KRASHCITY Magazine Issue 10

I have to admit that I’m a newbie to the St. Vitas metal head bar but I like it and I like the fact that it’s nestled in kind of a remote location in Brooklyn. I was looking forward to seeing Electric Black Horse once again and of course L.A.Guns who I have not seen in years. The night had opened with Strotakin IV, a band I have never heard of but I have to admit that the drummer could pound the shit out of his skins. I liked the first two songs and then everything started to sound the same. To me there were no distinctions between songs and I became bored, however that all changed when Electric Black Horse hit the stage. The singer’s flamboyant style changes the whole energy in the room to a high octane powerhouse and that’s exactly what it was as the room started filling in with people. They opened up with “Rave up” and “Champagne on ice” and by the third song “Capricorn Girl” which is one of my favorites they had clearly won the crowd over. The party continued with “Birthday Bitch”, “Long way baby”, “Cheap party favors” and the set ended way too soon with “All over now” The band was amazing, energetic and most of all very entertaining and by the time it was over everyone wanted more. L.A.Guns kept everyone waiting with anticipation until everything was set up just the way they wanted it to be. The set had opened up with “Over the edge” and you could see Phil’s smiling face as he was walking over to the mic strumming on his guitar. They continued to kick in with the crowds favorites ”Sex Action” and “Never enough”. Those two songs brought back memories of one of the best times in my life as I was jumping up and down re-living those moments with total abandon. The show continued with a few songs off their new album “Hollywood Forever” before swinging right back to the 80’s with “ Sleazy come easy go”,” Electric Gypsy”, “ Ballad of Jayne” which seemed to be the crowds favorite and of course the one and only “Rip and Tear”. After all these years I can honestly say that Phil Lewis and his original partner in crime Steve Reilly don’t miss a beat, you can still see the amazing chemistry between them that carried through the years and they both still got it in a big way. Phil is one of the best front man I have ever seen and Steve is one hell of a drummer. I also think that L.A.Guns is doing quite well without Kelly Nickels or Tracii Guns from the original line up. Plainly said Stacey Blades and Scott Griffin have got their shit together and they can play with the best of them. Stacey has no problem picking up where Tracii left off without too much of an effort and Scott is filling Kelly’s shoes without a problem as well, as he plays in a very similar style and I think Mr. Nickels would have been proud. They played all the songs as if they had been with the original line up for the last twenty years and that’s fuckin’ impressive to say the least. I’d say that Stacey is the serious one on stage and Scott and Steve are the clowns in the band making funny faces and getting everyone going. This was one hell of a show and I’d definitely see those guys again because they know exactly how to recapture memories from the past and make them real again through the sound of their amazing songs.