The 80’s came alive last Wednesday night with the return of L.A. Guns. This the second appearance in the WNY area within a years time for the band. L.A. Guns has gone through numerous lineup changes over the years but has remained pretty consistent over the last few years. The 2025 version of L.A. Guns is Phil Lewis on vocals, Tracii Guns on lead guitar, Johnny Martin on bass, Ace Von Johnson on rhythm guitar and Shawn Duncan on drums. The band has some new music to promote. L.A. Guns’ sixteenth studio album, Leopard Skin, was released on April 4, 2025. This is the 2nd date of the ‘Lucky MF’r Tour’ tour.
The band took the stage at 8:30pm sharp and opened with “Cannonball,” off of the 2021 ‘Checkered Past’ disc. They went back to the beginning as one of my favorite L.A. Guns songs in “Electric Gypsy” was up next. The one thing you notice when watching the band play together is the frequency of both Guns and Lewis coming together to sing in Lewis’ mic. This went on throughout the set. Lewis did talk to the crowd throughout the show. At one point, he said “I can’t see you but I can feel you!” A female dance joined the band as they dished out a fan favorite in “Sex Action.” The band played some new material off of the new record in in “Hit and Run” and “Lucky Motherfucker.” Lewis did have to check his trusty iPad that was on stool next to him as again, it was sonly the 2nd time the band played these songs live. As Lewis exited the stage, Guns and the rest of the band got the crowd going as they played a snippet of the AC/DC classic “Hells Bells.” It was a very eclectic mix of classic material with newer material that longtime fans of the band had to appreciate. Guns elongated on some of the songs by adding some extra tasty licks to them. Lewis still has the flair of a front man and a solid voice to deliver the songs with power and precision. L.A. Guns closed with the possibly their biggest hit in “Ballad of Jayne” and one of their classic cuts in “Rip and Tear.”
There was no encore as L.A. Guns played a straight ahead, balls out rock show for an hour and 15 minute set. I still think after all of these years, the band is still playing at a very high level. The last few times I have seen L.A. Guns live, the band still continues to deliver a quality rock show. You can say the band are like fine wine, they keep getting better and better!
Setlist:
Cannonball
Electric Gypsy
Over the Edge
Sex Action
Hit and Run
Like a Drug
Speed
One More Reason
I Want to be Your Man
Lucky Motherfucker
Hells Bells (AC/Dc cover – snippet)
Never Enough
Ballad of Jayne
Rip and Tear
We would like to thank David Fillenwarth form the Riviera Theatre for the credentials to review the show.
