Ratt with opener L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels being pitched for tour dates in late 2019 / winter 2020

Ratt with opener L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels being pitched for tour dates in late 2019 / winter 2020

L.A. Guns‘ long-time drummer Steve Riley has forged ahead without singer Phil Lewis continuing with his version of L.A. Guns along with original bassist Kelly Nickels, guitarist Scott Griffin and lead vocalist Kurt Frohlich.

After L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels‘ fantastic first live performance at the M3 Rock Festival on May 4, 2019, there were some questions on whether the group would be continuing to play further shows. The band is currently booked to play with Dee Snider and Dokken at the Sunset Rockfest, which will take place at the Sunset Station Amphitheater in Henderson, Nevada, USA on July 27, 2019.

It appears that L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels are about to get a lot busier. Riley was recently interviewed by rock journalist Mitch Lafon on the Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon podcast and he had some big news to share.

Riley advised (as transcribed by Sleaze Roxx): “I got a call from TKO Agency and they’re an agency that have a lot, a lot of artists on it. A lot of people all over the place and they’re based in London and Nashville and L.A. and New York so they’re a really nice big operation. And they called and they wanted to know if we would want them to represent us. It came out of the blue — the call — and would be interested in being pitched on the Ratt dates. Ratt is booked all the way through the summer right into the early fall. And then after that, they are going on and on, meaning across the seas and all kinds of stuff abroad plus more US and North American stuff. So they asked whether we wanted to do that and I was totally taken aback. I was like, ‘Yeah. Wow!’ You know what I mean.

We would obviously want to do that because those are the types venues that we want to do, which is amphitheaters, theatres, casinos. Those type of things that are a little bit more together and they are a light ticket so that it’s not on our shoulders. Those are the types of shows we would love to do and I said ‘Yes’ and they said I would need to have them represent me too, represent L.A. Guns. And, uh, we’re with TKO now. A lot of stuff happened right after M3 and that was one of them. That was one of the big things and that’s the type of response that we got. Me and Kelly were like, you know, blown away because we couldn’t believe it.”

Riley continued: “This has taken a big swing. We thought we were gonna do — because we knew that the summer was booked. You know, maybe a show, a couple of shows.”

The drummer added: “TKO represents Ratt and whomever that they are going to pitch for the Ratt tour was on through the late fall [2019], winter and into 2020. They want to represent them too. They want the whole show and I understand. They don’t want to deal with another agency. So I got the blessing from ARM [previous agency for L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels] and we’re with TKO Agency and they’re pitching us for the Ratt dates that will start in late 2019 and go onto 2020. And so, I got to tell you Mitch. It took a real wild turn [with] that [M3] show. We did so well and like I said, Kurt and Scotty stepped up big. We’re thrilled right now you know. We really are.”

In terms of whether there is a Ratt / L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels package coming in the fall, Riley confirmed: “Yeah. What’s happening is that — you’re the first person that I told about that and we’re with TKO Agency and they needed us to be on their roster for us to be pitched. We looked at this schedule. We had a big whole roundtable phone call with all the agents over there in [inaudible]. We know that they are booked through the whole summer right into the fall. So those aren’t dates that we will be getting on. Those are already booked. The budgets have already been set. So we are getting pitched for anything after those shows — late 2019 but certainly 2020. But right now, that’s where me and Kelly Nickels are at right now. It took a major turn. We are being pitched for that right now. I mean, I have the flyer right in front of me with the Ratt / L.A. Guns pitch and from TKO going out to all of the buyers.”

You can listen to the interview with Steve Riley on Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon below:

L.A. Guns drummer Steve Riley (July 23rd 2019 interview)

ROCK TALK WITH MITCH LAFON continues Mitch Marathon Month with LA Guns’ drummer Steve Riley. Duane Morano co-hosts and offers his take on L.A. Guns’ M3 appea…