Review of:  Love/Hate & LA Guns

At: The Pitz, Woughton Centre, Milton Keynes

On: Wednesday 24/09/08

By: Gaby

Ok, this was billed as a bit of a “super gig” by Milton Keynes standards anyway what with a bill headed by two of the biggest rock bands to emerge out of Hollywood in the late 80s and supported by not one but two rock bands of fine pedigree, namely “Liquor & Poker” and “New Generation Superstars”.

Well the evening did not disappoint with home town band “Liquor & Poker” first on stage delivering one of the finest gigs of their lives on the big stage and offering the grateful and faithful alike not one but four original numbers all of which went down very well with their trademark of quality and style leaving the ever increasing number of punters at the event crying out for more and if this new material was anything to go by I firmly believe that “Liquor & Poker” can only increase it’s fame and gain an ever larger following. But alas time was our enemy this particular night and after a short half hour set it was time to make room for the second band of the evening.

“New Generation Superstars” are most certainly the “real thing” delivering a powerfully sliced set of sleazy, punk and trashy rock n roll. Their original set was delivered with a minimum of fuss and pretention and overall it was good to hear a UK band that was not afraid to de-tune their guitars and power their way through some gold ole genuine “hair metal” at it’s best, done with both laid back charm and professionalism. This could very well be a band to look out for in the future and by all accounts the rock press have already started to take notice and pay attention.

Next on stage were those titans of Rock – “Love / Hate” delivering a really great one hour set of their classic tunes. The band were as tight as a leotard on a sweaty body as they effortlessly re-created the sound, look, feel and attitude that initially got them noticed and took us on a fun filled ride along the mad roller coaster that is “Love / Hate”. Their music was passion filled, extreme, exciting, fresh and current, which is a lot more that can be said for many bands from this era and probably for many a band of today as well. Their set was anything but dull, delivered with an open and honest, full-on, in-your face” precision, heartedly appreciating the audience s warm and ecstatic response. If anything they proved that there is most certainly room out there for a long overdue return of this great band.

Finally the mighty “LA Guns” took to the stage to complete the evening’s superb entertainment. All the old favourites were thrown into their set which still sounded great and took many of us on an un-apologetic trip back to those heady days when “hair metal bands ruled. Overall this was a polished performance that did not disappoint and the odd sarcastic and cringe worthy comment from Phil Lewis and his new bass player could for the most part be ignored whilst we indulged ourselves instead in some really fine classic rock music.

All I will say is that attitude is one thing but personalities and egos can and should always be firmly left at the stage door and instead let the music do the talking and from where I was standing this night – it sure sounded sweet!