JANE'S ADDICTION: NOT AS SHOCKING, STILL AS GREAT

photo credit: Maria Ives

A week ago, I went to see Jane's Addiction play at the State Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. My head is still vibrating from the experience.  They were amazing.

I did a review of the concert for CBS New York as a preview of their concert last Friday night in Brooklyn.  But I had to be professional when writing for CBS.

It's hard to explain how radical they were back then. The combination of sexuality and intelligence, power and sweetness, loud and quiet, classic rock and punk rock and heavy metal, it was just different, scary and thrilling.  Plus you knew that all of the guys in the band were probably living dangerous lifestyles, it really added to the danger.

These days, the guys probably live a bit more sensibly.  Perry was drawing from a flask and from a wine bottle throughout the night, but you never felt the show would go off the rails: Jane's meant business.  They seemed determined to bring the same power and vibes that they did back in they day.  They were, in fact, really powerful.  Perry Farrell hasn't lost any of his shaman-like frontman super-powers. Dave Navarro's guitar playing still rips your face off.  I know people criticize him for his celebrity status outside of music... but really, when he hits the stage, it's all about his playing.  He is still amazing. Stephen Perkins brings a weird tribal thing to heavy rock drums, it's perfect for this band. Chris Chaney has a difficult job filling in for Eric Avery, but he holds it down, without standing out too much. I saw them with Avery in the band a few years ago, and that was unbelievable.  But this show held up to the original lineup.  That's saying a lot.

photo credit: Maria Ives 

At first, I wasn't too sure about their recent album, last year's The Great Escape Artist.  It may not be as classic as Jane's Addiction, Nothing's Shocking or Ritual de lo Habitual, but some of the songs really held up live:  "Underground" and "Splash A Little Water On It." A song from their last album Strays (which also featured Chaney), "Just Because" was one of the highlights of the show.

No, they aren't as dangerous as they were then. But other than The Stooges, who is?  Perry is a dad and a businessman, and Dave has responsibilities.  And anyway, they don't need to be as dangerous as they used to be, they just need to be as great.  At the State Theater, they were. I can't wait to see the next tour.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: LOLLAPALOOZA TURNS 20

Longtime No Expiration readers know that once a week (usually on Wednesday morning at 9 am ET) I go on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SiriusXM's OutQ channel. This week, we  moved my day to Friday. You can listen even if you aren't a subscriber: get a free online trial subscription here.

Last week, Perry Farrell announced this year's Lollapalooza festival, and it turns out that this year the franchise turns 20 (although it was dormant for a few of those years).  Some of my favorite bands ever have played the festival (check out a fun timeline here) and so I figured I'd talk about what a few of them are doing tomorrow.

Of course, I have to talk about Perry's group, Lollapalooza's first headliners, Jane's Addiction. When I last wrote about them, they'd released a live DVD from one of their last shows from their reunion tour, their only one to feature original bassist Eric Avery. By the time the DVD came out, Duff McKagan replaced him, and had already left the band. Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio played bass on the album, he also co-wrote songs and co-produced. But he's not in the band, and now it looks like they're back with Chris Chaney, who played with them in the early '00s.  Their next album, The Great Escape Artist, comes out in August, and the first song, "End To The Lies," is out now.  I don't know if I dig it yet.

I have yet to write about the great Pearl Jam box set, which includes remastered versions of Vs. and Vitalogy (both with bonus tracks), a live album recorded April 12, 1994 at the Orpheum in Boston and (on cassette!) a copy of the radio show they did when Vitalogy came out, which featured performances by them, as well as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Mad Season and The Fastbacks.  I'll write more about that later.

Tres Mts, who I wrote about last night - that's the supergroup featuring Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Mike McCready, King's X frontman Doug Pinnick and Fastback Richard Stuverud.

Eddie Vedder, meanwhile, releases his second solo album, Ukelele Songs, later this month, and I have the first song, "Longing To Belong."

The Beastie Boys released Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 this week, I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet.  What up, Amazon? I will certainly write about it after I get it.  I know people want to know about it: a post I did in late 2009 is one of my most popular posts lately.

Green Day just released a live album, Awesome As Fuck. Check out my cousin Kyle's guest review.

The new live Soundgarden compilation, Live On I-5, which I just wrote about.

