Live by the...LA Guns

The truth is they are a brand new Guns...or at least the Trees say so...

It is not your 80's Guns...it isn't even your 90's Guns...It's not Guns and Roses...and it's NOT Phil Lewis' Guns...(thank god, no offense)...

The truth, while perhaps in the Trees...is that this iteration of the LA Guns, is a band, of founding member Tracii Guns, with a fresh lead singer, Marty Casey. The most striking thing about this band, is the chemistry that Tracii and Marty have.

Marty, is a talented front guy, that while getting exposure on 2005's Rock Star, has seemingly not yet broken beyond the regional success with his childhood band. But not for lack of charisma or presence. And I know there is plenty out there he has done that I have not been privy to...

I have no idea, if this turn with LAG will push him beyond, but it certainly gives us all a chance to see him spread his wings. He is raw talent, electric, charismatic, and a washboard of ripped abs(seriously, does he crunch them in his sleep?!?!?)

All together the entire band was very interesting...younger(save Tracii) than I had expected...more charismatic as a whole...I honestly expected a bunch of tired songs, performed by old guys, and just not music nor a band that I could get behind. I was hugely SURPRISED! In a good way. Marty leads the whole band, in breathing freshness into material...On top of that, they don't shy away from covering Marty's teevee debuted love in the sky, the truth is there too, song: Trees...I loved their take on it. And they covered one of my favorite Rolling Stones tunes, You Can't Always Get What You Want...LOVED it!

Oh, and Tracii reminds me a little of Keith Richards, lol...that is weird. Not correlating talent or no...but the look and style...Tracii, on his own merits, is a great guitar player...Aside from Marty, he totally steals or at least co-stars the show. And of course, he got to be in that "magical" guitar god light...

In all, thank you to my friends who encouraged me to go. Thank you to Marty, for being as great as I know you are...Thank you Tracii, Jeremy, Big Al, and Chad. Your band is something special. I wish you the very best.

And now, here is a bit of what I saw...

For full set: on flickr

Slideshow: on slide.com

http://lagunslive.com/
http://www.martycasey.com

xoxo
~Elisa

Who is that shirtless man?!

whoisthatshirtlessman, originally uploaded by Elisa ~ www.emswazzu.com.

...ponders...

Stars Down is Minty Fresh...

In the last stand of their residency at The Mint I saw the band play July 29th...



I have seen Lukas play 2x previously acoustic...this was my first time seeing him accompanied by the new band...

I was convinced I liked him calm, thoughtful, and focused on his music, and voice. I was never a fan of the drunken frankenstein bit, that frankly was a turn off for me from his Rockstar: Supernova performances on the TV.

But, alas, that may have been just distant memory, because he was both melodic and fun to watch amongst his new bandmates in Stars Down. This band incarnation, is interesting, and you can see they are starting to get that organic band thing going.

I wish them much success. We(my friends and I) got to hang out with the Bass player, German Briseno, after, and hear what it is like being in this band, other bands, and what it is like to choose this life, a musician's life...

I am a big supporter of the creative path in life...I myself struggle with having made the 'safe' decision to work in the business world over pursuing more creative endeavors. And I love music, as a consumer... I respect that the folks that struggle, oft times for years, chasing their dreams, may make it, or may just get by. The pursuit of what is art, and I believe music is art...is a long hard road. Sure there are "rockstars"...but mostly, there are folks that toil day to day, from band to band, dark bar to dark bar, playing their music for whomever will listen...Because they believe. Anywho, I just want to say to German, Lukas, Jon, keep doing what you are doing. Follow your bliss. Dream the dream.

And with that...I sipped my Diet Coke this evening, and snapped a few images from my lovely table right in front...

xoxo
~Elisa

Full set of images on Flickr!
www.starsdowninc.com
www.myspace.com/starsdownmusic
RockBandLounge.com :: Event thread ~ Stars Down at the Mint, July 29th