Diary of an Ardent Fan

L.A. Guns have been on a roll in the last eight years.

They have released five great albums: The Missing Peace, The Devil You Know, Checkered Past, Black Diamonds, and now Leopard Skin.

Singer Phil Lewis, guitarist Tracii Guns, and the rest of the band (guitarist Ace Von Johnson, bassist Johnny Martin and Adam Hamilton plays drums on the albums and Shawn Duncan plays drums in concert) continue to put out stellar albums and I so wish that all my other favorite bands/artists were as prolific as L.A. Guns are.

Every song is really good and if you are an L.A. Guns fan, you should not be disappointed.

Get their new album Leopard Skin, as well as the last four albums they released.

Rock on everyone.

I went with Mariah and her parents to see the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Pat Benatar and her husband/guitarist/pianist/songwriter/producer Neil Giraldo.

We saw them at a nice venue in Sylvania, Ohio called Centennial Terrace.

A band from Youngstown, Ohio called The Vindys opened the show.

Mariah and I saw The Vindys in 2024 and we really liked them a lot, so it was great seeing them again.

They’ve been around about 11 years, but are still fairly young and I really think and hope they have a bright future.

All of the band are great.

The singer, Jackie Popovec, is especially PHENOMENAL.

The rest of the band includes guitarists John Anthony and Rick Deak, bassist Brendan Burke, drummer Owen Davis, and keyboardist Nathan Anthony (last time we saw them they had a horn section, which included trumpet player Kyle O’Donnell, saxophone player Garrett Kuchmaner, and trombone player Brian Mayle).

They only played about 30 minutes, but they were great and as I said, I hope their future is bright and will become much bigger of a band.

OK to the headliner.

I had never seen Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo before, but I knew they would be great. And they were.

Pat’s voice is still very powerful and Neil’s musicianship has always been great.

They truly are a great couple.

They’re still playing lots of classics, but also a new song not yet released (I hope this means a new album is coming), which is really good, as well as deep cuts!!

They and the band sound really good and tight and what can I say? They rock!!

Another show for the books.

We all had a great time.