January 14 2024, a Guns N’ Roses tribute band by the name of “Lose Your Illusion” held a concert at the Santa Fe Springs swap meet. This swap meet never fails to bring in local and new customers that come for the bargains but always stay for the fun. It’s also known for its numerous performances from different tribute bands that take the interest of many willing to travel from far distances to catch a glimpse of what the Santa Fe swap meet is all about.

As Lose your Illusion were practicing 30 minutes before showtime, people started grabbing a few seats, but some started heading to the front of the stage for an up close view of the band. There weren’t boarders up around the stage this time, so it gave the intention that this experience wasn’t going to be as crazy as previous ones. As the band left the stage to get ready for their performance, more people arrived near the stage. As soon as the vocalist Shawn Perry, who was supposed to be portraying Axl Rose, introduced the band and himself it seemed as if almost everyone knew each member. 

You never really realize how much Axl Rose screams in his songs until you hear an identical voice such as Shawn Perry’s. One of the group’s first songs performed was “You Could Be Mine” which is a very well-known song to everyone that immediately sung along. There were plenty of older people in the small crowd that got all dressed up to enjoy their afternoon with the band. Being so used to hearing the original songs and comparing them to tribute band covers is difficult. As the first set progressed, they sang “Dead Horse” which also seemed to take the crowd’s interest.

After the last song from the first set was over, most people stayed by the stage and chatted amongst each other while others went back to the seating area. Walking around the rest of the swap meet concluded my experience. Leaving after the first set was a personal choice, although they were all extremely talented and almost close to the originals, I think I’d favor listening to Guns & Roses on the radio.