Wednesday, July 15, 2026
L.A. Guns, Rok Hollywood, and Trackside
Mercury Ballroom, Louisville, KY
Black leather, screaming guitar solos played at deafening volume, and songs about sex, sex, sex, and more sex. The 80s were definitely back Wednesday night at Mercury Ballroom as L.A. Guns, Rok Hollywood, and Trackside took us all back to those glorious days. All that was missing was the big hair and questionable 80s fashion choices.
I still have a few faded memories of seeing L.A. Guns open for AC/DC at Freedom Hall back in 1988, shortly after entering my teen years. L.A. Guns had just released their debut self-titled album a few months prior, so they were fresh-faced kids out on their first major tour, hungry to prove themselves. And from what I can remember, they put on a hell of a great set.
A lot has changed in the nearly four decades since then, but one thing that hasn’t is that L.A. Guns still seem hungry to prove themselves, and they can still put on a hell of a great set, as a somewhat small but very vocal and enthusiastic crowd found out Wednesday night.
Kicking off the night was the Nashville-based Trackside, a four-piece band of younger guys in their early 20s. Their sound mixes classic 70s hard rock, 80s hair metal, and 90s alternative, with an early 2000s rock radio sheen that won over the crowd rather quickly. They packed a lot of energy into their all-too-short but impressive set. Hopefully, Louisville will get another chance to catch this band again soon.
Next up was Rok Hollywood, a five-piece unabashedly hair metal band out of Indianapolis. They’ve been doing this for close to twenty years now and have shared the stage with the likes of Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Journey, Poison, Alice Cooper, and many other major acts. So this is a band firing on all cylinders that has every aspect of their music and live performances down perfectly. Although the band is no stranger to covers, we were treated to an all-original set that ran around 40 minutes long. With a sound that harkens back to the dirty blues-infused days of the late 80s (think Skid Row meets Tesla), and a stage presence that demands your attention, Rok Hollywood leaves little doubt that if they had come along 40 years earlier, they would have been headlining arenas. And these aren’t middle-aged guys in wigs doing a corny 80s tribute band; they are the real deal with catchy originals and a boatload of talent. So if you want to experience or reminisce about everything that was great about hair metal, get your ass to a Rok Hollywood show!
But it was headliners L.A. Guns that owned the Mercury Ballroom stage Wednesday night, tearing into opener “Cannonball” from their 2021 album Checkered Past and never letting up from there. Over the next roughly hour and 20 minutes, the Guns delivered a 15-song set peppered with newer tracks alongside their biggest hits.
Although the lineup has changed several times over the years (founder/lead guitarist Tracii Guns and vocalist Phil Lewis being the only members left from the early days), the band plays like they still have something to prove. And that is something I found myself greatly respecting about the band during their set. Most bands still around from the 80s have relegated themselves to just playing their hits and calling it a day. And through the use of backing tracks and lip syncing, a good number of those bands are faking it and/or just phoning in their performances at this point. L.A. Guns are the exact opposite. They are still a very functional, active, working band, releasing five of their career-long 17 studio albums in the past 10 years alone. And, if I’m being honest, their more recent material is far superior to their late 80s/early 90s output that made them superstars.
Furthermore, this is a band that plays and sounds like they still want to be on stage. They didn’t come off like this was just a cash grab for them, or as if they were just going through the motions. They looked like they were excited to be playing, still having fun, and still very much into the material they were presenting.
For a man pushing 70 years old, Phil Lewis’ voice is still as raspy and powerful as ever, with him still singing every lyric and hitting the high notes with as much passion and vigor as he did in the early days.
Tracii Guns proved just how underrated of a guitarist he is, ripping through solos and juicy riffs seemingly effortlessly all night. Midway through the set, the man actually did an extended guitar solo, giving the rest of the band a short break. No one does that anymore. Back when hair metal ruled the airwaves, every band did an extended guitar solo during their set. Even guitarists who had no business playing a solo did one, (I’m looking at you, C.C. DeVille). Then grunge took over and it suddenly became passé, so everyone stopped doing it. And while watching Tracii Guns shred all alone on stage Wednesday night, I realized that I really miss that. Dare I say it was one of the highlights of the show, which is something I have never said about a guitar solo outside of Ace Frehley when he was in Kiss.
Rounding out the band was a talented group of musicians, all of whom joined L.A. Guns within the last 10 years: bassist Johnny Martin, who bore a striking resemblance to ex-Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars, guitarist Ace Von Johnson, whom I am just learning was in some really cool punk bands back the early to late 2000s that I dig, and drummer Shawn Duncan, who did a brief but impressive drum solo during the last song of the night.
Although their set completely ignored the seven albums released between 1994 and 2016, they did run through all of their hits from their 1988 self-titled debut album, 1989’s Cocked & Loaded, and 1991’s Hollywood Vampires, including “Electric Gypsy,” “One More Reason,” “Sex Action” (during which the band was joined on stage by a female dancer), “Over the Edge,” “Never Enough,” “The Ballad of Jayne,” and set closer “Rip and Tear.” They also played a few choice tracks from four of their last five albums, including “Hit and Run” and “Lucky Motherfucker” (which is certain to be a setlist staple for years to come) from their latest, 2025’s Leopard Skin.
This was one of those shows that I wish every concert could be like. Three great bands, all giving 100% effort with no lag in any of their sets. All killer, no filler.
