TRACII GUNS And PHIL LEWIS Of L.A. GUNS Reunite On Stage With SIN CITY SINNERS

SIN CITY SINNERS performed a very special second set last night (Thursday, December 19) when the band returned to the stage with the lineup of Brent Muscat (guitar),Scotty Griffin (bass),Rob Cournoyer (drums),Michael T. Ross (keyboards) and one-time L.A. GUNS bandmates Tracii Guns (guitar) and Phil Lewis (lead vocals). The occasion was SIN CITY SINNERS' annual Toys For Tots toy drive to make sure a less fortunate child can receive a present on Christmas. Nearly 300 toys were collected as the band rocked through a ten-song setlist:

01. Over The Edge
02. Electric Gypsy
03. Rip N Tear
04. No Mercy
05. Crystal Eyes
06. Kiss My Love Goodbye
07. One More Reason
08. Never Enough
09. Ballad Of Jane
10. Sex Action

SIN CITY SINNERS manager Jason Green worked hard behind the scenes to organize the event while also keeping it a surprise.

Green is no stranger to high-profile reunions, having reunited Brent Muscat and Taime Downe of FASTER PUSSYCAT last year on stage with SIN CITY SINNERS for the same cause.

Tracii Guns, who last year announced that he was retiring his version of L.A. GUNS, recently ruled out the possibility of a reunion with his former bandmates Phil Lewis and Steve Riley (drums),saying that he has "played those songs enough" in his life.

During an interview on the "Rockin' Metal Revival", Guns was asked if he can ever foresee himself playing with Lewis and Riley again. "No, my heart's just not into it, man, you know," he replied. "I was so young when we did that. Your tastes just change. And I played those songs for so many years. I just don't really see it happening. I don't know, really, why I would do it, you know what I mean? It's not like the band is big enough to have, like, a comeback where it would make some crazy financial sense or something like that. But musically, I think I've played those songs enough in my life."

Speaking to The Musician's Voice in July 2012, Guns — who is currently recording and touring with a new project called TRACII GUNS' LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN — stated about the status of his version of L.A. GUNS, which featured several different lead vocalists over the course of the last few years: "I think I've kind of done it to death, I think the band has done itself to death. Without real room to grow and to move and to be able to exceed the fan base's expectations — they really love their old L.A. GUNS, and I get it, but I'm older and I continue to study music and recording and a lot of different things. L.A. GUNS is… It is what it is. It's L.A. GUNS. If there ever was an opportunity to do L.A. GUNS for a higher reason, for a bigger reason, I would certainly do it. But I'm kind of over it. I mean, listen, we play a lot of L.A. GUNS songs in our [TRACII GUNS' LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN's] live set — people expect to hear those from me — but being in L.A. GUNS is just not worth the trouble, with two different versions of the band running around, and neither band does the other band any good, and I think it's disappointing for the fans, ultimately. You're dealing with people who have supported you and your music for, God, I don't know… over 20 years… at least over 20 years. I would like to be able to go into each gig with a clear conscience, put out records with a clear conscience and know that I'm doing my best and I'm not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes."

The Tracii Guns version of L.A. GUNS completed a European headlining tour in March 2012.

Tracii started L.A. GUNS while still in high school in 1982. The original singer, Michael Jagosz, was replaced by Axl Rose. Signed to PolyGram in '87, the band's self-titled debut, with Phil Lewis replacing Rose, sold over a million copies, as did "Cocked and Loaded" (1989) and "Hollywood Vampires" (1991).

Tracii Guns' L.A. GUNS is not to be confused with the Phil Lewis-led version of the group, which is continuing to record and perform under the L.A. GUNS moniker.

SIN CITY SINNERS are donating all the money from their holiday single "Christmas in Vegas" to the Toys For Tots charity. The track can be found on SIN CITY SINNERS' newest CD, "A Sinners Christmas 2", available at TheSinCitySinners.com, iTunes, Amazon and wherever downloads are sold.

Photo credit: Jason Green