Here are eight show reviews from Gavin Murphy... (not to be confused with the
Gavin who runs this site, I WISH I had seen these shows! :)... Huge thanks
to him for sending them in!
1st show Cabaret Metro 11/25/88
Went to this show via a friend who told me not to miss them as he saw them open
for Love & Rockets a year earlier. We arrived and bought tickets at the door
for $6 bucks!! This of the 11 Janes Shows I have seen was the best.. Perry came
on with his green hat and bright neon green dreadlocks and just went nuts...They
were absolutlely captivating, at this point of the 1980's the first wave of
"alternative" bands were starting to get old (Cure, New Order, ect) and America
was drenched in Guns and Roses. Janes Addiction came along as a lot of us were
starting to leave High School and head into life, there were guys our age in
this band talking to US...I was hooked, Perry Farrell to this day is the best
performer I have ever seen live... The crowd was sold almost from the first
note- that tape "Shock Chicago" (later booted on CD as Trip Away) taped
by Chicago's famous late 80's taper -Adam , is one of the best live shows ever
recorded of Janes get it if you don't have it..Oh yeah and this little unsigned
Chicago band opened with a funny name, they were called Smashing Pumpkins...
it was the second night, the first night at Metro was never announced that was
a "Wednesday " showcase show. Every Wednesday the Metro featured 3 (usually)
local bands for 5 bucks, Janes showed up in town during the Thanksgiving holiday
and were initially supposed to have two days off- instead they chose to add
themselves to the bill on Wednesday for the hell of it- so the people who showed
up basically got a surprise performance.
The Riviera, Chicago Spring 1989
After that Metro show the fan base grew, and this show sold out fairly
quickly. The Riviera is an old movie theatre in the uptown section of Chicago
and holds about 1800. This was a different band than the one I saw at the Metro,
they were very tight musically but looked a little tired from touring. Perry
came on in a black leather s&m get up with shorter red dreadlocks. They played
the first 4 songs psycho-fast it was like they were on speed- but it still sounded
great..Perry yelled at the crowd a lot that night in fact I remember him talking
about "rather being a faggot than a businessman" and then going over to Dave
and giving him a big "Soul Kiss"- This show was the first time I heard Jane
Says live - they did not play that on the 1988 tour..
Aragon Ballroom November 1990
For those of you who have not been to the Aragon it is one of the coolest
concert venues in the USA. It was built in the 1930's as a indoor venue that
looks like you are actually outside in the courtyard of a Moorish castle. There
are cloud machines (when they are working) that spread fog clouds over a ceiling
with tiny light bulds which act like stars...very cool.. This venue served as
a perfect marriage for the imagery of the Ritual album cover. We were all hard-up
for a Janes Show, the break between Nothings Shocking and Ritual seemed like
a lifetime to me and I waited in line 3 hours to get a choice seat 5 rows form
the stage. It was an ON night , they played magnificent...by 1990 I had amassed
a large tape collection and knew most of the songs on Ritual from old live tapes....I
was waiting for Three Days and it was great, Perry loved the venue. This was
the first show I ever taped, for those of you who have this show that is me
talking throughout ..sorry. to this day I think my recording is the only document
of this show availible....For you History buffs some of the Relapse tour set
was influenced by this show. For the encore the band came on stage and started
Summertime Rolls with no Perry, suddenly up above the stage on a small balcony
a spotlight hit Perry ( who was wearing a huge sombrero) and he serenaded the
crowd from the upper balcony during Summertime- this is what most likely influenced
the towers at the Relapse shows.
Milwaukee December 1, 1990
After the Aragon madness we headed up to Milwaukee to see the next show. A good
show, not as good as the Aragon. What was cool was they changed the setlist
and played one of the last Bobhaus}Pigs in Zen, and Then She Did which they
did not play in Chicago. Somebody threw a barbie doll that was altered with
dreadlocks and make up...Perry picked it up from the stage and said "Hey it
looks like Dave!"
The Old Keil Auditorium St. Louis 1991
In the days before the internet (god I feel old) it was hard to find out
about shows that happened out of town. I was reading Rolling Stone and
saw a date in St Louis , is was still wintertime so I went with a friend via
train from Chicago, I remember we did the trip in one day getting in an hour
before showtime and taking the red eye train home. It was worth it! I saw Morgan
the violin player for the first time and they played Of Course which was cool.
I taped this one as well. Mary's Danish opened.
Wings Stadium Kalamazoo, Spring 1991
This was the start of a mini tour I engineered to follow Janes through
the midwest secondary market tour they did in 1991. These were special shows
as they were the last hurrah of the original "grass roots" fans at Janes shows.
Lollapalooza was great but these shows were the last of the original line up
in smaller venues with one opening band. This night I will always remember as
this was the night I met the band and a week of madness followed!! The show
was great and saw the return of Chip Away and Trip Away, they played several
Chip Away's during this tour and were usually joined by one or two members from
the Rollins Band on this song. After the show I got backstage and met the band
eventually eneding up on Perry's tourbus where he showed my friends and I clips
from the gift movie... They were all very friendly and meeting Perry was not
a let down he was very human, unpretentious and funny. Steven was also super
nice.......That is what I have always loved about Janes being American and young,
it may sound lame but they really did speak for the Generation they were our
band and always will be...
Toledo Sports Arena April 91
I will never forget going up to the will call window and asking for tickets
in my name on Janes Addictions personal guest list , I did and they were there!!
Good solid show, these were not major markets but they did a good job and entertained
the crowd..There were tickets availible for this show at the door...also this
was the last night that Rollins Band played with them in the midwest, he met
up with again on the west coast..
Davenport Iowa, some gym downtown?? May 1991
Imagine Janes Addiction playing in your High School gym and you have pictured
the scene in Davenport. Very small venue , maybe held 3000 if that.. similar
set list to the other shows on this tour. Chickisaw Mudpuppies opened, anybody
remeber them? I asked Perry before the show if they were ever going to play
Obvious on the Ritual tour ( they had not played that yet in the USA) they did
not in Davenport but did a couple days later in Salem I think......
here's an additional comment from somebody else...
Thu, 18 Oct 2001 15:46:37 PDT
From: "James Hook"
Subject: jane show 5-18-91
I was at the "gymnasium show" in Davenport. Yes, a very small venue,
but
Jane rocked nevertheless. The great thing about that weekend (show was
on a Saturday) was that I was a D.J at the bar across the street from
the hotel they were staying at, when about 11:00 pm in walks Eric, Dave,
and all the road crew. The bar owner tells me to play something from
Jane, and instead of doing the normal "Been caught stealing" I opted
for
"I would for you", Eric then came up to my booth and tells me he has
never heard that played at a bar before. Then him and Dave sign a few
autographs for me and I of course bought them a round of drinks.