In about three hours, I'll be driving the two hours up to Kansas City to begin the festivities.
One thing has kinda deflated my balloon just a tiny bit. I was expecting to get some very nice greenery for the show, I'd been on my person about it for like two months, and she kept putting it off with promises of "don't worry". Day before the show and she calls saying it isn't going to happen. Why I did not have a backup plan, I do not know. But I will be going with my less-than-green greenery, and although my friends will be sharing theirs, it's still a minor thorn in the balloon.
I will be recording the show, but not with anything spectacular, just a little SanDisk Sansa Clip. But I've recorded friends' bands with it, and it actually does a great job. So who knows, I may be supplying some audio from the show, if it works out. One of my friends will be snapping a few pictures here and there, so there may be some photos to accompany this.
The main thing I look forward to supplying is my honest critique of the show. In my lifetime I have won three awards for outstanding journalism, and one of them (a first-placer for the state of Kansas) was my review of the Jane's Addiction show at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City in 2003. Before entering journalism, I believe I'd written something far better, and that was my review of the ENIT festival in 1997. Alas, my printed copies of that disappeared over the years, and the computer I used to write it on is history.
So this will be my third Jane's review, and I'm looking very forward to it.
Anyway, I couldn't be more excited. I made a playlist for my MP3 for the trip up called TRIP UP, with a mix of Jane's and Nails, which my friend and I will be blasting full-volume on the way to Kansas City in a few short hours. I tried to select songs that have been played on the tour, and which I know my friend hasn't heard. If I do say so myself, this thing fucking rocks.
Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction Trip Up
01. Stop! from Ritual de lo Habitual
02. Pigs In Zen, from Jane’s Addiction (xxx) (live)
03. Ain’t No Right, from Kettle Whistle (live)
04. Hyperpower, from Year Zero
05. Last, from Broken
06. Physical, from Broken
07. Whores, from A Cabinet of Curiosities (live)
08. Then She Did, from A Cabinet of Curiosities (live)
09. Had a Dad, from Kettle Whistle
10. Suck, from Broken
11. No, You Don’t, from The Fragile (Left)
12. Head Like a Hole, from And All That Could Have Been (live)
13. Whole Lotta Love, from A Cabinet of Curiosities (live Zep cover)
14. 1%, from A Cabinet of Curiosities (live)
15. Terrible Lie, from And All That Could Have Been (live)
16. Ocean Size, from Live and Profane (live)
17. In This Twilight, from Year Zero
See you all when I get back!!
2009.05.27 Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, MO
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Mudget
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I hope you and your friend have a great time Mudget.
I very much look forward to your review as I'll be seeing them a few days after you.
I'm sure it'll be a good honest review from someone that knows what they're writing about.
If you want I'll even post it to the home page.
Have fun and be safe!
I very much look forward to your review as I'll be seeing them a few days after you.
I'm sure it'll be a good honest review from someone that knows what they're writing about.
If you want I'll even post it to the home page.
Have fun and be safe!
"The quality of mercy is not strained, it dropeth as the gentle rain from heaven."
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Mike
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Mike
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Mike
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http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/05/ ... _ninja.phpNIN/JA Review: Jane's Addiction, Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at Starlight Theatre
By Berry Anderson in Last Night's Show - Thursday, May. 28 2009 @ 10:15AM
I thought that Jane's Addiction would open up for Nine Inch Nails, with that distinct female voice announcing, Senores y senoras, nosotros tenemos mas influencia con sus hijos que tu tiene,
Instead, the sold-out audience (few, it seemed had left) stuck around after Trent Reznor and his crew exited after their second-on-the-bill, ostensible farewell-to-KC-fans set. On this, the NIN/JA tour, Jane's Addiction boasts the original lineup, including bassist Eric Avery (whose 17 year absence from the band might explain the absence of songs in the set from the 2003 release, Strays).
Around 9:45 p.m., a white curtain with projections of topless dancers lifted to give the audience their first full view of how the band would carry on throughout the duration of the show: Avery, with his head down, nose to the grindstone, bustin' out deep, deep bass riffs; Dave Navarro, shirt undone, torso exposed fully to stage left, staying as far away from as possible; and the Man himself, pompadoured-out with a necktie, gold lame bellbottoms and a pair of maracas.
