8/21/07 - The Blue Note, Columbia, MO

[Mike]

Satellite Party wows fans with stage show
By Kelsey Whipple, Reporter. Posted August 24, 2007.

Perry Farrell looks like a happy vampire: pale, thin and smiley. And having led three bands in his career ­— Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros and now Satellite Party — let’s just say the effeminately dapper 48-year-old knows how to put on a show. And a really shiny shirt.

Dressed past the nines in pipe-cleaner pants, a tight silver shirt and matching eye shadow, Farrell and his newest creation greeted The Blue Note audience on Tuesday with a bit of a shock. But, by the time crew members set out Farrell’s preshow bottle of wine, things were already interesting.

Opener “Wish Upon a Dog Star,” an exciting song relegated to the annals of MTV2, pumped up a crowd that started in halves: half Jane’s Addiction fans and half Porno For Pyros. The remainder of the night, which included covers of songs from both, as well as an all Jane’s Addiction encore, wowed even the drunkest members of the crowd.

Satellite Party is a band that’s not afraid to throw sleaze and sex into its sometimes awesomely bad but always awesomely loud guitar rock, and when it comes to live shows, Farrell is of the “kitchen sink” philosophy: Throw everything in. This could explain the involvement of his wife, professional dancer Etty Lau Farrell, who perpetually looks as though she is dancing to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” She’s a video vamp, all right, and a major crowd-pleaser.

Farrell’s over-the-top antics, including both butt-shaking and lip-pursing, are his trademark, but he topped himself Tuesday night. It would not have been out of place for him to yell, “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby!” The wine bottle was put to good use as well, and, during a cover of Jane’s Addiction’s mega hit “Been Caught Stealing,” that use was an audience member’s mouth.

“Don’t ever say I didn’t give you anything,” Farrell said.

The loudest whistles of the night were given to yet another Jane’s Addiction song (noticing a rather unsatisfying pattern?), “Superhero,” as it was Farrell’s first time singing it in four years. While introducing the song, Farrell, whose speech is generally punctuated with a generous handful of “yeahs” and “mans,” let the audience in on a secret: “There ain’t nothing like good rock ‘n’ roll.”

More whistles.

The band’s new album title track, “Ultra Payloaded Satellite Party,” a spacey song with a crowd-friendly chorus, began with a sing-along, which was a rather impressive feat for a band whose fan base belongs almost solely to its lead singer. But during Farrell’s introduction of the members (in a French accent, no less), the absence of two band members — Kevin Figueiredo and Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt, who left the band in July, not even a year after its conception — was awkwardly obvious. Bettencourt fans deserve their grieving, but new guitarist Nick Perri of Silvertide is the kind of performer Wayne and Garth could only dream of.

By far the best part of the night, though, was the middle-aged dandy’s mid-encore monologue.

“What night is it?” Farrell said. “Tuesday? Fantastic? I love all of them.”

And as if his fans didn’t believe him: “I mean it, though. Every day is sweet ... when you’re partying.”

Satellite partying?


Kelsey Whipple/The Maneater
Perry Farrell sings on stage with his wife during a Satellite party concert Tuesday night at The Blue Note. With his new project, Farrell erases the last vestige of credibility that he shockingly didn’t lose 10 years ago with Porno For Pyros.

http://www.themaneater.com/article.php?id=27178

[scabdates]

Busting out Superhero? That makes sense, very nice.

But I'd rather have Tahitian Moon in Philly