Maybe the timing wasn't the greatest since I had just left the Slaughter/Dokken/Cinderella/Poison show... But I was such a big fan of Tesla that I just had to go check out Bar 7 later that night.

First up, was LA Guns with the original members, sans Kelly Nichols. Absolutely THE WORST show that I have ever seen! I was never a huge LA Guns fan in the first place, but I liked a few of their songs. They came out on stage completely smashed and barely able to stand (mind you, they continued drinking on stage throughout the show).

Phil Lewis was the worst. He would just come out and say strange things at strange times: After the fourth song, he yells, "Thank you! Good night!" Huh? Then later he blurts, "I just smoked some marijuana before coming on stage! [looking rather proud of himself]" Then he says, "This club sucks! The microphones suck! The monitors suck!... The crowd's okay, though."

Soon the crowd wasn't so forgiving... They quickly got tired of this crap and started booing them, and telling them to go home and get off the stage. Not pretty. After what turned into an eternity, they finally ended their show. The only saving grace was Traci Guns. He was the only one who looked and behaved like he was sober. He consistently played well and his stage presence was professional. If it hasn't happened already, I'd say LA Guns will soon be history... And this time, for good.

Bar 7... Well, I had been looking forward to this. I had only gotten to see Tesla once, so I was eager to hear what the new stuff that Jeff and Tommy were working on sounded like. I was extremely exhausted but I decided to stay anyway. (Apparently the rest of the crowd was there to see Bar 7 too since they were still there even after that horror called "LA Guns.")

Whether it was because it was such a late hour (about 2:30am!) or not -- I'm not sure -- but Jeff Keith was clearly drunk (and carried a beer out with him and they were quickly replenished throughout the show) and very unprofessional. His voice wasn't up to par and the songs sounded like I was listening to some garage band in my neighborhood.

Tommy is a very talented guitarist, but even he seemed to be under the influence. His playing seemed off and it had no energy to it. They played many, many new songs before they even played anything from Tesla (which everyone was dying to hear judging by the huge cheer when they announced it) but their performance of it (can't even remember which song it was right now -- I must have blocked it from my mind) left much to be desired. At that point, I had had enough and left extremely disappointed.

I should have taken my cue from Kieran and his wife to call it a night and go home. What a waste of time, money, and energy.

Rocker Chic