And Tom Morello's latest song as The Nightwatchman, "Union Town," which makes me proud to be a fan. Dig the video, and get the Union Town EP when it comes out digitally next week. The Nightwatchman's next full length, World Wide Rebel Songs, comes out later this summer.

JANE'S ADDICTION IN NOLA: A HALLOWEEN CLASSIC

Last Halloween, Jane's Addiction played the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans.  The vibe must have been amazing if you were there - but if you weren't, you should check out this DVD, Live Voodoo. It's one of the last times that they played with original bassist Eric Avery, who has since quit the band again. I saw the band last summer, and they were incredible.  I had seen them with Flea on bass, and with Chris Chaney, and both shows were great, but there's just something about the chemistry of the original four guys playing together.

This performance in New Orleans, a place where Jane's definitely fit in, makes you forget about the bad solo albums, side projects and reality shows.  Perry Farrell is the shaman, Dave Navarro is a guitar god playing with a sense of danger that few other virtuosos can muster, and Stephen Perkins, known to play some kinda hippiesh stuff in his band Banyan, reminds you that he has the power of Bonham and Moon. Perry doesn't sing the way he used to - but he still has his charisma. It's a great performance.

So as I mentioned, Eric Avery has left the band again, Duff McKagan joined and quit, and now they're looking for a new bass player (they have two gigs booked in December).  It's really a bummer, but I do think Perry, Dave and Stephen can make good music together (their 2003 album, Strays was really good). But this DVD reminds you how great the band is with the original four guys.

But see for yourself: watch the live version of "Stop!" here.

DUFF McKAGAN JOINS JANE'S ADDICTION

It doesn't look like I missed too much while I was in Mexico, but for me, the biggest news is that, as rumored, former Guns N Roses (and maybe still current Velvet Revolver) bassist Duff McKagan has joined Jane's Addiction.

I found that so surprising.  Janes and Guns both came from L.A., but from very different scenes. Although I always did think that Guns were closer to punk rock than they were to the Crue or Ratt or the other glammier metal bands. Still, this is a development that would have been hard to predict in, say, 1991. But times change. And Duff comes from a more punk or "alternative" background than his Guns-mates.

Anyway, Rolling Stone says that Jane's is looking to have an album out by the winter of 2011, and then they are going to tour afterwards. I wonder if that means that the singer-less Velvet Revolver is over.  I think it's cool that Duff, Slash and Matt Sorum were playing together, I never cared for their singer Weiland though. Slash's new album comes out tomorrow.  Duff is on it, and so are former Guns members Izzy Stradlin' and Steven Adler. Also on the album, Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Grohl and Alice Cooper.  And Fergie.

DAVE NAVARRO POSES FOR PETA

I found this while looking on Dave Navarro's twitter for news about Jane's Addiction, in the wake of Eric Avery quitting. He just shot an ad for PETA. They probably didn't have to work hard to get him to get naked! But give the guy credit, he looks great, he's in his 40s. Before people start bashing me for linking to PETA, I'll say that I don't agree with all their headline-grabbing antics, and I don't love everything that they do.  But fur is absolutely barbaric, and there's no human(e) reason to wear it, ever.

BUMMER! ERIC AVERY QUITS JANE'S ADDICTION - AGAIN

Actually, I guess technically this is the first time that Eric Avery has quit Jane's Addiction: it's just that until recently, he never participated in any of the band's reunions. I saw one of the shows on their summer tour and it was incredibly powerful.  I'd seen Jane's reunions with Flea on bass and also with Chris Chaney, and both shows were awesome, but Avery is a unique player and his style totally fit the band. Eric announced it on twitter just a few days ago. Dave Navarro seemed to indicate on his twitter feed that the band are sticking together, and there are rumors that Duff McKagan will be playing bass for them. In fact, Navarro linked to a youtube video that shows Duff and Stephen Perkins jamming together and Rolling Stone says that Slash sort of hinted that Duff was doing something with Jane's. I really liked the one Jane's album that they did without Eric, Strays, which featured Chris Chaney, but it lacked the menace of their earlier work.  I guess that's inevitable no matter who is on bass though.

