Metal Sludge — We haven’t run many Live Music reviews in some time… and not just because we’re lazy.
The truth is, there is not much Live Music to review.
But never fear, online streaming is here.
L.A. Guns featuring Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis recently played their second Live stream concert over the weekend.
Their first was courtesy Monsters Of Rock Cruise live stream events back on June 20th 2020.
The event was Live in Las Vegas with some fans in attendance and it was streamed online for fans to purchase and watch from around the globe.
After the show, the band sold some unique merchandise as well.
With that said, we will leave it up to d2drums to tell you the rest.
My Review of LAG Live Stream Cocked and Loaded, and other delights
Post by d2drums » Gossip Boards > Sun Nov 29, 2020 7:09 am
The L.A.Guns featuring more original members per capita than the other performed the album ‘Cocked and Loaded’ in its entirety VIA live stream from Las Vegas last night.
The event was touted as being hosted by Eddie Trunk. What that equated to was a 30-40 minute pre-recorded face-time session with Trunk, Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns discussing the making of CAL.
It was actually very interesting hearing them talk about making the record, but it DID make me wonder; What is the relationship between Phil (63) and Tracii (54) really like?
LAG was Tracii’s band from the beginning, Phil replaced Paul Black after the first LAG album was already recorded. I get the feeling this is purely business, but more on that later.
After the Ed Trunk segment, the show started to an un-listenable mix of ALL PHIL’S VOCALS and literally all other volumes were barely audible.
I was seriously considering checking out after “Rip and Tear” it sounded so awful. I can’t for the life of me understand how the sound wasn’t totally locked in BEFORE they started airing.
It took about 4-5 songs before they dialed it in.
If there are any Vampires in Rock N’ Roll, Phil Lewis is definitely one of them.
They played the whole album in order. They felt the need to throw “Speed” off of “The Missing Piece” in the middle of the set, which made no sense to me, but whatever.
As is the case with a lot of our favorite albums, some of the material probably shouldn’t be played live. Some of the more obscure tracks kind of felt like 5th graders slugging their way through a classical piece that they just wanted to finish.
Practice those backing vocals, and if they sound like sh*t, do something about it before airing it live.
They played the album well overall, but there was literally no feel from anyone in the band, including the guys who wrote it. I’m sure it’s mainly because it’s all “newer” material for the employees, but why weren’t the two old goats rockin’ the f@#k out?
They’ve been cooped up since March not playing live or making any money. But they just kinda played the songs without much enthusiasm.
I also noticed that the Phil / Tracii stage line up is set in HARD thirds: The employees on the left third, Phil in the middle and Tracii on the right third. No interacting with the employees, ever.
It’s been like that for years – Michael Grant was an animated guy, he TRIED to interact, I think all he ever got was the occasional guitar face-off with Tracii.
That brings me back to the relationship thing with these guys. Tracii has matured for sure since the nineties and early days, but is he a “band” guy?? I don’t think so.
I think it’s all about Tracii, and Phil is his own island. The rest of the band is irrelevant (unfortunately, because I think they are all great players).
Ace and Johnny literally got about 30 seconds of camera time during the whole show. Scot Coogan had a drum cam, but if it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have had sh*t.
After the show, they posted this picture on their Facebook page:
I didn’t actually click the link, but after the internet was a-buzz about it, I did:
$495?? Let’s round up to $500. A new kick drum head is at best $50. Let’s guess the printing was $50…. If we’re being diplomatic, that means an autograph from a member of the “real” L.A.Guns in 2020 is worth $80 on the street.
In reality, Phil and Tracii probably get $150 and $200 respectively, leaving $50, which goes to Coogan, who may or may not buy DeDe Ramone Jr. and the 51st rhythm guitarist formerly of Faster Pussycat a box of hair dye OR a 6 pack of ramen TAKE. YOUR. PICK
Overall I would give the live stream a solid 5.5.
Review by: d2drums
Photos By: Joe Schaeffer Photography
