1986.09.07 Park Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA

[Mike]

'86-Playin' Around

Imagine Ted Nugent supplying his screeching brand of guitar-fire behind a junior Iggy Pop with dreadlocks. That might give you a clue to the mystery that is Jane's Addiction--generally, people don't really have a clue to this band. Even lead singer Perry Farrell says, "we're pretty hard to figure out." Is it metal? Is it Gothic? Is it psychedelic? Does it have three legs? What Jane's Addiction does have is young, long-haired guitarist Dave Navarro, who hails from a definite metal background; bassist Eric Avery and drummer Steve Perkins providing the heavy bottom; and singer Farrell, appealingly spasmadic with his waiflike presence and raw voice. "It's like groove metal," explains Farrell, who previously did time in the post-punk experimentalist combo Psi-Com. "We have metal guitar with groove beats. And the lyrics are so simple. It's like a little kid is talking to you. But you know how a little kid can make so much sense to adults sometimes? That's it with us." Songs include "Had A Dad" and a version of "Summertime." (In a recent performance Farrell informed the crowd, "this song shows how much talent we really have." Such a modest boy!) Actually, the talent meter is perhaps best activated by the acoustic "Jane Says," a demo of which is getting substantial airplay on KXLU. Yes, there is a Jane, and yes, she has a problem. But not so this group, which has played everywhere from the basement of Raji's to the recent Spectacle Magazine party at the Park Plaza Hotel. The band has found the magic bridge that connects metal noise, Brit-gloom posturing, and a childlike sense of play, and that could make Jane's Addiction a hard habit to break.

This show was part of the Spectacle Magazine party.

I found the following pic with the above article:



It's from an early photo shoot but unfortunately I'm uncertain of the date of the photo.
Knowing the date of the photo will go a long way in narrowing down the date of this show.

Raji's is also mentioned in the article.
According to our records Jane's last show at Raji's was October 8, 1986.

[Mike]

I think the above article is for a 1986 show that we currently do not list.

Has anyone heard Perry say this in a recording "this song shows how much talent we really have."?
When did KXLU start playing Jane Says?
We have the August '86 recording of the band at the station so my guess is they were playing it prior to that.
What is "Spectacle Magazine" and what do you guys think date wise based on the info we have?

intertwoven I think I've seen this article on your site before.
I went looking for it tonight and couldn't find it there.
Am I imagining things or do you have it attached to a show there somewhere?

[Mike]

One other thing that might help to date this show is the date of this photo shoot.
Anyone have any idea when it took place?

[RiotNrrrd]

Hi Mike,

Greg (your Psi Com correspondent) here. I think this is referring to your gig entry

04/27/1986 - Theoretical at the Parkplace [sic] Hotel, Los Angeles, CA - Postcard, Flyer, Preparty Promo

It is indeed the Park Plaza hotel, not the Parkplace.

I believe this is the first and only Jane's show I've ever seen. "Spectacle" is probably a mis-remembered "Theoretical".

The Park Plaza has a big high-ceiling ballroom upstairs, but downstairs (below street level) it also had another, smaller ballroom and an adjacent outdoor patio.

I have a very clear memory of the nascient Jane's set up in the small downstairs ballroom. I remember seeing Dave Navarro, looking all of 16, with his Gee-his-Dad-sure-must-be-rich Marshall stacks and thinking to myself, what the heck has Perry gotten himself into now ... (remember, this was less than 10 months after the last time I'd seen Psi Com).

With Dave looking like some fresh-faced rich kid from the Valley, playing his sub-Zeppelin riffs and the band clearly headed in a Neu Metal direction, I walked out of that show and never saw them again. Probably not a popular opinion to have on this site, but there ya go

[Mike]

Thanks for sharing your memories with us Greg.

I dunno if your "Spectacle" is probably a mis-remembered "Theoretical" theory is right or not but it is an interesting theory to consider and may be of help in figuring this out once and for all.

Although you've told me previously in private that you walked out of this show disappointed it's still hard for me to wrap my head around.