Opening with "Three Days," a 10-minute-plus ode to death and regeneration from Ritual De Lo Habitual, Navarro would right away prove his virtuosity with his trademark white Paul Reed Smith guitar and his ability to fully engage the throng of people directly in front of him.
Farrell, on the other hand, right away reminded the crowd why he's a Frontman of the Ages, posing atop his monitor with his mic raised, in front of a sea of purple and green lights with the smoke machine spewing. His banter began around the time of the fourth song, as he began to refer to the crowd as "Missouri" or sometimes, "Missoura" and asked if we knew about farm animals. Laughable or endearing, it was good stuff from the native New Yorker whose real name is Peretz Bernstein. It also seemed from where I was sitting that Farrell got into this spoken interlude because Navarro had appeared to have broken a string.
The eight-minute-long "Then She Did" felt kind of jammy, but Farrell's echoing vocals mid-set kept the crowd going better than Trent Reznor had after his first few songs. Most notably though, it was just really hard to keep your eyes off Farrell. His shiny, skinny body twirled, swayed, hopped and jumped around like a marionette, while his voice never failed.
During "Mountain Song," the crowd was fully engaged. The song sounded virtually the same as it did when it was recorded 20 years ago. By contrast, "Been Caught Stealing" was sped up. Farrell's effects pedals came off and the result was rather flat. I bet even all those dudes are sick of playing and hearing that song.
Back to the stage banter: after talking about slitting his throat, Farrell asked the some of the ladies in the crowd if they wanted to come back stage after the show and said he would fuck them "all the way to Chicago." The song? "Ted, Just Admit It." Like the song says, man... sex is violent. Nothing's shocking.
"Ocean Size" opened with an explosive bang. Avery continued the infectious bass riffs while Farrell came to the front of the stage and promptly slipped and fell. There was an audible thump and pause in the lyrics, but the song continued. From where I was sitting, it appeared he resumed singing from the sitting-upright position.
For last song before the encore, "Summertime Rolls," the stage darkened and Farrell could be heard announcing his own exit: "Perry Farrell is paralyzed...and he wanted me to tell you to kiss his ass." It was also during this song which he introduced the band. There was a quick nod to Avery before he moved onto his huge-haired man behind the beats. He claimed he "couldn't ask for a better man, better drummer than Stephen Perkins." I agree. A man of world beats, his polyrhythmic spree combined with Avery's bass work was a solid backbone for JA's aural assault throughout the set and the song. With Farrell's wailing vocals, "Summertime Rolls" is definitely one of their signature songs.
They could've stopped there or with the extremely tight, fuckin'-a-we've-been-doin'-this-since- the-'80s encore song, "Stop" but they brought out the acoustic guitars and steel drums ended with perennial favorite and the heavily played radio hit, "Jane Says."
That was the only dull moment in an otherwise spectacular show.
Set list:
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did
Mountain Song
Had a Dad
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Encore:
Stop
Jane Says
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Sorry, I needed a full night of recovery. I hadn't slept a single minute the night after the show. Too wound up and bouncing off the walls with a few of my friends who were equally incapable of sleep.
The trip up to Kansas City with my friend was great. Driving across Kansas can be horribly boring or tremendously beautiful, depending upon your mood and the weather. In our case, the weather was gorgeous, with rays of sun blasting through big triumphant looking clouds, and prairie land in every direction as far as you can see. We blasted the Trip Up playlist and it was just a great ride with very little conversation, just a lot of rocking out. My friend wasn't happy that I hadn't included Jane Says on the playlist. It's his new favorite song. I get it. It's not just Jane's Addiction's greatest hit because it got played so much on the radio. First it was one of the finest songs ever crafted, and THEN it got played to death on the radio.
We arrived at my other friends' house in Kansas City and began the task of hunting everyone down by phone, making sure we were all on the same page, had IDs to pick up pre-sale tickets, etc. Settled in for a relaxed night. Played some Wii Punch Out, watched the Three Days concert video, watched East Bound and Down. Crashed out.
Day of the show six of us decided we were going to get to the venue at about 4pm, so after some killer burgers, we picked up a jug of wine, filled a cooler with beers and booze, worked out pocket arrangements for the other treats, made sure that stuff was well-hidden.