THE NEW RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS GUITARIST

Supposedly, former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro recently tweeted that he is not, in fact, working with the Peppers again (of course, he is part of the reunited Jane's Addiction, who played Aspen on New Year's Eve). But he did supposedly confirm that Josh Klinghoffer has replaced John Frusciante (who quit over a year ago, but just confirmed that bit of news) in the band (Josh and John both pictured here). The reason I say "supposedly" is because I couldn't find Navarro's tweet, maybe because he tweets so often, but more likely is that the Chili Peppers' people asked him to delete the post because they haven't announced anything yet. This is according to an unofficial Chili Peppers site, Stadium Arcadium (which is much better than their official one).

Josh Klinghoffer seems to be a great choice: he has toured with the Chili Peppers as an extra guitarist, he collaborated with Frusciante on one of John's many solo projects, and has also worked with Gnarls Barkley, PJ Harvey and Beck. Hopefully this works out better than the last time they had to replace Frusciante. Anyway, I guess some people will see the new version of the band later this month: they are scheduled to perform at the MusicCares Person Of The Year concert, which pays tribute to Neil Young.

HOLY CRAP: PEARL JAM'S GUEST LIST

Pearl Jam don't really need special guests joining them onstage, they are powerful enough on thier own. That said, they've recently had some pretty awesome special guests. Ben Harper has been opening for them lately, and joining them every night for "Red Mosquito," from No Code. At Austin City Limits, Perry Farrell joined them for Jane's Addiction 's "Mountain Song." Jerry Cantrell has joined them recently for "Alive" and The MC5 's "Kick Out The Jams." But the other night in LA, Chris Cornell joined them for the Temple Of The Dog classic "Hunger Strike." Wow. What's more is that, supposedly, Soundgarden 's Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd were backstage, and they hung with Chris and Matt Cameron after the show. WOW. Earlier this year, 75% of Soundgarden reunited, but I think this is the first time the four of them have been together since the band broke up. It would be great to see them together again, although I doubt it would be a full-time thing. I wonder if Matt Cameron could balance being in both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden?

LOLLAPALOOZA - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

I'm talking the '90s version of Lollapalooza, here. I respect the fact that they've totally redefined the festival for a new decade, but playing Lollapalooza doesn't really mean what it used to. From 1991 - 1997, they featured some of the coolest alt-rock and hip-hop artists, plus other artists like Metallica and George Clinton, and managed to avoid having the more clone-y bands like Bush, Stone Temple Pilots and Candlebox on the tour, although it would have been really easy to sign those bands up.

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about three Lollapalooza veterans who have new albums out: Pearl Jam, Living Colour and Alice In Chains. But I thought I'd offer a separate post about the whereabouts of some of the other artists:

Jane's Addiction: their summer tour was mind blowing. The went into the studio to re-record two songs from their debut, with Trent Reznor producing, but I have a hard time seeing them do a new full-length album. I bet they'll continue to tour, while pursuing seperate projects.

Nine Inch Nails: toured with Jane's this summer - they were also incredible. After the tour, Trent did a few last NIN club dates and said that that was it. I think this is kind of like what Trent's hero David Bowie has done - left something really successful behind, but he can access it whenever he wants. Bowie "retired" the Ziggy Stardust persona, but still performs songs from that era if he feels like it.

Ice-T: His personality is almost bigger than his music, and he is most visable as an actor these days on Law & Order: SVU.

Henry Rollins: Like Ice-T, most people know who he is, but they probably couldn't name many of his songs. He just got a role on the Sons Of Anarchy show, he hosts his own IFC talk show and does spoken word tours.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: working on a new album!

Ministry: Al Jourgenson has retired the band, but one of his other bands, The Revolting Cocks. The catch is, he doesn't tour with RevCo anymore but is a special guest on select dates.

Ice Cube: still makes music, but is a much bigger force in film than music these days: he's not just an actor, he directs, produces and writes.

Soundgarden: still broken up! Chris Cornell continues his solo career, and Matt Cameron has been Pearl Jam's drummer for over a decade now.

Primus: one of my favorite bands ever. They broke up in the late '90s and reunited a few years later. I don't think they'll ever do another album, but they'll probably tour here and there. Les Claypool is a very active solo artist, he's also directed a film, written a novel, and is starting his own wine label.

Fishbone: They still tour, but singer/sax player/stone cold entertainer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher are the only original members left. Rocky George from Suicidal Tendencies also plays in the current lineup, but there are rumors of a reunion of the originals.

Tool: They toured this summer, and are supposedly going to do a new album. Maynard's main priority is his winery in Arizona, and he's sort of deactivated his other band, A Perfect Circle, but he still has his solo project, Pussyfier.

