Janes Addiction, Kentish Town Forum, 22/08/02
Jane's Addiction - Kentish Town Forum, London
He comes forth in a pristine feathered white hat and jacket.
He looks like a fallen angel, slightly ravaged around the corners from years of abuse. Ladies and gentlemen – Perry Farrell is back in town....
With tickets outside the Forum reaching £250 this evening, I pass by the touts and the desperate hopefuls with the feeling that I’m on my way to witness something very special. It’s a feeling I haven’t had at a London gig in years. Jane’s Addiction was always a band to get excited about – it’s the sheer anticipation of never knowing what might happen next. Tonight that feeling is tempered slightly by the fear of being let down, the sensing of an anticlimax, the nagging feeling at the back of the mind that the past should be left there.
As the first chords ring out over the audience, the hairs on the backs of collective necks prick up so tangibly you can almost hear them. “Whoompfh”. This is a gig of champions, connoisseurs even. The band plays the best songs from their two studio albums (it’s hard to believe there were only two) - there is little or no margin for disappointment.
Getting started with “Up The Beach”, it becomes immediately clear what’s missing in a lot of live shows these days. It’s the sheer melodrama of it. The performer up there on stage giving it his all like his very sanity depends on it, and looking like he teeters on the brink at all times when not there. I don’t give a flying fuck about these bands that go off and have a cup of tea afterwards. When did being normal have any place in rock music??
Perry Farrell is that guy, always has been. Tonight, he wheels around the stage in his huge feathered hat, looking for all the world like some out of control cockatiel – his trademark squawkish voice completing this bird-man vision perfectly. “Stop” is a perfect example of the energy this band creates. It just picks you up and drags you along with it.
It’s during a sublime “Pigs in Zen”, a few songs in, that I manage to tear my eyes from the utterly encapsulating Farrell and notice Dave Navarro. He looks like he should be in a boy band now. No longer looking the drug addled weirdo, he’s positively glowing, looking like some extra from a particularly cheesy Hollywood soap. But being “with it” obviously suits him. His guitar tonight, as clean as he is, sounds better than I ever remember.
I would like to have seen them play “1%”, but couldn’t complain after hearing classics such as “Been Caught Stealing” and “I Would for You” (although the latter was something a stretch for Farrell’s voice and ended up sounding strained and, dare I say, a bit “off”). After 10 years away, these songs come about like nectar, flowing across the crowd – seeping into every pore.
After a quick costume change, Farrell arrives back onstage for the encore in even more sensational garb. What follows is an absolutely staggering “Jane Says”. It’s hard to find anything wrong with this entire experience. After another encore, enforced by the crowd absolutely refusing to leave, it is finally over.
If Jane’s Addiction set a benchmark all those years ago, then they have raised it several notches with tonight’s show. The musicians of today now have a lot to match up to. Let’s hope it’s fun to watch them try.
He comes forth in a pristine feathered white hat and jacket.
He looks like a fallen angel, slightly ravaged around the corners from years of abuse. Ladies and gentlemen – Perry Farrell is back in town....
With tickets outside the Forum reaching £250 this evening, I pass by the touts and the desperate hopefuls with the feeling that I’m on my way to witness something very special. It’s a feeling I haven’t had at a London gig in years. Jane’s Addiction was always a band to get excited about – it’s the sheer anticipation of never knowing what might happen next. Tonight that feeling is tempered slightly by the fear of being let down, the sensing of an anticlimax, the nagging feeling at the back of the mind that the past should be left there.
As the first chords ring out over the audience, the hairs on the backs of collective necks prick up so tangibly you can almost hear them. “Whoompfh”. This is a gig of champions, connoisseurs even. The band plays the best songs from their two studio albums (it’s hard to believe there were only two) - there is little or no margin for disappointment.
Getting started with “Up The Beach”, it becomes immediately clear what’s missing in a lot of live shows these days. It’s the sheer melodrama of it. The performer up there on stage giving it his all like his very sanity depends on it, and looking like he teeters on the brink at all times when not there. I don’t give a flying fuck about these bands that go off and have a cup of tea afterwards. When did being normal have any place in rock music??
Perry Farrell is that guy, always has been. Tonight, he wheels around the stage in his huge feathered hat, looking for all the world like some out of control cockatiel – his trademark squawkish voice completing this bird-man vision perfectly. “Stop” is a perfect example of the energy this band creates. It just picks you up and drags you along with it.
It’s during a sublime “Pigs in Zen”, a few songs in, that I manage to tear my eyes from the utterly encapsulating Farrell and notice Dave Navarro. He looks like he should be in a boy band now. No longer looking the drug addled weirdo, he’s positively glowing, looking like some extra from a particularly cheesy Hollywood soap. But being “with it” obviously suits him. His guitar tonight, as clean as he is, sounds better than I ever remember.
I would like to have seen them play “1%”, but couldn’t complain after hearing classics such as “Been Caught Stealing” and “I Would for You” (although the latter was something a stretch for Farrell’s voice and ended up sounding strained and, dare I say, a bit “off”). After 10 years away, these songs come about like nectar, flowing across the crowd – seeping into every pore.
After a quick costume change, Farrell arrives back onstage for the encore in even more sensational garb. What follows is an absolutely staggering “Jane Says”. It’s hard to find anything wrong with this entire experience. After another encore, enforced by the crowd absolutely refusing to leave, it is finally over.
If Jane’s Addiction set a benchmark all those years ago, then they have raised it several notches with tonight’s show. The musicians of today now have a lot to match up to. Let’s hope it’s fun to watch them try.
posted by Luci @ 8:07 AM
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