Got to the venue, which really is in a beautiful part of Kansas City - Swope Park - which used to be the hood, but after much renovation and renewal, is just a big lush forested area with an amphitheater and a zoo in it. Traffic was light, and parking was a breeze. On the way in, we could clearly see the tents for both NIN and JA presale pickups. There were small lines (about 30 people) in each. So we parked, waited for some of our other friends to show up (in the end there were about a dozen of us). We split into our respective ticket pick-up groups (JA and NIN) and walked to our lines, meanwhile, we could hear NIN soundchecking "No, You Don't", which was great but also kinda sad because I wanted to hear that one live, and I knew that soundchecked songs weren't usually played at the show. From where we were, the drums were really thumping. It was clear that the sound inside was going to be fantastic. There were other soundchecks, but it was actually hard to tell who or what it was. There was no trouble whatsoever picking up the tickets. And yeah, as you know by now, the pre-sale tix are very sharp looking.
We walked back to the "party hub" - the Cherokee, as it were - and commenced a little drinking, smoking, and anticipating. A buddhist dropped by to share his religion, but picked the wrong guy to approach. To Jake he said, "Hey man, I'm a traveling monk, I'd like to tell you about ..." to which Jake interrupted, "Hey man, I'm a traveling atheist, beat it." I let the monk talk to me for a while, because I do relate on some level to eastern philosophy. He turned out to be a really cool guy and I'm glad we had a short conversation. When I mentioned that my dad had just died a few months ago, he pulled out some literature and gave it to me. I think I'll actually be reading it sometime. Next up was an old brother with illegal shirts for sale. Cheap-looking NIN|JA tees with a picture of both bands and the tour dates on the back, and the big NIN|JA logo on the front. It was ten bucks. I bought one.
Meanwhile we could see the traffic was thickening, and lines were forming for entrance, about a hundred in the JA line, which we could see from where we were parked. I had gotten tickets through the NIN website (because they were the first to go on sale), so our line was on the opposite side of the venue. So after getting a little juiced (I was careful not to get drunk right off the bat), my buddy and I began the trek over to our line.
On the way, we saw all manner of people. Young goth kids with makeup, dyed black hair, dyed black nails, mascara ... older hippie looking folks with braids and beads and colorful flowing robe-type clothes ... some bikers in all leather, handlebar mustaches ... and lots of middle-aged, balding, chubby yuppie-types. In other words, the crowd, as has been the case at every JA concert I've ever been to, was as eclectic as the band itself is.
Got in line, took about 2 minutes to get patted down (my one-hitter was in my shoe, was getting kinda uncomfortable), and in we went. Checked out the merch table - my eye was on the hoodie from the get-go, but I could not justify the $80 price tag, so I settled for a black Jane's Addiction t-shirt with a beautiful pattern of dots on the front (nothing on the back). I love it. Grabbed a beer. Feeling a little tipsy now, knew that needed to be my last beer for a while, we headed down to check out our seats, which were Orchestra, Navarro-side, about 7 rows from the stage. Amazing location, we were absolutely stoked. My phone almost immediately started ringing and it was friends from all around the venue. So we did the whole "oh, there you are!" <wave> thing. We were scattered hither and yon - most of us in the first 1/4 of the audience, and a few of us in the cheaper seats toward the back.
Street Sweeper took the stage with that badass SSSC logo of the radio with guns blazing, and rocked a smallish crowd out for about 40 minutes. This was my second or third time seeing Tom Morello live, and he never, ever disappoints. I'd been telling my friends that they were going to see four superstars of rock that night - Trent Reznor, Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Tom Morello. My friends are all glad that they went early and caught Street Sweeper ("We're not a rock band! We're a ...") Social Club. Because they really do rock. Very festival-friendly band with big anthem songs and cool raps from a very energetic Boots Riley, who danced his ass off as he rapped. Highlights were the cover of MIA's "Paper Planes", "The Oath", and a song which I don't know the name of but will be researching soon because it was so fucking sweet. Their set was tight, and it was cool seeing Carl Restivo on the hammer, with his big blond mane of hair flowing. SSSC was well-received. They definitely rocked everyone who took the time to check them out. There was an usher at the front, a big black guy who looked just like Louis Gossett, Jr. and while ushers are usually supposed to just stand there looking bored, he was totally into it, his head bouncing with the beats.
