This is from Kerrang in June 1993

PYRO MANIA
PORNO FOR PYROS
The Roseland, New York
Sunday June 20

It's Perry's party-enter at your own risk. "You fuckin' pussies!" shrieks Sir Lollapalooza at the throng, after dancing about the stage with a ballerina who pirouetted on during the opener, "Orgasm." Maybe he's realised the rock and roll really is a sideshow, and he's got the best collection of strippers and sad clowns under the sun. Farrell is revelling in the sheer spectacle of it all. Part Rock revisionist, part carnival hustler, he wears all his guises equally well.
Who else would kiss a fire breathing stripper amid the jarring chant of "Porno For Pyros"? Who else would spit the words to "Cursed Female" while two curvy gals kiss each other? It's equal parts bad porn and Bourbon Street on a sweaty Saturday night.
The band backs up Farrell's attempts at redefining the Rock show as we know it. Stephen Perkins is ever the blur of arms he was in Jane's Addiction, lending the likes of "Blood Rag" a quake of world beats augmented by Matt Hyde's eerie bank of keyboards. Martyn LeNoble prowls the stage, pounding the bass while Peter DiStefano plays the suave guitar hero on the gentle strum of "Pets" where Perry contemplates a better fate when the UFOs land: "We'll make great pets.."
It's a short set, little over an hour by the time the cast, crew, witch doctors and stage hands come out to take a final bow and Farrell encores with "Packin' 25". Have Porno For Pyros exceeded Jane's legacy? Not yet, but it doesn't seem like that's Perry's top priority. What they have done is redeemed themselves from a debut LP that seemed like a lightweight Jane's rehash. And one thing's certain-they are a hell of a lot more ambitious.
The best Rock carnival for yet buck these days.
Mike Gitter.


(thanks to Gaby for sending this review)


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