Every June, motorcycles flock to Laconia, New Hampshire for the annual bike rally. Mostly dominated by Harley Davidson and motorcycle clubs, the event still attracts tourists from all over America and Canada.
Attendance these past few years at the event have been declining, especially from the local residents. I had no intentions to attend until I found about Laconia Fest.
I was excited to hear that there would be a nine-day music festival that hosted some of the hottest rock bands to perform.
I don't believe in criticizing anyone, or any company. Especially when I see they are struggling. I also do not know the behind the scene details, so I can't tell you what happened, but I can tell you what I saw and experienced.
Unfortunately, Thursday, June 16th's event started late. There were a lot of bands scheduled to play throughout the day, and there was supposedly two stages; so that when one band played, the other band could prepare on the other stage. For some odd reason, stage two wasn't set up, so bands were rushed on to the main stage, and had to move fast to set up, and take down their equipment.
Then it was time for the national bands to perform.
After a month long trip touring around Europe and Italy, LA Guns found themselves in NH.
I had heard rumors floating around the area about some of the behind scenes chaos going on during the event, so watching Phil Lewis setting up his equipment confirmed the rumors that I heard, the event was unorganized chaos. We, the paying fans should not have noticed that.
Attendance these past few years at the event have been declining, especially from the local residents. I had no intentions to attend until I found about Laconia Fest.
I was excited to hear that there would be a nine-day music festival that hosted some of the hottest rock bands to perform.
I don't believe in criticizing anyone, or any company. Especially when I see they are struggling. I also do not know the behind the scene details, so I can't tell you what happened, but I can tell you what I saw and experienced.
Unfortunately, Thursday, June 16th's event started late. There were a lot of bands scheduled to play throughout the day, and there was supposedly two stages; so that when one band played, the other band could prepare on the other stage. For some odd reason, stage two wasn't set up, so bands were rushed on to the main stage, and had to move fast to set up, and take down their equipment.
Then it was time for the national bands to perform.
After a month long trip touring around Europe and Italy, LA Guns found themselves in NH.
I had heard rumors floating around the area about some of the behind scenes chaos going on during the event, so watching Phil Lewis setting up his equipment confirmed the rumors that I heard, the event was unorganized chaos. We, the paying fans should not have noticed that.
LA Guns started their show with the song, "Over the Edge," and their entire, unexpected short performance was solid. They also played "Never Enough," and "I wanna be your Man."
I was standing in the front row, the stage was high above us, I couldn't see the drummer and I got a neck ache looking up to take pictures with my Nikon Coolpix. (I wasn't allowed to bring in the D3200, but, I bet I would've gotten away with it had I had a bigger purse to conceal it.)
Guitarist Michael Grant was born to be a rockstar, he's fun to watch and listen to, as is bass player Kenny Kweens. Both men joined Phil Lewis and have kept the 80s, Hollywood sleazy hard rock band, LA Guns alive. Their music is timeless, and the crowd was loving the show.
Until, the band had to stop playing mid-set. Lewis apologized, and he looked pissed, as did the other members. They walked off stage, perhaps embarrassed and the crowd was disappointed. They didn't understand that behind the scenes, the event was three hours behind, and catching up to stay on schedule proved to be hard.
I can't emphasize enough that this is not the bands fault, but the fans don't know that. I tried to explain to some of the guys who stood around me, but, they were drunk and unwilling to listen. The promoters of Laconia Fest should issue an apology to the bands, and fans...and fans shouldn't hate on the LA Guns, the band was kicked off stage. Had the promoters kept the two stages, the band would have been able to finish their set, while the other band set up on the other stage (as originally planned).
I do not know who the MC was, and I didn't hear the exact words that came out of his mouth, but, they weren't very friendly, he even flipped the bird. As if to say, F-You fans, then he walked off carelessly. As someone who paid to see the show, I expect the promoters of the event to be more respectful to the fans. Unfortunately, the promoters weren't attracting very large crowds. So, they dropped the price of admissions from $45 to $1 for Thursday's event.
I saw LA Guns in Amityville, New York in April 2016 and I know they're capable of putting on a kick-ass performance. I hope the LA Guns do come back to play in New Hampshire one day, perhaps at the Casino Ball Room in Hampton Beach, or Jewel Nightclub in Manchester, NH.
** After I wrote this, I found a clip from NH's WMUR ABC news that the concert promoters did walk out Thursday morning. Saturday night's show is canceled.**
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