After that set, I decided to head back for another beer (see, the problem is once I start, it's very hard to stop) ... got in a really long line, about 20 minutes later, had my beer, and on my way back to my seats, ran into a pot-smoking circle of friends and acquaintances which I could not pass up. Stopped and puff puff passed but the crowd started screaming, and suddenly I could hear (and feel) Ilan's gigantic drums begin pounding a recognizable beat, and Trent Reznor's voice "I'm gonna smash myself to pieces...." So with "Now I'm Nothing" opening up the show, the joint circle broke up and we all headed toward our seats. I did not shoot this video, but it's an absolutely beautiful HD vid of the song that night ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ZMRYWUOBc&fmt=22
It is worth watching.
I love how Trent just appeared out of the smoke. It's a great opener, and it segued, as usual, into Terrible Lie.
As solid a rock and roll show as you'll ever see. Hurt really hit me, I actually lost it. Did not see that coming. Thought I was reserving those emotions for Jane's. But the Nails set was so tight ... it was just bliss. Now I'm Nothing/Terrible Lie was splendor. The Wretched was just like ... Jesus. The Nothing Can Stop Me version of Piggy made me lose my mind - those drums. The Way Out is Through. Wish.
Fuck. Seriously. When it culminated with Hurt and I remembered this was gonna be the last NIN tour (for however long) - I lost it.
This is a band you want to see play forever.
Really fortunate that NINJA decided to hit Starlight Theater instead of Verizon Amphitheater, despite the fact that Starlight only seats about 8,000. This is because the sound was great. Throbbing. You didn't hear these songs, you felt them. At least we did, being as close to the stage as we were. Like all the other shows on this tour, the audience is so much more reserved than the Nails (or Jane's) crowds I remember in the 90's. Add to this the fact that Starlight is hard-seated, with an usher staked out at every row - they ran a pretty tight ship, it was a different way to experience them. But with that huge mountain of sound falling down on you, it really didn't even matter. NIN puts you there and they keep you there and they leave you begging for more.
After "Hurt", I calmed down and decided to go for one more beer and pot circle visit. Somehow I lollygagged again, and when I heard Kevin Bacon's voice, I knew it was time to get back to my seat. That is the only time in my life I think I will ever use that sentence.
If Nails topped the scales, Jane's Addiction was completely off them. Didn't see many people leave the venue after NIN, which was refreshing. Heard a few comments like "I'll stick around to hear the one or two songs I know" "Hopefully they rock" "How are they going to follow that (NIN)? And then promptly everyone had their faces melted off. After the show, I heard a different flavor of comments. Stuff like "Ok, that's as close to experiencing Led Zeppelin as I'm going to get" Lots and lots of "Jesus Christ"s and "Holy Shit"s. Everyone had a Cheshire cat grin.
Perry always brings the odd, but his offer to the audience to slit his own throat on stage "You want to see a suicide?" didn't feel funny. It felt really fucked up. I'm sure at least one person in the audience besides myself was like, "ok where is this going?" And yeah, the tumble. Sounded hard. Perry landed very very hard. When he finally came up out of it he was like, "Ok, yeah, that really fucking hurt". But we've come to learn that nothing stops Perry. Anxious to see a video of that. Hope he's okay today.
I think he knows regions of the U.S. by drug. He certainly has "Missouri" (as he referred to us) nailed as the meth capital. He also went into a great spiel about farm animals. Those were the few times I was paying attention. The rest of the time I was possessed, dancing, generally being rocked the fuck out. It always feels like Dave is coming over to play just for you. The band is intimate, they love the crowd as much as the crowd loves them.
It's really hard to give a subjective review of the Jane's set, because when they play, I am no longer there. I really am possessed or something and just dancing my ass off. I suppose I am aware if it's a weak show if I don't feel it like that. Of all the Jane's shows I've seen live, there has only been one (Lollapalooza 2003) in which I did not feel it. This show was oldschool Jane's fucking Addiction, and I felt it. Fuck yes I did. My body agrees with me today - I am feeling muscles hurting that I'd forgotten I even had.
