L.A. GUNS - 31 Years Of Cocked & Loaded
Live stream review by; DeeDee
After paying a small fee of around £10, I couldn’t wait for this one. The whole of ‘Cocked and Loaded’ played live, by the L.A Guns line up that includes Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns. The album from 1989 was their second and it was never played in its entirety during the 2 years of constant touring. Before the show, Phil and Tracii are interviewed for 30 minutes by the legendary Radio and TV host, Eddie Trunk. A really in-depth chat, we get to learn about the making of the album and how this follow up to the eponymous debut, was more balanced, as the band were beginning to develop and take shape. They talk about ‘The Ballad Of Jayne’ and that there is no ‘Jayne’ in real life, the name just fitted the lyrics. Tracii recalls being 23 years old and the Def Leppard ‘Hysteria’ tour, while Eddie checks his copy of Cocked & Loaded to remind the guys, who actually wrote, ’Never Enough’ (Gregg Tripp & Phil Roy). As Phil takes a sip of vino, they talk about the Japanese tour and how ‘Malaria’ was conceived. Tracii goes on to say how ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ was just a simple and fun thing to play, while Phil admits it was inspired by AC/DC. Half an hour of this incredible insight is over, way too quick. We are then taken to Phil’s bathroom, where he tells us he grows a moustache in between gigs and it’s now time to shave off the latest one.
The lights go down and the band appear on stage at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas to ‘Letting it Go’, the short introduction is followed by ‘Slap In The Face’ and to be honest the sound is not good. The mix is too high on Phil and drummer Scot Coogan, (who has a delightful pony tail tonight) and we can hardly hear Tracii’s lead guitar or that of Faster Pussycat’s, Ace Von Johnson, who is on rhythm. Ace also appears to be in the dark, there’s no light on him, so we only get a brief glimpse now and again. ‘Rip And Tear’, ‘Sleazy Come Easy Go’ and ‘Never Enough’ are delivered, with a little of the old glam and swagger. The sound has been fixed by now and it is perfect for ‘Malaria’, Johnny Martin stands legs apart with his bass guitar hung low and Tracii Guns has warmed up to give this one a decent finish. Ok, Phil has to read the lyrics from time to time for a few songs, but that’s understandable and forgiving.
A short break to display the merchandise and we resume with ‘The Ballad Of Jayne’ and Phil asks us to sing-along. It’s still a powerful ballad, having a country feel about it. Some of us haven heard it for a few years and the Veeps chat bar is frantic with messages of delight. The Blue Gibson is in full glory for ‘Magdalaine’, as Tracii steps up a gear and shows us why he is such a revered musician. I can’t remember the last time ‘Give A little’ was played live, I’m informed 2009 and ‘I’m Addicted’ ( Willie Dixon ) was a guitar solo on the original LP, so we sway a little, before Phil utters ‘let’s Get back to work’. ’17 Crash’ is also relived for the first time since 2009 and ‘Showdown (Riot On Sunset) sees Tracii switch to a Black ‘Eddie Van Halen, Stripe’ axe. On ‘Wheels Of Fire’ he ends with a tribute to the recently departed genius by shredding a little of Van Halen’s ‘Ain't Talkin' About Love’. I’m sure there were a few tears during that. ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ brings it all to a superb finale and the curtain comes down.
31 years on and it was an enrapturing performance, yes more mature these days, of course, but for those of us who still admire and salute L.A Guns for the legends that they are, it was incredible. My eyes didn’t leave the screen for the whole session. Sharing a glass or two of white wine with Phil, I stumbled up the stairs afterwards, very merry and quite content. They have got to do this for Hollywood Vampires next.
5/5
Cocked and Loaded was released in 1989 on Vertigo records and produced by Tom Werman, Duane Baron and John Purdell. The album was later re-released in 2000 as Cocked and Re-loaded.
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