You heard right folks, Retro Active is sponsoring national recording artists L.A. Guns for a live performance at The Sound Garden(formerly Tim Clark's Rockin' Roadhouse) in Myrtle Beach Saturday December 1, 2007.  And there's more...the band will be at Retro Active sigining autographs, taking pictures, and hanging out with fans from 4:30-6pm the day of the show.  Scott Mann will be broadcasting live for Wave 104.1 from 4-6pm.  Plus we will be giving away tickets for the the show on air!  You can also get to Retro Active any time between now and Dec. 1 to register to win a pair of tickets.

Many of you may already know that there are two versions of L.A. Guns currently touring.  Some of you may even remember that Retro Active hosted an in-store appearance with the other L.A. Guns in April of 2006.  That line up consisted of Phil Lewis, Steve Riley, Stacey Blades and Adam Hamilton.  Let's clarify any confusion:

A little history of L.A. Guns...

Try to keep up, this gets a little confusing!  I'll start at the beginning...Tracii Guns first formed L.A. Guns with singer Michael Jagosz, bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner in 1983.  After a run in with the law, Jagosz was briefly replaced by Axl Rose.  Rose soon left to form the band Hollywood Rose, and Jagosz returned after serving his time.  Soon Guns, Beich and Gardner joined forces with Rose and Izzy Stradlin to form Guns 'n Roses.  Due to differences with Rose, Guns left and was replaced by his childhood friend Saul Hudson, aka Slash.

Guns formed a new band under the name Faster Pussycat with Paul Mars Black on vocals, Mick Cripps on bass and Nickey "Beat" Alexander on drums.  Their friend, Raz, offered to back the band financially if they used the name L.A. Guns instead.  Good friend Taime Downe picked up the Faster Pussycat name and formed his own successsful band.  Robert Stoddard of Dogs D'Amour soon joined on rhythm guitar, and the band began to write and record demos and to tour the L.A. club scene.  This is considered to be the "original" lineup.  It was this early material that garnered the band some attention from Vertigo Records.  Though contributing significantly to the creation of the music on their first release in 1988, L.A. Guns, Black left the band before their recording cotract was signed and was replaced by British vocalist Phil Lewis.  Goddard also left, Mick Cripps moved to giutar and Kelly Nickels was added on bass.  Gardner exited before touring in support of the album began and former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley stepped in.  This is considered the "classic" lineup that most fans recognize that lasted from 1988-1994.  Their 1989 release, Cocked & Loaded, proved to be the most successful commercially, reaching Gold status sales and contained the popular radio and video hit "The Ballad Of Jayne".  The band's third release, 1991's Hollywood Vampires, failed to reach the commercial success of its two predessesors.  Shortly after the release of their fourth studio album, Vicious Circle, including guest drummer Michael "Bones" Gershima, Phil Lewis fired drummer Steve Riley.  Riley later returned for the tour, the band was dropped from Polygram Records, and Lewis and Cripps left.

In an effort to keep the band going, Guns and Riley employed the talents of vocalist Chris Van Dahl and guitarist Johnny Crypt of Boneyard.  Six months into recording sessions Kelly Nickels left, and rather than try to deal with yet another new member Crypt was moved to bass.  Ok, this is where it gets a little crazy...After releasing American Hardcore in 1996, Guns hoped to get Lewis back into the band, and so released Van Dahl.  Lewis refused, and so Guns hired Ralph Saenz to continue their tour.  Halfway through the 1998 Rock Never Stops tour Saenz left and Jizzy Pearl took over on vocals.  Rumors began to circulate about a reunion putting former bandmates Guns, Riley, Lewis, Cripps and Nickels back together in the studio.  Greatist Hits And Black Beauties was released in 1999, near the same time as Shrinking Violet(with Pearl on vocals).  The timing wasn't quite right for the reunion tour, so Stefan Adika, of Dad's Porno Mag and Gilby Clark, stepped in and was soon replaced with Chuck Garric of Dio, Alice Cooper and Eric Singer Project.  By Sepember 1, 1999 Adika and Garric were fired and the "classic" lineup of Guns, Lewis, Riley, Cripps and Nickels geared up for the full blown reunion tour.  They recorded a live album in Hollywood, Live: A Night On The Strip, released in 2000.  Unable to commit to a summer tour Cripps and Nickels were replaced by Brent Muscat and Muddy respectively.  The band re-recorded, retitled and re-released their second album. Cocked And Re-Loaded was released in August 2000.  Cripps rejoined the group briefly (Muscat left) to record Man In The Moon but didn't tour.  Muddy left and was replaced by Adam Hamilton in the winter of 2002 for the tour.

Later in 2002 Guns began to explore a side project with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx.  The result was the band Brides Of Destruction.  As Guns began a world tour with Brides, the future of L.A. Guns seemed uncertain.  After several attempts at employing a new guitarist, the band came across Stacey Blades.  With the lineup of Lewis, Riley, Hamilton and Blades the band released Tales From The Strip, the only album that does not feature Tracii Guns on guitar.

After his stint with Brides, Guns began to reform his own solo band, including former L.A. Guns members Paul Black, Nickey Alexander and Jeremy Guns.

Both bands are touring under the name L.A. Guns with yet a few more personnel changes.  Most notably, the replacement of Nickey Alexander with Chad Stewart, a close personal friend of Amy & Amy!

Current Lineup:

Paul Black-Vocals

Tracii Guns-Guitar

Chad Stewart-Drums

Jeremy Guns-Bass