Words by Steve Gibbons
In a blaze of thrashing hair, thunderous drums and lung-shaking bass, Jared James Nichols is taking no prisoners. This is the blues but not as you know it. Playing his Les Paul with a finger picking, thumb strumming style as opposed to the guitar pick style you would expect, Jared churns out metal riffs with a twist; they have depth and soul. The Black Sabbath-esque grind of new single End Of Time to the early Whitesnake swagger of Honey Forgive Me are a tour-de-force of smooth blues meets metal. The inspired cover of Mississippi Queen ensures everyone is flocking to buy a CD by the end of the set.
30 years after L.A Guns debut album release, the subsequent line-up changes and fights, it would be easy for the legend that was to simply vanish. The reunion of original members Phil Lewis (vocals) and Tracii Guns (guitar) is welcome news for fans and tonight the years simply fell away. Looming over the crowd in a black leather top hat, Phil Lewis is the best he has sounded in years. Tracii Guns in cut off denim and low slung Les Paul is clearly loving every second and this is a dream set.
Barely stopping for breath, the hits are coming hard and fast. Electric Gypsy, Sex Action, One More Reason and Over The Edge are all delivered faultlessly. New songs Speed and The Flood Is The Fault Of The Rain already sound like classics and Malaria with its irresistible sing along chorus is getting added touches of theremin thrown in tonight which blend well.
A teaser of AC/DC's Hells Bells leads us into set highlight Never Enough which segues nicely into the obligatory Ballad Of Jane. Ending with a tongue in cheek version of Rip and Tear (bizarrely renamed tonight as Fish and Chips which the crowd dutifully sang along to) this was a short but sweet set by a band firing on all cylinders and a masterclass in how to rock n’ roll.
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