Jane’s Addiction Welcomes Us To The Family At 713 Music Hall

In 1990, my roommate Alan and I drove from Austin to Dallas, entering a venue called the Bronco Bowl and joining a host of weirdly dressed young people. Cultural dissonance ensued as we made our way to the concert venue by winding through quote-unquote normal families dining, playing air hockey, and — yes — bowling. The band we were there to see? Jane’s Addiction.

This was near the height of the band’s popularity. Ritual de lo Habitual, the band’s second studio release, had just dropped. The 3,000-person capacity Bronco Bowl was not equipped to deal with the (i’m guessing) more than that number who showed up, and as “Up The Beach” broke into “Whores,” the crowd surge picked me up, thrashing me around like Chrissie Watkins before I was dumped on the ground, where I barely managed to claw my way back upright despite taking at least a dozen stomps/kicks.

What a show.

The Bronco Bowl is long gone, and 713 Music Hall holds a couple thousand more people. So while it would be inaccurate to call it a “low energy” crowd, at least nobody died last night* as Jane’s Addiction played a show with its original lineup for the first time since 2010.

But first: there was another blast from the past. Love and Rockets opened the show in an order reversal from the last time the two bands toured together (LnR’s Earth Sun Moon tour). They’re also trotting out their original lineup, but then, Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins have always been Love and Rockets.

“The Light” was an interesting choice for an opener. And nothing about LnR’s set screamed “audience friendly.” They aren’t the band to cheesily ask, “are you ready to have a good time?” The sound of impending doom, offset by Ash’s sparkly jacket and David J’s dry commentary, works better for them.

“The Dog-End of a Day Gone By” and “When the Minutes Drag” aren’t exactly crowd pleasers, and accentuated the fact their songs tend to hinge on choruses repeated ad nauseam. Still, “No New Tale to Tell” re-energized most everyone, followed by “American Dream,” which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on The Sky’s Gone Out. “So Alive” remains their most popular (and not coincidentally least complicated) tune, and came along comfortably near the end of their set. And between “Dream,” “Ball of Confusion,” and “Mirror People,” it was as close as the night got to being political.

Ash said as recently as last year that they were done touring, and who knows? He may say the same thing after these dates with Jane’s. Love and Rockets always had a rough row to hoe: more pop-oriented than Bauhaus, yet never quite mainstream enough to crack the upper ranks. They’re still one of the most aggro 3-pieces around, so hopefully they hold back on any hasty decisions.

And now, Jane’s Addiction.

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Dave Navarro’s back, baby.

Photo by Violeta Alvarez

It would be a mistake to think of Jane’s as Perry Farrell and company, considering how monstrously effective the rest of the band is. Guitarist Dave Navarro, back onstage while still battling long Covid, demonstrated why he’s just as important to that Jane’s sound as Farrell’s nasal bellowing. The same can be said for Stephen Perkins’ thundering drums (“Ocean Size”) and Eric Avery’s signature bass (“Mountain Song,” “Three Days”).

That said, Farrell is the showman. The ringleader in a dapper suit that made you wish he’d been cast as the Joker, his engagement with the crowd was effortless. Revealing that he had newly discovered family in Houston, and that made all of us in the audience family too. Farrell’s a weird dude.

They opened with “Kettle Whistle,” which was never recorded on an official release. It presented an opportunity to get the audience situated before the combo of “Whores” and “Pigs in Zen.” It was a pretty short setlist, all things considered, padded out by extended jams on “Summertime Rolls” and “Then She Did…”

One also has to account for Perry being, well, Perry. He ran with the “family” theme, referencing it more than a Fast and Furious movie, but making it effective as an intro to “Jane Says” (fun fact: the subject of this song did eventually kick the habit and go to Spain). And then there was his insistence that “cats in Houston party as hard as them in L.A.” Maybe true, maybe just a convenient segue into “Three Days.”

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We are {Perry Farrell’s] family.

Photo by Violeta Alvarez

Yours truly was down for the heavier cuts. “Mountain Song” had everyone going ballistic, and new single “Imminent Redemption” was classic Jane’s, though it seemed like Farrell might have been running out of steam when “Ocean Size” rolled around. “Stop” followed, and was relatively well received. Not as much as “Been Caught Stealing,” which yielded the biggest reaction of the night.

Considering the band’s early conflicts, struggles with — yes — addiction, and health concerns, it’s nigh miraculous the original lineup is still going strong. Navarro was energized, only taking a seat for a couple of songs, and Perkins and Avery laid the foundation all night. As for Farrell, he seemed happy and genuinely at peace. It all made for a satisfying if unsurprising show.

Thank you boys.

* I don’t think.
Personal Bias: LnR’s version of “Ball of Confusion” was my first exposure to that song. I blame my parents.

The Crowd: Dudes who finally found an occasion to wear those ‘90 band T-shirts and their drunk-ass significant others.

Overheard In The Crowd: “This is a whole vibe.”

Random Notebook Dump: “Being Ocean Size sounds exhausting, honestly.”

SETLIST
Love and Rockets
The Light
Kundalini Express
No Big Deal
The Dog-End of a Day Gone By
Haunted When the Minutes Drag
No New Tale to Tell
An American Dream
So Alive
Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today) (Temptations cover)
Mirror People
Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)

Jane’s Addiction
Kettle Whistle
Whores
Pigs in Zen
Ain’t No Right
Ted, Just Admit It…
Summertime Rolls
Jane Says
Mountain Song
Three Days
Imminent Redemption
The She Did…
Ocean Size
Stop!
Been Caught Stealing