Artist: Satellite Party
The Opera House, Toronto - August 10, 2007
By JASON MACNEIL - Special to Sun Media
TORONTO - Perhaps the only predictable thing about Perry Farrell is that he is so unpredictable. It should come as no surprise then that his new band Satellite Party wasn't exactly your typical rock and roll outfit last night at The Opera House.
Sure, the group performed a handful of the tracks from its debut album Ultra Payloaded which made up most of its roughly dozen-song set. However, it seemed that the biggest moments of the evening were for Farrell's earlier gems with Jane's Addiction.
And sensing that it wouldn't be a bad idea to toss out one or two such staples early, Satellite Party opened the show with the rollicking Ain't No Right from Jane's Addiction 1990 album Ritual de lo Habitual.
Wearing a black vest, matching gloves and gyrating throughout the early portion, Farrell was a bundle of energy starting out, often glad-handing with the audience in front when not dancing alongside his sassy wife Etty Farrell. However, things got off to an odd start with Farrell's battery pack falling off, resulting in him being stationary for a few fleeting moments.
"I lose that battery pack every night, sorry about that," he said prior to the garage-ish Tahitian Moon and the rather rambling Insanity Rains, the first effort of new material on the rather short night.
Those who couldn't wait for last night's show reportedly had the chance to see both the opener and headliner at a free concert staged Thursday afternoon at Yonge and Dundas Square and announced at the last minute. But judging by the past few weeks, it's a miracle the group is mounting a North American tour at all.
The band, fronted by the Jane's Addiction/Porno For Pyros (and Lollapalooza founder) lead singer Farrell, has had its share of change late last month thanks to the departures of drummer Kevin "Figg" Figueiredo and former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. Bettencourt, who co-produced Ultra Payloaded, stated one of the reasons for leaving the band was being "uncomfortable with the direction of the lineup and liveshow." Considering the tour began just a few days ago, Farrell was left with few options.
However, with drummer Jordan Plosky and guitarist Nick Perri, Satellite Party forged on with Hard Life Easy despite it coming across a bit flat as Etty Farrell split time between singing and looking as if she was on the verge of a strip tease.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to the entire evening was how short the set was. Nearly 40 minutes into the set Satellite Party was closing the main portion with Ultra Payloaded Satellite Party. But as nifty as that came across, it once again paled to the two biggest highlights of the show as the band tore into the funky, genre-fusing Been Caught Stealing that earned a loud ovation. Not faring too bad either was the follow-up Mountain Song that had the crowd hopping and singing along.
Opening for Satellite Party was New York City band Mink who delivered a decent 30-minute set featuring songs such as Talk To Me from their latest album. The performance, which also featured a cover of David Bowie's Suffragette City, was a bit tamer than their busking performance in the Eaton Centre on Thursday afternoon which saw them escorted out by security.
