Stevie Rachelle accuses L.A. Guns of disrespecting their fans

Stevie Rachelle accuses L.A. Guns of disrespecting their fans

The silence seemingly continues from the L.A. Guns camp on the reason why they ended up not performing at their scheduled gig in Daytona, Florida, USA on July 23, 2022. There was reportedly no explanation given to any of the Daytona concertgoers why only Tom Keifer and Faster Pussycat were performing that night while L.A. Guns, who were also part of the Sonic Slam Tour package, couldn’t make it.

While L.A. Guns continue to remain seemingly silent on social media with respect to their missed show in Daytona, Metal Sludge principal and Tuff frontman Stevie Rachelle continues to criticize L.A. Guns for what transpired that night and the seemingly lack of accountability that has followed.

One day after calling out guitarist Tracii Guns for his apparent difficulties in handling heat and hot weather (due to a reported panic disorder) and L.A. Guns failing to perform in Daytona, Florida, Rachelle has now accused L.A. Guns of disrespecting their fans.

The following message was posted on Rachelle‘s Facebook page earlier today:

“L.A. Guns “The Missing Point”

I am not done… and yes there is more.

To any and all of you, who are defending Tracii Guns or the band L.A. Guns, let me tell you why all of your support is falling short.

You defenders of their failures are clearly Missing The Point!

This whole thing is not about Heat, or Anxiety.

Nope it’s about none of that.

The biggest failure of all is L.A. Guns and their lack of respect for the fans.

Regardless of their reason for pulling away from the venue in their tour bus last Saturday in Daytona Beach Florida, they owe the fans something.

Maybe not their show, or the refund, but how about some common courtesy and an explanation as to what happened?

Whether this was regarding Tracii Guns panic attack / anxiety issue, the sound system or other, shouldn’t the paying fans be given the simple respect of an acknowledgement?

Remember, the band posted, promoted and shared the event the same day and even shared their L.A. Guns exclusive V.I.P package links, which some fans have stated they bought and paid for.

The band was physically in their tour bus, with their equipment at the venue during the day but for whatever reason they chose to not stay and not play.

And I say with all respect, if there was a medical emergency, or anything else that caused them to not follow through on their agreed to and signed contract, it’s understood.

But …why no announcement?

Why no message via social media?

Why has it been 3 days, and the band has all but been radio silent, with no official statement regarding the Sonic Slam Tour Daytona Beach show?

Just to note, Motley Crue started their biggest ever tour a month ago, and on night #1 Tommy Lee left his drum riser after 4 songs and addressed 40,000 fans about his unfortunate accident involving injuries to his ribs.

Tommy and the band made the necessary adjustments to follow through with their show, and Lee again several nights into the tour, addressed each crowd nightly.

In addition, both Tommy Lee and the band Motley Crue, shared related social media announcements on these dates explaining their side of this to the fans.

A few weeks into that same massive Stadium Tour, Poison singer Bret Michaels fell ill, and was taken to an area hospital the night of the show.

That same night C.C. DeVille, Rikki Rockett and Bobby Dall walked out in front of a sold-out stadium of tens of thousands of people in Nashville, and addressed them directly that Poison would not be able to perform, because Bret was dealing with an emergency.

Later that night Bret Michaels’ social media platforms shared a message from Bret, to his fans explaining his absence from the show.

I could dig into the Google bar now, and pull up countless examples, of club shows in dive-bars to festival dates where bands were forced to cancel, yet some form of information was relayed to the fans, who attended said events to see those bands.

In the case of L.A. Guns, its 3 days later and there has been no official announcement made explaining what happened in Daytona Beach.

There are literally hundreds of questions, complaints and comments spread over social media from fans who were there, and are simply asking: “What happened?” and “Can I get my VIP money back” along with some fans showing concerns for the band’s well being.

Then there are the mixed signals… from the band and related representatives themselves.

No one wanted to or was willing to say anything on the record that was for public consumption, yet were quick to deny any and all rumor or speculation.

Word from the L.A. Guns camp on Saturday night was that “Illness” was the reason the band did not play, but at the same time, would not confirm “Heat” was a factor.

Just to make note, I have personally reached out to L.A. Guns “Management” but have yet to receive any form of reply.

If the matter is personal to the band, fair enough and understood, but shouldn’t the artist have some form of responsibility to the fans?

We’re not talking about a 1-off gig in front of 200 people in a corner bar here. No, this tour package is one of the bigger of the 80’s era that is out this summer after a 2+ year layoff.

Fans have spent hard earned money and weighed decisions on what concerts to attend, making plans, travel, hotels, and even buying more expensive meet & greet packages for these groups, including L.A. Guns.

Going back to the Poison and Bret Michaels situation…

Clearly Bret was ill in some form or fashion and even after returning to the stage, he was still unable to make the meet & greets for Poison on the dates following the Nashville show. But like professionals, the band and Bret shared statements informing the fans of what was going to happen, and what would not happen so there were no surprises.

It’s simple… Poison have shown the fans common courtesy and respect, as have Motley Crue with their communication regarding their issues with Tommy Lee.

This is not a let’s bash Tracii Guns or L.A. Guns campaign here, no, it’s about holding someone accountable.

If mega stars and multi-millionaires like Motley Crue and Bret Michaels can own up and answer their fans, then an in-flux bar-band like L.A. Guns can do the same!

Stevie Rachelle

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