To be honest - the song that absolutely sent me spiraling out of control the most was "Stop!" I don't know how that happened, exactly, but that's when I was truly 100% gone and dancing, spinning. For my buddy that moment came when they strummed the first few chords of "Ocean Size", his second favorite JA song after "Jane Says". It was really kickass to see him get into it like he did.
Everything was tight and sounded amazing. When you're there, close to the stage, with those lights, the smoke, the bouncing crowd around you, you are just a part of something. There was a little voice in the back of my mind saying, "Remember this stuff Remember this stuff" but even that voice is shut out by just ... being there at that moment.
"Three Days" is a powerhouse opener, but I still question its placement in the lineup and still think it's best midway through when you're already caught by the fishhook of rock and flailing. Jane's fans were rabidly into it, as you might expect, while NIN fans were just a bit noticeably talkative about 7-8 minutes into it. I just don't think it's the right hook to use at the beginning, for those unaccustomed to JA.
Into "Whores" and "Ain't No Right" it went, and that's when the clam just opens up and explodes pearls all over everyone. Everyone looked fantastic, Perry, the penultimate showman, sparkly and smiles, Eric, reserved, head-down, throbbing that shit out at us like it's no big thing (but it's such a very big thing), Perk, those beats oh my god. Without Perky, no Jane's Addiction. Period. Those drums are the rhythm of a fucking musical movement that is still alive and well today. And Dave, I mean come on. Dave is a living guitar legend. And he's so personal with the crowd. His licks are forever.
Pig eats SHIT, but only when he hungers!!!!!!!!! And everyone looks around at everyone else, laughing, jumping up and down, nodding, yes, I get it! Fuckin PIGS!!! Puh Puh Puh Puh PIGS!!!!! Perry rants about farm animals. Haha. He's right. People will say "This guy makes no sense" or "This guy is not on this planet" but when you hear what he has to say retrospectively, I'm sorry but what he says always makes perfect sense. I don't think the problem is that Perry is on another planet. I think he's just enlightened beyond the average Joe in the crowd.
Every song was perfectly tight. Perfectly loose. Perfectly organic and flowing. Perry seemed to nail everything. I never had a moment of "wow he's really off" or "ack, he's not really hitting that note". No, he hit them all, his voice soared, and he seemed in fine form.
When he slipped on stage and clobbered himself, at first I had no idea what had happened. I, and those around me, kept looking for him to appear crowd-surfing or something. After some neck-straining, we saw him just lying there, on the stage, while the music pounded around him. When he finally got back up, you could tell the fall had really hurt. Poor Perry. As I recall - that was during "Then She Did", which was majestic as always. I guess I'd gotten all my "boo hoo sad" emotions out during NIN's "Hurt", which was good, or else TSD would have sent me over the top in that department.
And as you can imagine, when the pounding blats of "Had a Dad" came at us like machine-gun fire, I was on Cloud 9. I screamed the words along with Perry and made glances at the cloudy sky, thanked my dad for this show, which I think he arranged for me.
Spent, exploded, melted, blasted-off, blown-away, and utterly rocked-out, "Jane Says" was a great Kumbaya moment. My buddy and I put our arms around each other's shoulders and just really fucking enjoyed it.
The crowd beat on chairs and hollered for 10 more minutes before the house lights finally came up, signaling that no, sorry... it's over.
Of hundreds (maybe thousands??) of live shows, this one is in my top 5 somewhere. Easily the show of the year, perhaps the decade, unless this is only a new beginning for Jane's. One can hope.
The trip up to Kansas City with my friend was great. Driving across Kansas can be horribly boring or tremendously beautiful, depending upon your mood and the weather. In our case, the weather was gorgeous, with rays of sun blasting through big triumphant looking clouds, and prairie land in every direction as far as you can see. We blasted the Trip Up playlist and it was just a great ride with very little conversation, just a lot of rocking out. My friend wasn't happy that I hadn't included Jane Says on the playlist. It's his new favorite song. I get it. It's not just Jane's Addiction's greatest hit because it got played so much on the radio. First it was one of the finest songs ever crafted, and THEN it got played to death on the radio.
