Two 80's Powerhouse Bands Rocked the Historic Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach

Although being early in the year of Florida's usually stifling hot summers, it seems the heat has come early with afternoon and evening thunderstorms and tonight we could see one off in the distance lighting up the sky pre-show.

Inside Peabody nice and cool with a great buzz in the air from the fans milling around the lobby checking out merchandise, getting drinks, and meeting up with friends that they may not have seen for a time ,yet, all coming together tonight all in the name of rock and roll!

The historic Peabody Auditorium has been host of many stars since it opened in 1949. The likes of Ozzy Osbourne (with Randy Rhoads - side not, the famous photos showing Ozzy and Randy playing in the waves at a beach was mere steps away from this venue on Daytona's beach), Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, and even Elvis (1956). Peabody has a charm to it and not a bad seat in the house. Tonight we had some stars on that stage again.

First up, we have some legends of the Sunset strip, LA Guns. We all know the history of Tracii Guns and Axl combining, for a VERY brief time lending to the creation of the legendary Guns n Roses band. As with many other bands in their fledgling days, disagreements ensued and Tracii struck out, taking members with him eventually creating LA Guns. 

Although there has been turmoil here and there in the band, fans were over the moon when Tracii and Phil came back together in 2016. Tracii is a guitar phenom and Phil is just where he needs to be, microphone in hand at the front of the stage. The band members have much different looks than what we were used to, even into the early to mid 2,000s, but the music is still played and sang like it's the late 1980s! 

The beginning of the 45 minute set included a couple of the 'newer' tunes, 'Cannonball' and 'Speed' and, then, of course, hit us with all the fan favs like 'Electric Gypsy', 'Ballad of Jayne', and 'Never Enough'. This band looks to be having that rock n roll fun on stage that we all remember and it permeates out to the audience who eat it up!

Next, our headliner, Tom Keifer Band, started the set off right with a big fan fav, 'Night Songs'. I'm not sure about you, but I can "see" the MTV video of that running in my head as the song is sung live in front of me. Tom and band give a stellar, energetic, and fun performance with so many songs in the set leaving little time for 'small talk' Haha. 

Dressed to the 'T', as the rock star he is, Tom is on point and hasn't seemed to change much from the beloved 80s we remember. Tonight's show was just as exciting as when he was fronting Cinderella back in the day. Tom has a commanding stage presence and confidence that draws you in and has a crowd on their feet! All of our favorites were heard including 'Heartbreak Station', 'Nobody's Fool', 'Somebody Save Me', sitting at his classic piano during the beginning of 'Don't Know What You Got', followed shortly by 'Shake Me', getting that crowd dancing. Tom did made mention during the beginning of the show that his wife was only appearing at certain shows right now due to a medical issue as she would usually be 1 of 2 backup singers, we surely wish her well and a speedy recovery.

Neither one of these bands' front men seem to have suffered any of the vocal deficiencies heard in many from the same 80s era that are still touring. They were both on point sending us back to that great time with their stage performances mixed with a bit of storytelling. This is a high energy tour/show not to be missed!

Many of the upcoming tour stops will be with LA Guns and others will include Buckcherry, John Corabi, Lita Ford, White Lion, and the always amazing, Steven Adler! Check the show in your particular area or the Tom Keifer official website at ---- https://www.tomkeifer.com/events/