L.A. Guns Brings Sunset Strip Nostalgia to San Jose | Metro Silicon Valley | Silicon Valley's Leading Weekly

"From the perspective of an old wise man 2600 years ago, nothing is really born and nothing really dies. When all the conditions are sufficient for something to manifest-a cloud, a flame, or a flower, for instance-then it will happen. Once the conditions are no longer sufficient, the cloud, the flame or the flower will transform into something else. Rock bands, music scenes and buildings can be understood in the same fashion."

"L.A. Guns were among the legendary glam-metal bands of the '80s Hollywood scene. This columnist saw them open up for AC/DC in 1991, but that's not the point. The gig at the Ritz harkened back to a mere 25 years ago, when the band last appeared on this block of San Jose."

"In 2001, when L.A. Guns last played at Cactus Club-directly across the street from the building now called The Ritz-the group rolled up in a tour bus that reportedly once belonged to the late stock-car champ Dale Earnhardt. Unfortunately, the Roscoe P. Coltranes of the San Jose Police Department ticketed the tour bus for parking too long in the loading zone. Before the gig, the band was also spotted down the street buying clothes at the thrift store, which is now the San Jose Museums of Quilts & Textiles."

""San Jose has such a notorious reputation for meager attendance at shows that sell out elsewhere that it's generally not worth mentioning, but in this case it seems relevant," wrote Metro music columnist Sarah Quelland of that LA Guns gig 25 years ago. "When 'The Ballad of Jayne' hit the airwaves [in 1989], and the video reintroduced top hats as a fashion accessory-a front-row ticket to an L.A. Guns show would have been in high demand. On Friday, however, a front-row""

Remains of the Sunset Strip from 1988 surfaced at The Ritz during a small rock show in downtown San Jose. A 2600-year-old perspective frames existence as conditional: when conditions are sufficient, a cloud, flame, or flower manifests, and when conditions change, it transforms into something else. Rock bands, music scenes, and buildings follow the same pattern. L.A. Guns, a glam-metal band from 1980s Hollywood, played at The Ritz, echoing their earlier appearance on the same block 25 years earlier. In 2001 they arrived in a tour bus reportedly once owned by Dale Earnhardt, were ticketed for parking too long, and were seen shopping at a thrift store that later became the San Jose Museums of Quilts & Textiles. A Metro music columnist noted San Jose’s reputation for low attendance despite the band’s popularity after “The Ballad of Jayne.”

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