Jane’s Addiction graced the stage at Port Chester’s The Capitol Theatre on Tuesday night to perform their 1988 album Nothing’s Shocking in its entirety. As the band came to the stage, bassist Chris Chaney began playing the opening notes to “Up the Beach” with Perry Farrell decked out in a brand new 3-piece suit taking his place center stage. With Farrell’s voice swooning the crowd, it was clear early on that everybody was in the right head space for this show.
The venue erupted when the group went into rocker “Ocean Size” singing along to every lyric that came out of Farrell’s mouth, and playing air guitar to Dave Navarro‘s solo in the middle section of the song. As heavy as Jane’s music gets, the psychedelic element that has always been there is what separates them from the other “alternative” acts of their generation. “Ted, Just Admit It” (aka “Sex Is Violent”) saw the first of Farrell’s many forays into the crowd, as he displayed his showmanship skills are at their very best. At times it may take away from the music, but it most certainly pleases the fans. At this stage of the game, if you don’t know what to expect from Farrell, then you’re missing what Jane’s Addiction is all about.
As the band rolled through the rest of Nothing’s Shocking, the three-song punch of “Mountain Song”, “Idiots Rule” and “Jane Says”, the latter with drummer Stephen Perkins on steel pan, once again saw Farrell showing his appreciation of the crowd as he passed around a bottle of Maestro Dobel blanco tequila (he is a spokesperson for the brand) to lucky fans in the front of the audience while enjoying the occasional swig himself. At 56, he prances around the stage as if he were still 25. And the soon-to-be 48 year old Dave Navarro, who plays shirtless for almost the entire show, looks unbelievable for his age; it’s hard to believe these guys are at, or over, the half century mark.
With the band completing the album portion of the evening with “Pig’s in Zen,” “Been Caught Stealing” off of 1990’s Ritual de lo Habitual ended the set properly. For the encore, Jane’s continued the Ritual love, ending the show with “Three Days” and “Stop!”, bringing out dancers (one of whom is Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau) in some sexy leather outfits. “Three Days” was its typical psychedelic self, in all its 10+ minute glory, showcasing what is possibly one of Navarro’s best solo guitar work. The song, about death and rebirth, is some of the finest work both lyrically and musically in the band’s catalog.
Fittingly, Jane’s finished with “Stop!”, which is nothing short of a complete rocker. At this point, the band pulled out all the freakish stops, bringing out two women lifted up in the air by back hook piercings, swinging back and forth over the band to the delight of some in the crowd, and horror of others. While some of us were in awe with our jaws dropped to the floor, it was quite obvious that others were in pain just watching, yet still finding it hard to look away. Nonetheless, it was a spectacle to see and ended the show properly. All in all, the show lasted about 80-minutes, but didn’t let up from start to finish. After all this time Jane’s Addiction still proves that, with them, truly nothing’s shocking.
– Chris Meyer
[photos courtesy of Scott Harris and the Capitol Theatre – for a full gallery click here]
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“Three Days” into “Stop!”:
Setlist:
Up The Beach
Ocean Size
Had a Dad
Ted, Just Admit It
Standing in the Shower….
Summertime Rolls
Mountain Song
Idiots Rule
Jane Says
Pig’s in Zen
Been Caught Stealing
Encore:
Three Days
Stop!
Setlist:
Up The Beach
Ocean Size
Had a Dad
Ted, Just Admit It
Standing in the Shower….
Summertime Rolls
Mountain Song
Idiots Rule
Jane Says
Pig’s in Zen
Been Caught Stealing
Encore:
Three Days
Stop!