KK’s Priest, Burning Witches and LA Guns Take Care Of Business In Glenside
by Alex Lloyd Gross
You can tell that you enjoyed a concert when you wake the next morning and you are in a fog. You are completely sober but things start to drag out. You ask yourself what did I see last night? Was it really that good? Well that is what happened to those that went to see KK’s Priest with LA Guns along with Burning Witches last night at the Keswick Theater in Glenside Pa..
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo/ Delaware Valley News.com Burning Witches live .
Burning Witches, a newer band was up first. They had 35 minutes to win this crowd over and get people in attendance to become fans. They stormed the stage and played songs from their newest release The Dark Tower. This band features Delco native Courtney Cox on guitar. From the second they hit the stage, the Witches took over the crowd, making them pay attention and sing to songs like Hexenhammer and their name sake, Burning Witches. Watch for this band, they should get huge.
LA Guns were up next, fronted by Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns this band played most of the songs people came to see. These are the rock veterans of the night, with LA Guns being around since the mid 1980’s. Band members strolled around outside of the Keswick Theater before the show, signing autographs and posing for photos with fans. When they hit the stage, they were given only45minutes. That was enough to make their mark, with”Connonball”, “Rip and Tear” as well as “Sex Action”. This band has been putting out new music, not relying on their past hits. It’s refreshing to see a band like LA Guns put out new music. Their latest album is called Black Diamonds. Ace Von Johnson, who is now on rhythm guitar for this band since 2018 was at the merch booth selling his own merch. He rescues pit bulls and also contributes cash towards animal welfare.
Alex Lloyd Gross Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns at the Kewswick.
KK’s Priest,the headliner was up next. If you want to see UK rock bands in the United States, you have to see them on tour. KK’s Priest came about when KK quit Judas Priest. He then formed his own band and called it KK’s Priest and the music is just as good as his contributions to Priest. Fronted by Tim, (The Ripper) Owens, this was the first time this band was in this area. It was the last night of the tour. That means the other bands and their crew puled shenanigans on each band during their set. It was towards the end of the show when they were playing “Strike of the Viper”, members of Burning Witches and LA Guns pulled out blow up snakes and some of those snakes make their way onto the stage. .
KK wanted a band with stage presence. He got it with this line up. As they played Priest songs, like :The Ripper”, or “Victim of Changes” bassist Tony Newton and guitarist AJ Mills were all over the stage. While fans may come to hear Priest songs, this is not Judas Priest. It’s an entirely different band. Songs like “Hell Fire Thurderbolt “went over great with his crowd. The band closed with “Raise Your Fists” and could have easily played longer.
Members of this band brought out traffic cones and brooms as LA Guns were playing Rip and Tear. It’s all good fun, as Owens joined Tracii Guns on vocals for a bit. It was part of the fun on the last night of the tour. Practical jokes are the norm for rock bands on the last show oft he tour.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo-Delaware Valley News.com Good natured fun as KK’s Priest cleans the stage as LA Guns tries to do their set.
Members of all three bands understood the assignment. Get new fans, please your existing fans and have a good time. However three bands missed their mark on the merch tables. They are bands. Their commodity is music, yet they had none of it for sale. It would have been great to have CD’s there to purchase just after seeing the bands play live. Or perhaps, autographed CD;’s could have been sold.