Rage Against The Machine: I think they will exist as a touring band, I don't see them ever making a new album. Tom Morello is really into his new group, Street Sweeper Social Club, and I think he will continue to do acoustic music as The Nightwatchman. It's been over a year since Zach de la Rocha released his EP with One Day As A Lion, I don't know what's up with that.

Smashing Pumpkins: Still around, it's Billy Corgan and whoever he hires. He also plans to work with other projects.

The Beastie Boys: have been reissuing their catalog, and waiting for Adam Yauch to recover from throat surgery.

A Tribe Called Quest: occasionally perform, but Q-Tip mainly focuses on his solo career now

Green Day: one of the biggest bands in the world!


Hole: kind of like Billy/Pumpkins, Courtney Love says she is Hole, and has hired a new version of the band. But she needs to chill.

NINJA '09 TOUR HITS PNC

Last night
I went to one of the best shows I've ever seen: NINJA '09: Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper Social Club. 

SSSC was great - some people will obviously compare them to Rage Against The Machine because it is a Tom Morello-led band with a hip-hop MC. But Boots Reilly is different than Zach de la Rocha (and Chris Cornell) in that he enjoys being onstage. He's as politically informed as Zach, but he's more fun. I don't know if this band will be a great as Rage, but I'm looking forward to finding out when their debut album comes out in a week and a half. 

NIN were mind-blowing. Even when Trent Reznor was having substance issues (he recently tweeted that he's now eight years sober, congratulations), you never doubted him onstage. Sober, he's unstoppable. NIN had four guys - they used to always have five, but the keyboardist left, and I guess Trent didn't want to get a new guy in the band right as he's about to hang it up. So he and the other guys in the band played the keyboards, and it didn't seem lacking at all. Trent seemed to have an extra intensity -- he doesn't seem sure that he'll ever tour as Nine Inch Nails again. I can understand that: he's in his 40s, he's getting married, and screaming "Terrible Lie" may not feel honest to him anymore. I think he can move on the way Bowie moved on from his early glam persona. Anyway, Trent also resisted the urge to make the show a greatest hits goodbye, and the the show was more powerful for it. He drew from his more recent albums like The Slip and Year Zero, as well as the earlier stuff -- it was basically a thank you to fans (in my mind). It wasn't about the songs that radio/MTV choose to play, it was about the hardcore fans who have been with them for the entire ride. A greatest radio hits show would not have been appropriate. It was definitely appreciated. 

Jane's was also incredible. I've seen them twice before: once with Flea on bass, and the other time with Chris Chaney. Both shows were great, but seeing them with original bassist Eric Avery was a totally different deal.  There's just something about the chemistry of the original four guys, it was unbelievably powerful. It's interesting that the last time Jane's and NIN toured together it was the original Lollapalooza in 1991 - 18 years ago.  Back then, it was JA's swan song and it kind of launched NIN's career. This tour, hopefully is the opposite: as Trent shuts down NIN for the time being, maybe this tour will relaunch Jane's.  It's hard to imagine that they'll be able to make records anywhere near as good as their first three. But even if they didn't - and this ends up being a the final chapter in the Jane's story, it was a good way to end, with the four originals rocking together again. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: JANE'S ADDICTION BOX SET AND NEW DEPECHE MODE

After a week off, I'll be back on OutQ this week at 9 am ET
Wednesday morning. This week, I'll be talking about the new Depeche Mode album, Sounds of the Universe and the Jane's Addiction box set, Cabinet Of Curiosities.

I'm not a huge D. Mode fan, but I respect them and enjoy their greatest hits. I was honestly surprised how much I liked this album. I think bands from the '60s and '70s almost age more gracefully than their younger counterparts from the '80s, and it's hard for a goth to grow up. And I heard that they were just using vintage synthesizers on the album - I thought they would be trying to party like it's 1985 again. But it's a very current and cool sounding album.

The Jane's box set isn't for "beginners." It's not a great starting point for the band (like, say, Star Time would be for James Brown fans). I think it's great (and if you get it at Best Buy, they have an exclusive 5th disc), but only if you have their first three albums, which are all classics anyway.

