Anytime there are 10 bands on a one-night event, there’s bound to be a little of everything. Saturday night at Quatemain’s Pub was no exception. But not always for the right reasons.
It was L.A. Guns a blazin’. Emotions a flarin’. Electrical power a disobeyin’. And scheduled set times a goin’ up in smoke.
Sunset Strip veterans L.A. Guns headlined the two-story bar in Live Oak on a two-stage program (30-photo slideshow below). But things got interesting, and put out of whack, before the first band even took to the indoor and outdoor platforms.
Touring in support of The Devil You Know, the band featuring original vocalist Phil Lewis — listen to our interview below — and guitarist/founder Tracii Guns along with guitarist Ace Von Johnson, bassist Johnny Martin and drummer Scot Coogan was scheduled to go on at 11:45 p.m. But L.A. Guns wasn’t down with that.
According to a source, Martin told him the band insisted during the day to go on at 10 p.m. An announcement was not made via Quatemain’s or L.A. Guns’ social media outlets, so anyone planning on showing up just to hear hits such as “Sex Action,” “Never Enough” and “The Ballad of Jayne” close to 11:45 would’ve been out of luck. But as the concert began, a happy medium of sorts was reached for L.A. Guns to go on at 10:45 p.m. even though this was the last night of the current leg of its tour.
While L.A. Guns delivered the goods — watch ATM Facebook Live footage of first two songs “Over the Edge” and “No Mercy” here — the change in stage time continued a chain reaction of some of fhe locals being affected:
Hellfire Mafia, scheduled to kick off the night inside at 7 p.m., went on at approximately 8:30
Top Heavy, scheduled for 9 p.m., was scratched entirely
Dokken tribute Dream Warriors, featuring the debut of Jessikill wunder-guitarist Jyro Alejo, now had part of its 10 p.m. outdoor set conflicting with those wanting to get a good spot to watch L.A. Guns inside at 10:45
Outdoor headliners Budderside basically became a wash during its 11 p.m. set now that L.A. Guns was going on virtually at the same time inside
‘80s cover band Big Bang, which went on nine minutes late at 10:09 p.m., found itself setting the table for L.A. Guns, a job originally relegated to Austin band Black Heart Saints’ scheduled time of 11 p.m. To allow for a 15-minute changeover, that meant Big Bang should’ve known it now only had till 10:30 p.m. But its suddenly shortened 21-minute set caught singer Sean Nations of Even In Death and his bandmates by surprise when, as Nations said to the crowd, “We promised you some Faster Pussycat,” his mic was shut off after three tunes and before he could say the name of the fourth
Black Heart Saints arguably was screwed the most, forced to be the only band to go on after the headliners after making the 75-mile drive from Austin
Promoter Richard Reyes lamented to the crowd that “L.A. Guns wanted to go on earlier” and asked fans to “stick around for one or two songs.”. To their credit, more than a handful of metalheads more than stuck around, rocking out to Black Heart Saints as Lewis and Guns headed offsite and Von Johnson and Coogan made their way to the merch area. However, Black Heart Saints should’ve been afforded similar or better lighting than L.A. Guns given the change they were forced to endure and the distance they drove. Instead, they received the same red, bleak lack of brightness as the support acts.
But the headliners weren’t immune from what some would refer to as cluster-fuck moments either.
During “Gone Honey,” the only track performed from the new album, the power went out on stage. Sure, those things happen, and it came back rather quickly as Lewis urged his band to resume from the second verse. But after adding “Some Lie 4 Love,” “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Speed” to the set, Lewis was in the midst of spotlighting his mates during encore “Rip and Tear.” After calling on former Ace Frehley and Lita Ford drummer Coogan, Lewis had just introduced the Ramones-resembling Martin, who grabbed his mic and appeared set to address the crowd for the first time when the stage’s power failed again.
Martin simply flipped the mic to the ground and exited. Lewis and Guns, the only original members, didn’t get to give one another an intro but proved to be good sports about it by smiling and joining Von Johnson in acknowledging the cheers. On a side note, for those who rely on Setlist.FM, L.A. Guns did not perform “The Devil You Know” or “Kiss My Love Goodbye” as the Quatemain’s set on there would have you believe.
Reyes and Quatemain’s announced more ‘80s style shows coming, with BulletBoys on Oct. 18 and Enuff Z’Nuff — which recently had a show at Fitzgerald’s canceled due to low ticket sales — on Jan. 11. Fans can only hope, if those end up being more 10-band showcases, that lessons have been learned on the homefront so the performances, not the mishaps, become the story.