We arrived at my other friends' house in Kansas City and began the task of hunting everyone down by phone, making sure we were all on the same page, had IDs to pick up pre-sale tickets, etc. Settled in for a relaxed night. Played some Wii Punch Out, watched the Three Days concert video, watched East Bound and Down. Crashed out.
Day of the show six of us decided we were going to get to the venue at about 4pm, so after some killer burgers, we picked up a jug of wine, filled a cooler with beers and booze, worked out pocket arrangements for the other treats, made sure that stuff was well-hidden.
Got to the venue, which really is in a beautiful part of Kansas City - Swope Park - which used to be the hood, but after much renovation and renewal, is just a big lush forested area with an amphitheater and a zoo in it. Traffic was light, and parking was a breeze. On the way in, we could clearly see the tents for both NIN and JA presale pickups. There were small lines (about 30 people) in each. So we parked, waited for some of our other friends to show up (in the end there were about a dozen of us). We split into our respective ticket pick-up groups (JA and NIN) and walked to our lines, meanwhile, we could hear NIN soundchecking "No, You Don't", which was great but also kinda sad because I wanted to hear that one live, and I knew that soundchecked songs weren't usually played at the show. From where we were, the drums were really thumping. It was clear that the sound inside was going to be fantastic. There were other soundchecks, but it was actually hard to tell who or what it was. There was no trouble whatsoever picking up the tickets. And yeah, as you know by now, the pre-sale tix are very sharp looking.
We walked back to the "party hub" - the Cherokee, as it were - and commenced a little drinking, smoking, and anticipating. A buddhist dropped by to share his religion, but picked the wrong guy to approach. To Jake he said, "Hey man, I'm a traveling monk, I'd like to tell you about ..." to which Jake interrupted, "Hey man, I'm a traveling atheist, beat it." I let the monk talk to me for a while, because I do relate on some level to eastern philosophy. He turned out to be a really cool guy and I'm glad we had a short conversation. When I mentioned that my dad had just died a few months ago, he pulled out some literature and gave it to me. I think I'll actually be reading it sometime. Next up was an old brother with illegal shirts for sale. Cheap-looking NIN|JA tees with a picture of both bands and the tour dates on the back, and the big NIN|JA logo on the front. It was ten bucks. I bought one.
Meanwhile we could see the traffic was thickening, and lines were forming for entrance, about a hundred in the JA line, which we could see from where we were parked. I had gotten tickets through the NIN website (because they were the first to go on sale), so our line was on the opposite side of the venue. So after getting a little juiced (I was careful not to get drunk right off the bat), my buddy and I began the trek over to our line.
On the way, we saw all manner of people. Young goth kids with makeup, dyed black hair, dyed black nails, mascara ... older hippie looking folks with braids and beads and colorful flowing robe-type clothes ... some bikers in all leather, handlebar mustaches ... and lots of middle-aged, balding, chubby yuppie-types. In other words, the crowd, as has been the case at every JA concert I've ever been to, was as eclectic as the band itself is.
Got in line, took about 2 minutes to get patted down (my one-hitter was in my shoe, was getting kinda uncomfortable), and in we went. Checked out the merch table - my eye was on the hoodie from the get-go, but I could not justify the $80 price tag, so I settled for a black Jane's Addiction t-shirt with a beautiful pattern of dots on the front (nothing on the back). I love it. Grabbed a beer. Feeling a little tipsy now, knew that needed to be my last beer for a while, we headed down to check out our seats, which were Orchestra, Navarro-side, about 7 rows from the stage. Amazing location, we were absolutely stoked. My phone almost immediately started ringing and it was friends from all around the venue. So we did the whole "oh, there you are!" <wave> thing. We were scattered hither and yon - most of us in the first 1/4 of the audience, and a few of us in the cheaper seats toward the back.
