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Waking things up
in Massillon, Ohio, the inaugural Rockfest kicked off with a raw performance from
LA Guns. These days the Guns feature original members Phil Lewis, Tracii Guns,
and Steve Riley, as well as newcomers Adam Hamilton on bass and Keff Ratcliffe
on rhythm guitar.
The band’s set kicked in with a down-n-dirty favorite
“Sex Action,” but the big surprise was the song that followed, “Wheels of Fire,”
which they probably haven’t played live for almost a
decade. Another new addition to their live set was “Waking the Dead,” the
title track from their new album, which is due out this August.
 Before long fans
were treated to a unique guitar solo from Guns, using a violin bow, as
well as other key songs from the past like “Never Enough” and “One More Reason.”
Mid-set things did slow down, however, as they played their hit “The Ballad
of Jayne,” but only because they have to, said Lewis.
The finale was “Rip
& Tear” as is often the case, but those who are used to catching these guys in
clubs were left wondering, why they left out other cuts like “Electric Gypsy”
and new material from Man in the Moon (Spitfire), the first full studio release
featuring the reunion of Guns and Lewis. But, with only thirty
minutes, there was a lot of ground to cover.
Prior to the band's performance, bassist Adam
Hamilton, who joined LA Guns for the first time on their release Waking the Dead
(Spitfire) told TPRS.com that while the initial new studio release with
original vocalist Phil Lewis, Man in the Moon sought out a more organic and
Zeppelinesque approach, he prides himself on helping the band go for darker plan
of attack with Waking the Dead.
 He
says, “When I got in the band, I said ‘we need to really go a little more dark
and edgy and raw -- straight ahead like old LA Guns was back in the days
of Vampires and Cocked & Loaded.’”
Hamilton says that if you are an LA Guns fan, you will love the new record
because, it features a lot of material that Tracii Guns had been saving up for years.
And with them being the only dangerous band on the Rockfest tour. They joke,
because, who knows what’s going to happen when LA Guns hits the stage…"But that’s what
rock-n-roll’s is all about," says Hamilton, "The unpredictability of it, and that’s what makes
rock-n-roll excitement and there’s not a lot of that these days."
Hamilton was a huge fan of the band’s first three albums, and that
was kind of the direction they planned for with this release. He especially had
hoped to bring in influences from his
favorite bands like the Cult. And that mentality lead to much darker material and a lot of
darker chords, helping earn this release a comparison to Cocked & Loaded.
 Andy
Johns, who has worked with
Led Zeppelin and other classic rock artists like Van Halen and the Rolling
Stones was
supposed to mix the album, but Hamilton says, “at the last minute he just
decided to come in and stay and help us do it.” And, the band seems very
pleased with
the result.
“You
know we were going to produce it ourselves. And he said, ‘I’d like to work with
you guys and just do it’, and so we let him on mainly because it was better to
sit around and get all those stories straight from the horse’s mouth -- To hear
what all happened back in the day.”
Rockfest shows feature the album’s title track, which showcases classic Lewis
screams. In addition, some live sets also feature “Psychopathic Eyes,” “Don’t
Look at Me that Way,” and “Revolution,” a track that Hamilton had initially
written
for a movie soundtrack. Fortunately for LA Guns that movie
got pushed back, and after putting lyrics to the piece, it became on of the
strongest tracks on their new release. Hamilton explained that obviously given
such a small time slot on the multi-billed tour, they can’t fit in much new
material, but they are doing the best they can.
 Fans
who may recall Hamilton from Joey C. Jones & the Gloryhounds are probably wondering
how he ended up playing bass, but he explained that while he did indeed play
drums for the Gloryhounds, he has actually been playing both instruments sided
by side for years and he just jumps on whatever gig is available that he thinks
he’d enjoy most.
Despite the mutli-bill packed
summer, Hamilton says that the variety out there this year has not hurt the
tour, in fact, with the way things have been criss-crossing, they’ve
done very well and the low ticket price has made it very affordable for fans to
hit the other shows like the Poison Tour and Rock Never Stops tour as well.
Prior to
hitting the road, the Guns finally snatched up a new fifth member, Keff
Ratcliffe. Hamilton says, “We’ve been
thinking of adding another guitar player since Mick Cripps left a couple years
ago, for a while. And, we just know that the LA Guns sound is five guys."
 "So,
we basically had a couple people in mind. Instead of auditioning a couple
people, he was like probably the first guy we thought of. He had played with
Phil before, and he’s about the only guy in
Hollywood that’s cool enough to play with us.
Basically, we didn’t even audition him, we just said, ‘Do you want to do it?’
and it turned that he had been doing some studio stuff, more movies, and stuff and
he was home, and he was like ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ And, so we didn’t even audition
him, we just said ‘Here’s the list learn it.’,” Hamilton
explained.
Keff
Ratcliffe says that he’d worked with Phil Lewis in the Liberators, and that Lewis
also being from England has been a “huge inspiration” to him, and now he is
also pleased to be working with Tracii Guns. He says, “Tracii is just phenomenal, I
can’t think of any guitarist that I view any higher. And then Steve is just
fantastic, and then with Adam being in the band, Adam’s just a genius
everywhere.”
While Hamilton knows that the
original LA Guns was so great, he feels that with this line-up has they’ve
finally gotten to a point where they are kicking @ss on a whole different level
than the original band did, and he says that they are all here to stay. As
always visit www.lagunsweb.com for more information about the band.
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