the setlist...
Up The Beach
Ocean Size
Ain't No Right
Then She Did...
Stop!
Whores
Thank You Boys
Three Days
Summertime Rolls
Jane Says
Classic Girl
Chip Away
Ted, Just Admit It...



From Daniel E. Ryan--
In a word it ROCKED!! Six years just melted away as Flea's bass took us all Up The Beach. The band was hot the whole night. Perrys vocals were al little low for the first two songs (no big deal) Dave was especially on. His solo for Three Days (although slightly marred by two cord pull outs, which he actually cleverly incorporated) was amazing. He broke into what sounded like the beginning of Warped (RHCP) somewhere during the middle. It was just so sweet. He also fucked quite a bit with his secondary (waist high mounted) digital delay pedal throughout the showm to achieve some nasty guitar madness.
I was in heaven even though I pretty much knew what the set list (thanks to this web page!) Although, Whores was a nice nice surprise. The crowd got a little rowdy up front wtih far too many drunks. Two fans managed their way on stage. One got lucky because she was all hugging and kissing Dave and he returned the favor. The other was not so lucky. Some portly fellow appeared on stage just to the right of Flea and proceeded to bolt forward launching himslef into the crowd. Well it seems no one was willing to catch ORCA and the poor bastard face planted about two feet to my right. He was obviously shaken up a was bleeding alot from his mouth and nose (asshole). Speaking of assholes, Daves must have been hungry because he fed it the vibrator meant for his guitar, during the intro of Ted's. And if that wasn't bad enough, then he licked it clean (nice). But hey, it's Janes and Nothing's Shocking......right!
On a side note, I predicted this reunion and now I'm predicting a new album. Those guys couldn't have looked any happier. The glances shot around just seemed to say what were we thinking. Sorry Peter, time for a new band. Chili Peppers, looks like you might need to find a new bass player too this time around, because I'm sure Flea is more than a little curious to see what this line up could produce as a creative unit.


From Michael Nowatnick--
What can I say, what an intense show! After seeing Jane's at the ENIT a couple of weeks ago, I expected this show to pale in comparison. I was wrong. Sure, the Sports Arena isn't the greatest place to see a show, but it was definitely worth every penny.
To start off with, the guys threw me for a loop when they started with Up the Beach, instead of Ocean Size, which had been their opener the rest of the tour. The intesity as they ripped through the first three songs was overwhelming. Perry had a few problems with his mike, but who cared? They were full of energy, with Perry and Dave running all over the stage.
During Then She Did, Perry was flipped off by someone, and given the peace sign from someone else. He said, "Do you know what this means?" referring to his middle finger. "It means that my dad used to beat the shit out of me!" Then he asked what the peace sign meant. "It means that my mom and dad loved each other." Later, he went on to say that thumbs up means free will.
Perry was extremely talkative tonight, much more than in San Francisco. He talked about a lot, unconditional love, truthfulness, etc. I can't remember what else, but he seemed to be flowing with words all night long.
But the surprise of the night for me came when they started to play Whores! I thought that I would never here them play that song, since they hadn't really played it all tour long. They also played Thank You Boys, but didn't play Mountain Song.
They then went back to the acoustic stage, and played through Jane Says, Classic Girl, and Chip Away. Dave and Perry both looked pretty fucked up, but they were definitely having a great time, and so was the crowd.
After going back to the main stage, and playing Ted, Just Admit It, the show was over. No encore, which seemed to upset a couple of fans near me, but for me, it was Jane's, and I was in heaven!


