Waiting in the cold and the slight drizzle on the sidewalks of East Los Angeles, hours before being allowed in to the Echoplex, meeting new people with a common interest, sharing stories and drinking Tecates, brought me back to the mid to late ‘80s before “our secret” got out.

There was no doubt Jane’s Addiction was a great band composed of four equally talented individuals, but some of us in L.A. were greedy. We didn’t want to share and lose them, but we knew there was no way to contain them. Once people heard their music and saw their videos, we knew there was no way we were going to get the genie back in the bottle. Nor should we. Everyone deserves some magic in their lives.

After last seeing the original quartet on the first Lollapalooza tour from the lawn of Irvine Meadows and then 3/4s Jane’s at larger arenas over the years, it was great to see them back in a club. It was their third show they have played since last October and the biggest capacity so far. I was so close I could clearly make out all four standing just a few feet away and off the ground. The two-tone suited Perry Farrell talking with the crowd; Dave Navarro trying to not smile the entire time; the head and arms of Stephen Perkins flailing away in percussive bliss; and completing the line-up, Eric Avery looking as intense as his wicked basslines.

They opened with Avery’s familiar riff on “Up The Beach,” and the crowd started screaming. Perkins offered some cymbal fill and Farrell announced “Here We Go” even though the crowd was already gone. Navarro’s guitar soared above. On this song and throughout the show, Avery’s bass led many of the songs, rather than just providing rhythm. This allows Navarro room to go off without worrying about what he leaves behind.

Article Author: El Bicho

This writer is a member of The Masked Movie Snobs, a collective that fights a never-ending battle against bad entertainment. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_MMS

Visit El Bicho's author page — El Bicho's Blog