On Thursday, July 18th LA Guns showed up in Fresno, CA once again, a regular stop for these vampires for many years. I’ve had quite a bit of trouble piecing together how many times I’ve seen LA Guns but I know we’re in double-digits. Last night at the Tower Theater was as good as any of them.
Ageless wonders Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns are front-and-center with a great cast of characters filling out the band. The songs never lose their luster and the energy level is always through the roof. As one of the bands from their era that still records regularly, they always have newer songs to throw at the audience and those were mixed in well with the classics.
The festivities began with “Cannonball” from 2021’s Checkered Past and after that burst of adrenaline they went into classics from 1988, “Electric Gypsy” and “Sex Action.” From there they made a run through new and newer songs, “Hellraiser’s Ball,” “Like A Drug,” and “Speed.” The latter track, from 2017’s The Missing Peace, was the best of the bunch.
It was easy downhill from there with almost all classics fired one after another. “One More Reason,” “Over The Edge,” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “Never Enough,” “The Ballad of Jayne,” and “Rip And Tear” were how we rode to the finish, with “Lucky Motherfucker” stashed in between.
Tracii Guns was in fine form with the songs and paid homage to some of his heroes with his solo and his intros. Phil Lewis showed off the voice, sounding great all night and working the crowd. The band was a powerhouse and they produced the songs, new and old, with brilliant energy.
Not much more to say at this point. LA Guns is still out there and they should be. This isn’t an act that kinda sounds the same or gives it the old college try and we love it just because it’s them. This was a GREAT show.