Street Sweeper took the stage with that badass SSSC logo of the radio with guns blazing, and rocked a smallish crowd out for about 40 minutes. This was my second or third time seeing Tom Morello live, and he never, ever disappoints. I'd been telling my friends that they were going to see four superstars of rock that night - Trent Reznor, Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Tom Morello. My friends are all glad that they went early and caught Street Sweeper ("We're not a rock band! We're a ...") Social Club. Because they really do rock. Very festival-friendly band with big anthem songs and cool raps from a very energetic Boots Riley, who danced his ass off as he rapped. Highlights were the cover of MIA's "Paper Planes", "The Oath", and a song which I don't know the name of but will be researching soon because it was so fucking sweet. Their set was tight, and it was cool seeing Carl Restivo on the hammer, with his big blond mane of hair flowing. SSSC was well-received. They definitely rocked everyone who took the time to check them out. There was an usher at the front, a big black guy who looked just like Louis Gossett, Jr. and while ushers are usually supposed to just stand there looking bored, he was totally into it, his head bouncing with the beats.
After that set, I decided to head back for another beer (see, the problem is once I start, it's very hard to stop) ... got in a really long line, about 20 minutes later, had my beer, and on my way back to my seats, ran into a pot-smoking circle of friends and acquaintances which I could not pass up. Stopped and puff puff passed but the crowd started screaming, and suddenly I could hear (and feel) Ilan's gigantic drums begin pounding a recognizable beat, and Trent Reznor's voice "I'm gonna smash myself to pieces...." So with "Now I'm Nothing" opening up the show, the joint circle broke up and we all headed toward our seats. I did not shoot this video, but it's an absolutely beautiful HD vid of the song that night ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ZMRYWUOBc&fmt=22
It is worth watching.
I love how Trent just appeared out of the smoke. It's a great opener, and it segued, as usual, into Terrible Lie.
As solid a rock and roll show as you'll ever see. Hurt really hit me, I actually lost it. Did not see that coming. Thought I was reserving those emotions for Jane's. But the Nails set was so tight ... it was just bliss. Now I'm Nothing/Terrible Lie was splendor. The Wretched was just like ... Jesus. The Nothing Can Stop Me version of Piggy made me lose my mind - those drums. The Way Out is Through. Wish.
Fuck. Seriously. When it culminated with Hurt and I remembered this was gonna be the last NIN tour (for however long) - I lost it.
This is a band you want to see play forever.
Really fortunate that NINJA decided to hit Starlight Theater instead of Verizon Amphitheater, despite the fact that Starlight only seats about 8,000. This is because the sound was great. Throbbing. You didn't hear these songs, you felt them. At least we did, being as close to the stage as we were. Like all the other shows on this tour, the audience is so much more reserved than the Nails (or Jane's) crowds I remember in the 90's. Add to this the fact that Starlight is hard-seated, with an usher staked out at every row - they ran a pretty tight ship, it was a different way to experience them. But with that huge mountain of sound falling down on you, it really didn't even matter. NIN puts you there and they keep you there and they leave you begging for more.
After "Hurt", I calmed down and decided to go for one more beer and pot circle visit. Somehow I lollygagged again, and when I heard Kevin Bacon's voice, I knew it was time to get back to my seat. That is the only time in my life I think I will ever use that sentence.
If Nails topped the scales, Jane's Addiction was completely off them. Didn't see many people leave the venue after NIN, which was refreshing. Heard a few comments like "I'll stick around to hear the one or two songs I know" "Hopefully they rock" "How are they going to follow that (NIN)? And then promptly everyone had their faces melted off. After the show, I heard a different flavor of comments. Stuff like "Ok, that's as close to experiencing Led Zeppelin as I'm going to get" Lots and lots of "Jesus Christ"s and "Holy Shit"s. Everyone had a Cheshire cat grin.
Perry always brings the odd, but his offer to the audience to slit his own throat on stage "You want to see a suicide?" didn't feel funny. It felt really fucked up. I'm sure at least one person in the audience besides myself was like, "ok where is this going?" And yeah, the tumble. Sounded hard. Perry landed very very hard. When he finally came up out of it he was like, "Ok, yeah, that really fucking hurt". But we've come to learn that nothing stops Perry. Anxious to see a video of that. Hope he's okay today.
I think he knows regions of the U.S. by drug. He certainly has "Missouri" (as he referred to us) nailed as the meth capital. He also went into a great spiel about farm animals. Those were the few times I was paying attention. The rest of the time I was possessed, dancing, generally being rocked the fuck out. It always feels like Dave is coming over to play just for you. The band is intimate, they love the crowd as much as the crowd loves them.
