{"id":12778,"date":"2026-08-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=12778"},"modified":"2026-08-21T11:29:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:29:44","slug":"no-interest-in-becoming-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/no-interest-in-becoming-nostalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"No Interest in Becoming Nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>7 Minute, 33 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE REVIEWS
\nL.A. Guns – Live From The Guild Theatre<\/strong>
\n –     <\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Music, Concert
\nYear Released: <\/strong>2026
\nRuntime: <\/strong>1h 23m
\nWhere to Watch: <\/strong>available September 4, 2026. Pre-order your copy here: www.cleorecs.com<\/a>, www.mvdshop.com<\/a>, or www.amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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RAVING REVIEW: <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>L.A. Guns are several decades removed from the Sunset Strip era that made their name, but LIVE FROM THE GUILD THEATRE isn't interested in treating them like nostalgia. Recorded at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, California, during the band's 2025 run behind LEOPARD SKIN, this performance mixes the songs longtime fans expect with enough newer material to make the concert feel connected to where the band is now. Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns remain the obvious focal points, and both perform with the confidence of musicians who know exactly what an L.A. Guns crowd came to hear.<\/p>\n

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That matters more than it might seem. Plenty of veteran bands can tour indefinitely on a handful of songs from their peak, and nobody attending would necessarily complain. L.A. Guns have continued recording at a steady pace, and LEOPARD SKIN came out in 2025 as another chapter in the stretch that followed the reunion of Lewis and Guns. LIVE FROM THE GUILD THEATRE acknowledges the past without pretending nothing worthwhile happened afterward.<\/p>\n

The set opens with "Taste It" before moving into "Cannonball," immediately establishing that this isn't a chronological retrospective. "Electric Gypsy" is played early on, followed by "Sex Action," and the show keeps moving between different periods rather than saving all of the recognizable titles for an encore. The sequencing puts the newer songs in the same space as the standards.<\/p>\n

Tracii Guns is a major reason for this all working the way it does. His playing remains the most identifiable musical element in the band, moving between the hard-rock riffs, bluesier explorations, and flashier lead work without making the concert feel like an extended guitar solo. The dedicated solo naturally gives him room to stretch out, as does the theremin jam (yep, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d type out). Some of his strongest flashes come when he's locked into the songs rather than stealing the spotlight by himself.<\/p>\n

Phil Lewis has to figure out how to revisit music recorded decades earlier. Hard-rock vocals don't necessarily become easier with age, particularly when the material was written around a younger singer's range. Lewis doesn't spend the concert trying to impersonate the man he was in the late 80s. There's more wear in the voice now, but it suits the material. His phrasing and attitude carry performances that wouldn't benefit from attempting to reproduce the studio recordings note for note.<\/p>\n

Ace Von Johnson, Johnny Martin, and Shawn Duncan keep things moving behind them without being treated like anonymous support musicians. Von Johnson adds to the guitar arrangements, Martin's bass gives the heavier songs the low end they need, and Duncan drives the set with the kind of drumming that fits this music better than unnecessary embellishment would. The chemistry throughout the five-piece lineup makes the performance feel like a functioning band rather than Lewis and Guns surrounded by hired studio musicians.<\/p>\n

The newer LEOPARD SKIN tracks also hold up well beside songs audiences have had decades to absorb. "Hit and Run" fits into the first half of the show, while "Lucky Motherfucker" is played later on without draining momentum from the run toward the finale. That's probably the strongest argument for including current songs in a concert release like this. These aren't interruptions designed to advertise the newest record. They sound like songs the band genuinely wants in the set.<\/p>\n

The concert eventually leans hard into the familiarity expected. "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Never Enough," "The Ballad of Jayne," and "Rip and Tear" make the closing stretch difficult to argue with, particularly for anyone whose relationship with L.A. Guns goes back to COCKED & LOADED. "The Ballad of Jayne" remains an obvious emotional centerpiece, and placing "Rip and Tear" near the finish lets the show wrap up on something considerably more aggressive.<\/p>\n

The presentation itself is stronger than just pointing cameras toward a stage and documenting whatever happens. The Blu-ray provides enough clarity to appreciate the musicianship without making everything look too fancy. It retains the feeling of a theater show, and the smaller venue is a good fit for L.A. Guns. This music benefits from having an audience relatively close to the stage rather than disappearing into the scale of an arena.<\/p>\n

The camera coverage mostly understands what it needed to do as well. There are enough cuts to follow the energy of the songs without turning every guitar riff into an excuse for frantic nonsense. Lewis and Guns naturally receive the most attention. The rest of the lineup isn't forgotten, and wider views give a reasonable sense of the Guild Theatre and the audience surrounding the performance. It feels like a concert being captured rather than a music video being assembled from concert footage. I would have liked to have seen a few more angles.<\/p>\n

The stereo presentation is full and well-balanced, with Lewis remaining audible over two guitars and a rhythm section that could easily overwhelm the mix. Instruments maintain enough separation that Guns' lead work doesn't swallow everything around it. For a dedicated Blu-ray concert release, though, stereo as the only listed audio option feels a bit conservative. I feel like this may have had more to do with restrictions inside the venue, though.<\/p>\n

LIVE FROM THE GUILD THEATRE arrived in other configurations in July, including a CD\/DVD package, while this standalone Blu-ray was followed up in September. Anyone interested in the best presentation has reason to choose this edition, but offering a Blu-ray alongside the audio CD in a single package would have made more sense for collectors. As it stands, fans who want both the higher-definition concert and a physical audio copy have to assemble the two themselves.<\/p>\n

There isn't much context surrounding the performance to make this a broader exploration of the LEOPARD SKIN era. The disc is about the concert and doesn't interrupt the show with backstage material or interviews every few songs. Others may wish the Blu-ray had included additional content, especially given how long L.A. Guns have been around and how much history Lewis and Guns could discuss. The performance is good enough to carry the release, but the package could have done more with it.<\/p>\n

None of that changes how well the concert itself demonstrates the band's current condition. There would be something depressing about watching musicians from the Sunset Strip era continue purely because audiences want to hear the songs they recorded before 1990. LIVE FROM THE GUILD THEATRE doesn't give that impression. Lewis, Guns, Von Johnson, Martin, and Duncan sound truly engaged with the old material and what they've created more recently.<\/p>\n

A 17-song L.A. Guns show is inevitably going to leave somebody's favorite behind. What it captures, though, is a band with no need to apologize for still being here. The classics hit where they should, the newer stuff earns its place, and Lewis and Guns continue to have the chemistry that gives this version of L.A. Guns its identity. LIVE FROM THE GUILD THEATRE works best when viewed not as a monument to what the band accomplished decades ago, but as a night with a band that still has reasons to plug in.<\/p>\n

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[photo courtesy of CLEOPATRA ENTERTAINMENT, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]<\/em><\/p>\n

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MOVIE REVIEWS L.A. Guns – Live From The Guild Theatre  –      Genre: Music, Concert Year Released: 2026 Runtime: 1h 23m Where to Watch: available September 4, 2026. Pre-order your copy here: www.cleorecs.com, www.mvdshop.com, or www.amazon.com RAVING REVIEW: L.A. Guns are several decades removed from the Sunset Strip era that made their name, but LIVE FROM THE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/img\/0367\/0367617.png","fifu_image_alt":"","iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t