This is from The San Diego Union Tribune... (warning- negative review)
Jane's Addiction waxes poetic, wanes pathetic in uneven show
George Varga
POP MUSIC CRITIC
04-Dec-1997 Thursday

With as many ups and downs as a manic roller-coaster ride run amok, Tuesday night's San Diego Sports Arena show by the reunited Jane's Addiction was an unpredictable study in contradictions. It also marked the first major alternative-rock nostalgia tour -- a notion that itself oozes irony -- sometimes for better but mostly for worse.
Exhilarating one moment, ragged and leaden the next, the neo-psychedelic, quasi-mystical funk-punk-metal band opened with a bang and ended anti-climactically with a thud. In between were too many long, noodling instrumental jams that marred what little pacing the show had.
When everything clicked, as it did on "Ocean Size," the explosive opening number, and the moody "Summertime Rolls" (both from the 1988 album "Nothing's Shocking"), the music soared. When, more often, things didn't click, as on the endless (and aptly titled) "Three Days," the music plunged, meandering aimlessly like a landlocked river in search of an outlet to provide release. (A similar aimlessness characterized singer/frontman Perry Farrell's frequent bouts of stream-of-(un)consciousness chatter, but that's another story.)
Further compounding matters, the erratic pacing underscored the show's inherent weaknesses, while ultimately diluting its strengths. And make no mistake -- this was a Show with a capital "S," as the bevy of writhing, scantily clad female dancers accompanying Jane's Addiction on stage and on two platforms on the arena's floor made all too clear.
Bumping and grinding as if auditioning for a new stage version of "Caligula" (or, perhaps, a pool party at Larry Flynt's house), the dancers' suggestive gyrations seemed to contradict Farrell's on-stage proclamation that "unconditional love" is the key to the future. Then again, maybe he meant "unconditional lust."
Whatever the case, he later simulated a menage a trois with two semi-nude dancers during the show-closing "Ted, Just Admit It . . . " (which featured the witless refrain "sex is violent!"). Apparently, cheap titillation -- not heady liberation -- was Farrell's goal.
One could only wonder what a sensitive, intelligent singer-songwriter like Jewel, who was watching from the side of the stage, thought of it all. But one would expect no less from Jane's Addiction's leader and quasi-shamanistic singer, who in 1991 helped create and launch the annual Lollapalooza alternative-rock festival. Coincidentally, Jane's Addiction broke up following its headlining stint on the first Lollapalooza tour, which saw Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro come to blows on stage.
Their misunderstandings now settled for the sake of commerce, if not art, the two embraced to loud cheers at Tuesday's show. Joining them on stage were original Jane's drummer Stephen Perkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, who is subbing for original Jane's bassist Eric Avery, who wisely declined this reunion invitation.
Perkins laid down a rock-solid beat throughout, adding tribal grooves and polyrhythmic flourishes that proved interesting even when Flea and Navarro (now also a member of the Peppers) lost focus. Navarro, who was attired in black shoes, black net stockings, a very short black skirt and nothing else, switched to acoustic guitar for the anthemic "Jane Says" and "Classic Girl," which were performed on a small satellite stage near the rear of the arena's floor.
While that segment allowed the band to get closer to its wildly cheering fans, the softer, ersatz "Unplugged" setting emphasized Farrell's pitch-wandering vocals and lack of range. "I don't know what I'm going to have for lunch tomorrow, but I know it's going to be a (expletive) good lunch," he then told the 9,000-strong crowd, in what was actually one of his less enigmatic moments.
The concert began with a tepidly received performance by English jungle star Goldie (as DJ Clifford Price is known). His ear-numbing set was dominated by the three-part "Timeless," an exercise in techno cliches, pale R&B posturing and New Age-y piddle.

This was posted by a reader in the "letters" section of the newspaper a few days later...

Critic guilty of Jane's Injustice
Who did that Jane's Addiction review ("Jane's Addiction waxes poetic, wanes pathetic in uneven show" by George Varga, Dec. 4)? Was he at the same show I was? I thought it was absolutely incredible! Does he even own/listen to Jane's or is he just assigned the job? It was an injustice. If any of the 9,000 fans were asked, they would have praised the band and isn't that what's important?
SEAN ROBINSON
Pacific Beach


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