Porno For Pyros - August 04, 1993 - Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX

Date: August 04, 1993
Location: Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
Recorded: No known recording
Status: Confirmed
Type: Concert
Lineup: Perry Farrell
Stephen Perkins
Martyn Lenoble
Peter DiStefano
Artwork:
 

Show Information:

There is a forged poster going around for this date. This show took place on a Wednesday, not a Thursday like the poster suggests.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
August 5, 1993
Edition: FINAL AM
Section: NEWS
Page: 21

Porno for Pyros: a little fiery, a little vulgar
Author: Malcolm Mayhew; Star-Telegram Writer

DALLAS - The sickly yet aptly named Porno for Pyros made its Dallas debut at the Bomb Factory on Wednesday night in front of a sweat-drenched audience that ate up the show faster than you could say "Lollapalooza."

The songs on Porno's self-titled debut album stem from Porno main man and former Jane's Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell's distorted view of life. Farrell's latest mindset includes prostitution, interracial sex and self-gratification while watching L.A. crumble into ashes during the riots.

Porno performed all the songs from the album, save one, Wednesday night. The foursome - Farrell, guitarist Peter DiStefano, bassist Martyn Le Noble and Jane's drummer Stephen Perkins - also incorporated the fine art of circus-styled schlock-shock-rock into their hourlong performance.

A variety of Vegas-ish reject dancers accompanied the band for each song, acting out a particular character mentioned within the music. Often interesting, but mostly controversial, the skits added a sense of participatory narcissism to the concert.

Farrell, who looked like a stubby Billy Idol, and his stagemates hardly participated in any of the stage rituals. They chose instead to breathe out downbeat punk with their darkly tuned attitudes and accompanying instruments.

As DiStefano slowly tightened the parallel sound of his wah-wah pedals and excessively used whammy bar, Farrell shrieked unsettling lyrics like "Swear I'll kill ya!" ( Packin' .25 ). Drummer Perkins and bassist Noble provided a difficult-to-follow pattern of rhythmic beats.

The best-sounding songs of the set were also the most eye-exhilarating.

The two-part, tone-shifting Cursed Female/Cursed Male started on a second stage platform with two women having a conversation about prostitution. As the song progressed, the women stripped to flashy bathing suits before the act graduated to the Male scene - a vulgarly humorous spectacle that ended with a tower-tall transvestite doing things that would make RuPaul look as innocent as Tweety Bird. ABOUT THE OTHER NIGHT

Wednesday night

Porno for Pyros

Bomb Factory, Dallas

ATTENDANCE: 2,450, said a promoter.

THE CROWD: After-'Palooza hipsters, a lot of 'em wearing fake Jane's Addiction T-shirts.

The Dallas Morning News
August 6, 1993
Edition: HOME FINAL
Section: OVERNIGHT
Page: 35A
Column: AFTER HOURS

Porno for Pyros lives up to its name Farrell's new band keeps stage show kinky Author: Teresa Gubbins; Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News

Butch haircut, dyed platinum blond. A feeling of jaded decadence. A show with an "erotic circus" theme, featuring a cast of sexy backup dancers.

A new Madonna tour, right?

No, this blond singer was "Mr. Alternative" himself, Perry Farrell, the ex-leader of Jane's Addiction. And the show at the Bomb Factory on Wednesday night was by his new psychedelic-rock band, Porno For Pyros. But the resemblance to Madonna was significant.

There was Mr. Farrell's obsession with sex, apparent from the first song, Orgasm, during which a woman clad in a belly-dancer outfit snaked around the stage. Later in the one-hour show, as an introduction to Cursed Female, two dancers acted out an erotic scene together.

"I'm a dancer from an erotic circus," said one.

"I'm a ballet dancer," said the other. "I don't think I could take off my clothes."

But of course she did, right down to her little tassels, with the help of her circus friend.

"Alternative music," as represented by Mr. Farrell - the same guy responsible for Lollapalooza, by the way - is truly dead when it features sideshows that serve as the cheesy fantasy of most Penthouse readers.

Not that any of this is new to Farrell fans. Scantily clad dancers were a regular feature at Jane's Addiction shows. Like the ambitious blonde, he draws on kinky subcultures to give his show a naughty, forbidden tone. The women's costumes included leather S&M get-ups. And during Cursed Male, the companion piece to Female, a tall guy emerged with a vinyl coat, a long blond wig and a sexual device.

This band was superior to the Jane quartet in executing Mr. Farrell's psychedelic swirls (Porno includes Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins). But it was the evening's risque moments that sent the sold-out crowd into roars, that spurred hulking, sweaty guys to trample people's toes with an anti-social swagger.

The finale, Porno For Pyros, highlighted one of the cast's carnival skills. Outfitted in a peek-a-boo leather "teddy," the woman played with two lit torches.

Semaphore! Fire-eating! Wait until Madonna catches wind of this.