Live Review and Photos by Mark Schaff
As a teen growing up in the 80s, hair metal was a favorite of mine. I’ve seen a lot of eighties bands, but last night I got to see two on my list that I’ve never seen. Faster Pussycat and L.A. Guns. I couldn’t wait to get to the venue. L.A. Guns formed in 1983, but the classic roster of the band came together in 1985, the same year Faster Pussycat formed. Both groups have had major overhauls in their lineups over the years. Taime Downe (vocals) is the only original member still with the band, but Danny Nordahl (Bass) and Chad Stewart (Drums) have been in the band for over 20 years. Rounding out the group is Sam “Bam” Koltun (Guitar) and the newest member Ronnie Simmons (Guitar). L.A. Guns consists of founding guitarist Tracii Guns, vocalist Phil Lewis, Johnny Martin on bass, Ace Van Johnson with rhythm guitar, and the newest member on drums, Shawn Duncan. The Showplace Theater was packed and ready to go, and due to some unfortunate severe weather the night before, Buffalo ended up getting the first show of this tour, and we were all waiting for them to hit the stage.
Faster Pussycat
Seeing how I’ve been a fan for as long as they’ve been around, It’s a bit funny I’ve never seen them live before. And from the minute they jumped onto the stage with “Where There’s A Whip There’s A Way”, this crowd was ready. They followed with “Cathouse” and “Slip Of The Tongue” with Sam and Ronnie running back and forth to either side of the stage. “Don’t Change That Song” (one of my favorites) had the crowd doing the sing-along before the slight change of pace with the Carly Simon cover of “Your So Vain”. Taime’s vocals were spot on throughout the night, and he sounds like he did back in the 80s. “Ain’t No Way Around It”, a Heartbreakers cover of “Pirate Love” and “Number 1 With A Bullet” were next in line before their newest single “Nola”. They slowed it down a bit with the classic ballad “House Of Pain” while Danny took a seat on the drum riser in front of Chad for the song. Then they rip into the hit “Bathroom Wall”, as a musical interlude of the song, Danny Takes over singing and playing “Pretty Fucked Up” before the big finish of “Bathroom Wall”. And they end the night with the fan-favorite “Babylon” while the crowd sings every word. They sounded tight as a group the entire night, it was loud and raucous and ears couldn’t be happier!
Setlist
Where There’s A Whip There’s A Way
Cathouse
Slip Of The Tongue
Don’t Change That Song
You’re So Vain (Carly Simon Cover)
Ain’t No Way Around It
Pirate Love (The Heatrbreakers Cover)
Number 1 With A Bullet
Nola
House Of Pain
Bathroom Wall/Pretty Fucked Up
Shut Up And Fuck (Betty Blowtorch Cover)
Babylon
Faster Pussycat | More Than 3 Decades of Rock n’ Roll
L.A. Guns
Tracii Guns made it first to the stage playing along to the lead-up music for their set, and the rest of the band joined shortly after tearing into “Cannonball”, off their newest album, 2019’s “Checkered Past”. Then one of my favorites from them “Electric Gypsy”. Tracii was on letting it all out on the stage, his solos and passion for playing were front and center all night. “Over The Edge” came next before another favorite and the crowd talked about love with “Sex Action”, The monster ballad “It’s Over Now” and “Let You Down” gave the fans a chance to catch their breath for a moment before crashing the crowd with “Speed”. The smooth tune “Kiss My Love Goodbye” was next followed by the hard rocker “No Mercy”. Phil sounded amazing, the band was on fire, and the Buffalo fans were eating it all up. The next one up was the big song “The Ballad Of Jayne”, again, one of my favorites. They finished with the kick ass rockers “Never Enough” and “Rip And Tear”. What an amazing set!
Both bands couldn’t have sounded better. The Buffalo fans got everything they wanted out of this one. This was one loud show, my ears are gonna hurt for days from this one, but it was worth every note to finally see two of my favorite bands from my teens. They let it all out on the stage at the Showplace, can’t wait for them to come back and blow my ears away again!
Setlist
Cannonball
Electric Gypsy
Over The Edge
Sex Action
It’s Over Now
Let You Down
Speed
Kiss My Love Goodbye
No Mercy
Gone Honey
The Ballad Of Jayne
Never Enough
Rip And Tear
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