It's really hard to give a subjective review of the Jane's set, because when they play, I am no longer there. I really am possessed or something and just dancing my ass off. I suppose I am aware if it's a weak show if I don't feel it like that. Of all the Jane's shows I've seen live, there has only been one (Lollapalooza 2003) in which I did not feel it. This show was oldschool Jane's fucking Addiction, and I felt it. Fuck yes I did. My body agrees with me today - I am feeling muscles hurting that I'd forgotten I even had.
To be honest - the song that absolutely sent me spiraling out of control the most was "Stop!" I don't know how that happened, exactly, but that's when I was truly 100% gone and dancing, spinning. For my buddy that moment came when they strummed the first few chords of "Ocean Size", his second favorite JA song after "Jane Says". It was really kickass to see him get into it like he did.
Everything was tight and sounded amazing. When you're there, close to the stage, with those lights, the smoke, the bouncing crowd around you, you are just a part of something. There was a little voice in the back of my mind saying, "Remember this stuff Remember this stuff" but even that voice is shut out by just ... being there at that moment.
"Three Days" is a powerhouse opener, but I still question its placement in the lineup and still think it's best midway through when you're already caught by the fishhook of rock and flailing. Jane's fans were rabidly into it, as you might expect, while NIN fans were just a bit noticeably talkative about 7-8 minutes into it. I just don't think it's the right hook to use at the beginning, for those unaccustomed to JA.
Into "Whores" and "Ain't No Right" it went, and that's when the clam just opens up and explodes pearls all over everyone. Everyone looked fantastic, Perry, the penultimate showman, sparkly and smiles, Eric, reserved, head-down, throbbing that shit out at us like it's no big thing (but it's such a very big thing), Perk, those beats oh my god. Without Perky, no Jane's Addiction. Period. Those drums are the rhythm of a fucking musical movement that is still alive and well today. And Dave, I mean come on. Dave is a living guitar legend. And he's so personal with the crowd. His licks are forever.
Pig eats SHIT, but only when he hungers!!!!!!!!! And everyone looks around at everyone else, laughing, jumping up and down, nodding, yes, I get it! Fuckin PIGS!!! Puh Puh Puh Puh PIGS!!!!! Perry rants about farm animals. Haha. He's right. People will say "This guy makes no sense" or "This guy is not on this planet" but when you hear what he has to say retrospectively, I'm sorry but what he says always makes perfect sense. I don't think the problem is that Perry is on another planet. I think he's just enlightened beyond the average Joe in the crowd.
Every song was perfectly tight. Perfectly loose. Perfectly organic and flowing. Perry seemed to nail everything. I never had a moment of "wow he's really off" or "ack, he's not really hitting that note". No, he hit them all, his voice soared, and he seemed in fine form.
When he slipped on stage and clobbered himself, at first I had no idea what had happened. I, and those around me, kept looking for him to appear crowd-surfing or something. After some neck-straining, we saw him just lying there, on the stage, while the music pounded around him. When he finally got back up, you could tell the fall had really hurt. Poor Perry. As I recall - that was during "Then She Did", which was majestic as always. I guess I'd gotten all my "boo hoo sad" emotions out during NIN's "Hurt", which was good, or else TSD would have sent me over the top in that department.
And as you can imagine, when the pounding blats of "Had a Dad" came at us like machine-gun fire, I was on Cloud 9. I screamed the words along with Perry and made glances at the cloudy sky, thanked my dad for this show, which I think he arranged for me.
Spent, exploded, melted, blasted-off, blown-away, and utterly rocked-out, "Jane Says" was a great Kumbaya moment. My buddy and I put our arms around each other's shoulders and just really fucking enjoyed it.
The crowd beat on chairs and hollered for 10 more minutes before the house lights finally came up, signaling that no, sorry... it's over.
Of hundreds (maybe thousands??) of live shows, this one is in my top 5 somewhere. Easily the show of the year, perhaps the decade, unless this is only a new beginning for Jane's. One can hope.
Last edited by Mudget on Fri May 29, 2009 2:34 pm, edited 3 times in total.