PERRY FARRELL HITS THE BIG FIVE-OH

Wow: Perry Farrell is 50 years old. He celebrated in style, with a "Perry-palooza" concert: he performed with his wife Etty Farrell as Satellite Party, Jane's Addiction played and he even reunited for a two song set with Porno For Pyros. Debbie Harry and Billy Idol and a few other people performed also. Read about it at LAist. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: THE INDIGO GIRLS, PEARL JAM, NIN AND STREET SWEEPER

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about the brand-new

Indigo Girls album, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (the deluxe edition has a second disc with acoustic versions of all the songs) and the big kahuna reissue of Pearl Jam's classic debut, Ten. My lovely wife got me this for my birthday: it has the original album on LP and CD, a new version remixed by Brendan O'Brien on LP and CD, a live concert from 1992 on LP, MTV Unplugged on DVD and thier original demo on cassette.

I'll also be talking about some of the songs on the FREE Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper EP that you can get at NINJA2009.com.

If I have time, I'll talk about another one of my favorite artists, Hamell On Trial, who I need to write about more here. Next week: it's all Stevie Nicks.

GET A FREE NIN/JANE'S/STREET SWEEPER EP

Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction and Tom Morello's new band Street Sweeper are offering a free mp3 EP of unreleased tracks (easy in Street Sweeper's case, since they haven't actually released anything yet). All you have to do is give your email address. Get it at NINJA2009. 

DOUBLE AWESOME NEWS: TOM MORELLO HAS A NEW GROUP (and they're gonna open for NIN and Jane's)

First off: Tom Morello has a new band, Street Sweeper,
featuring Boots Riley of The Coup. It's more Rage Against The Machine than Nightwatchman. Check them out here.

And secondly, Street Sweeper is making the best tour of the year, Nine Inch Nails with Jane's Addiction, even better. Trent Reznor just tweeted that they are the opening act on the tour. Man, if that show wasn't already mind-blowing.

NINE INCH NAILS / JANE'S ADDICTION TOUR DATES

Trent Renzor has posted some at the Nine Inch Nails website.

JANE'S ADDICTION BOX SET

It looks like I'll be writing about Jane's Addiction a lot in the coming months. I just read that they will have a box set of rarities, 3 CDs and 1 DVD (which will feature the not-great film Soul Kiss. Still, it's pretty exciting news.  You can see some videos from Jane's' recent unannounced club show here. 

NINE INCH NAILS AND JANE'S ADDICTION TO TOUR THIS SUMMER!!!

Apologies for the extra exclamation points in the title, I'm not
an "all caps and exclamation points" type guy. But seeing the photo of Trent Reznor in the studio with Dave Navarro was exciting enough, and not Trent is confirming the rumors: he has produced a new Jane's Addiction album, which will include founding bass player Eric Avery. Trent actually did one better: on his website he posted a note called "A Note From Trent and a Wave Goodbye," and said that Nine Inch Nails will be touring with Jane's. Both bits of news are mindblowing. Trent also mentioned that after this tour, he would be hanging up NIN, at least for a while. Probably a good idea: he's been so prolific with NIN in the past few years, I think he may benefit from doing things like producing other artists, and getting out of his own "comfort zone." At any rate, this is pretty much the must-see show of the summer.

A VERY INTERESTING PHOTO ON NIN.COM

This photo of Trent Reznor and Dave Navarro was posted on NIN.com. Could Trent be producing a Jane's Addiction reunion album?  I wonder if Eric Avery is playing bass? I think that Trent is the perfect guy to produce them, and I think that this could have the potential to be a great album. 

JANE'S ADDICTION REUNITED

I didn't even want to write about this, because for some reason I didn't think it was going to happen, but the other night, Jane's Addiction reunited for a club gig in L.A. The full band: Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and even bassist Eric Avery, who hadn't participated in the band's reunions until their recent performance at the NME Awards. Dave Navarro wrote about the gig on his blog, giving credit to the other guys who have played bass for Jane's over the years, but saying that it isn't really Jane's without all four guys.

Without getting my hopes up too much, I gotta think this will lead to something else. Then again, if money is thrown into it, Eric may just split. I give him credit: clearly he is interested in making a buck: I bet his gig in Alanis Morissette's band pays well, and he tried out for Metallica. He just doesn't want to mess with the memory of his band. Still, I'd love to see the band with him back in it, and so would lots of other people. I can see them doing Coachella and Lollapalooza this year, but hopefully, they'll come to NYC as well.