Music and one's liking of a particular piece of it or a certain musician / band is such a subjective thing and a matter of opinion that can't / shouldn't be argued.

I guess all i can say is what keeps popping in my head and that's that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

[RiotNrrrd]

I do admit that the "Spectacle" -> "Theoretical" is a bit of a stretch

But I'm not sure what other explanations fit ...

To answer you about my turning away from Psi Com/Jane's after the O.N. Klub show and when Jane's started, you have to be aware of the context of the times.

I was a huge Joy Division fanatic (still am), so Rich Evac's bass playing style immediately appealed to me. When Psi Com went through their lineup change as we got into 1985 and I went to this O.N. Klub gig, I could see the change in direction towards a more Hard Rock sound, and to me that was not an interesting/new direction, it was a reversal.

In a way, however, it presaged what happened in L.A. between 1985-1987 - as for some reason, the progressive/Post-Punk/alternative scene went from a sort of "Post-Goth"/Industrial/Independent phase to a retro Hard Rock/Metal scene, often involving the same players.

For example, there was a magazine during that time called Rock City News, started by a guy named Ruben Mac Blue. It started off as Scratch Magazine in 1983.

Scratch covered the real alternative scene at the time, but as 1985 turned into 1986, you could see Ruben/Scratch jump on this New Rock/Metal bandwagon - this is the scene that gave us club nights like the Cathouse (Taime Downe and Riki Rachtman's Metal club) and bands like Taime's Faster Pussycat, and if you follow that lineage eventually you get to Guns'n'Roses. If you look at this timeline you can see the (de)evolution:

1983 - Rock City News was founded as SCRATCH MAGAZINE
1986 - Scratch Magazine changed it's name to "L.A. ROCKS!"
1987 - L.A ROCKS! changed it's name to "ROCK CITY NEWS"
1988 - ROCK CITY NEWS changed it's name to "ROCK CITY" / "ROCK CITY NEWS"
Rock City / Rock City News was first to discover and feature such local bands as Guns and Roses, and Red Hot Chili Peppers

That 1986 name change should pretty much tell you all you need to know.

Anyway, getting back to Perry and Jane's, in a way the Psi Com transition was sort of a foreshadow of this scene transition to come. My own tastes were evolving away from Post-Goth (if you will) towards Industrial and other stuff and anything that smacked of Hard Rock was of no interest to me. So when I saw Jane's in April of 1986 it looked like the direction I'd seen at this O.N. Klub show was being taken even further in that vein by Perry with his new band, and so I got off the boat.

Don't get the wrong idea - I don't dislike Jane's; I just went in another direction. Of course Perry ended up loving Electronic music several years later so I suppose to some degree we're back in sync again

[RiotNrrrd]

D'oh ... I see from other posts/threads you know all about Scratch already

Anyway ... hope the links are at least useful

[SSStewart]

It is indeed the Park Plaza hotel, not the Parkplace.

The Park Plaza Hotel (it was originally an Elks Club) is still going strong. It is an old venue and fortunately not been allowed to fall into decay and I have tickets to see Lucent Dossier concert there next month.

Those photos are incredible! Where did you find them?

[Mike]

It took a long long time to figure this one out but here’s an ad from the LA weekly that finally gives us the date!
Show sponsored by Power Tools and Theoretical.

[RiotNrrrd]

Verrrrrry interestink! So I was off by 5 months in what the date was

But I was right in that I knew Theoretical was involved. Great find Mike!

It also ties up something else - I went to the show to see Abecedarians play, as they were friends of mine.

Also, this was early days of the Power Tools club - which ended up in the same building (the Park Plaza) upstairs and had a good two-year run there.

Matt Dike (one of the primary guys behind Power Tools) was friends with Abecedarians and probably with Perry as well. We all knew each other (on at least a nodding-head basis) back in those days. Matt went on to larger fame with Delicious Vinyl Records and Tone-Loc ("Wild Thing") and he executive produced the Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique" album. Sadly he passed away in early 2018 from Cancer.