the ‘core’ as of right now is myself on guitar and Dizzy on vocals and keys, but we also have Mike Duda from W.A.S.P. on bass, and Johnny Kelly from Type O Negative/Danzig on drums. And as far as who also appears on the album, (late Quiet Riot drummer) Frankie Banali did a couple of songs, and so did Scott Griffin from L.A. Guns. And when it comes to the touring aspect, we’ve had everyone from Chip Z’Nuff from Enuff Z’ Nuff and Todd Kerns from Slash’s band play with us live. It’s been a rotating lineup, but like I said, the core is really myself, Dizzy, Duda, and Kelly, and also Dizzy’s wife, Nadja, on background vocals.”
Drummer Kelly has also been pulling double duty in Quiet Riot along with Grossi, taking over for the previously-mentioned late drummer Banali. I asked if this arrangement would be permanent or not, and he said; “When Frankie got sick, Johnny kind of fell into the spot. At first he was just keeping the seat warm, but now we need him to keep it warm for us every night. He’s been with Hookers & Blow for eight years now though, so it made sense for him to fill that (now unfortunately empty) seat for Quiet Riot. But he’s doing a great job, and he’s family, so I’m really glad it’s worked out the way it has.”
I also asked Grossi for some insight on how H&B chooses the songs for it’s sets, as well as for their upcoming full length album. He explained; “Well, when we initially got together we were only playing live shows, so we basically were sending master lists of the songs we all knew back and forth through emails to each other. And over the years we’ve since added and subtracted songs from the set. But as far as the record goes, I’d say it’s about fifty percent of our live set, and then the other half are songs we’ve always wanted to cover. For example, we cover Body Count’s “The Winner Loses,” and we’ve never played that live before. Then on the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got a track like David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust,” which is literally the first song we’ve ever played together and have played at every single show since.” But Grossi maintains that H&B doesn’t indulge too much when it comes to playing their respective bands’ music in their sets; “We’ll throw in the occasional Guns N’ Roses deep cut, but for the most part we like to keep it completely separate from our day jobs (laughs).”
I was also curious if a cover of Led Zepplin’s “Trampled Under Foot,” which featured the late Banali on drums, was a personal favorite of Frankie’s. He tells me; “That was a really special track. He was given 3-6 months to live in April of 2019, and he recorded that track in November of that same year after about a dozen rounds of chemo, and he still did it all in one take. He was definitely amazing though, just a monster. But we learned that, and “No Quarter” specifically for him, cause Zepplin was obviously Frankie’s favorite band. “Trampled…” we actually played live for years before we recorded it. In 2013 we got hired to do a residency at the Whiskey A Go-Go for a month, and Frankie wanted to come down and play, and asked if we could put some Zepplin in the set. We did, and it just turned out great.”
Before our conversation ended, Grossi clarified that Quiet Riot will still go on, and confirmed some upcoming show dates with both them and H&B; “We’re still going full steam ahead, that’s what Frankie wanted. His wife has taken over as manager and is doing a great job, and it’s nice to be able to still carry on his legacy, and it’s like having him here still in a way. But both bands actually have shows booked for the year already; Quiet Riot has a show March 6 at the Landis Theater in Vineland, NJ. And Hookers & Blow actually have four shows in Texas the following week, in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and Eagles Pass. They’re reduced capacity shows of course, but thing’s are slowly opening up, and wherever it makes sense for us, we’re going to do some shows here and there.”
One final thing I wanted to ask Grossi, was his thoughts on the late, great guitar legend Eddie Van Halen’s recent passing. Grossi tells me; “I was such a HUGE fan of Eddie’s, but I never aspired to play like him, because I knew I never could! There was Eddie, and then there was everybody else. It’s almost surreal that he’s not here with us anymore.”
