Jane's Addiction - December 12, 1988 - Living Room, Providence, RI

Date: December 12, 1988
Location: Living Room, Providence, RI
Recorded: Audio
Status: Confirmed
Type: Concert
Lineup: Perry Farrell
Dave Navarro
Stephen Perkins
Eric Avery
Artwork:
 

Setlist:

Kettle Whistle
Obvious
Whores
1%
Idiots Rule
Stop!
Ted, Just Admit It...
Standing In The Shower... Thinking
Bobhaus
Pigs In Zen
Summertime Rolls
Ocean Size
L.A. Medley
Mountain Song
Trip Away

Show Information:

Providence Journal - Providence, R.I.
December 12, 1988
Angry music with a soft side
Author: ANDY SMITH Journal-Bulletin Pop Music Writer

It's hip, it's trendy, it's the hottest thing to come out of Southern California since surfboards. We're talking about rock band Jane's Addiction, a group that merges psychedelia with punk with heavy metal in its provocative major-label debut, Nothing's Shocking (Warner Bros.).

The album zips from the angry crunch of Ted, Just Admit It or Had a Dad to a moody look at a troubled and confused addict, Jane Says, shifting moods and styles at the drop of a chord. Combined with some enigmatic lyrics, all this has led some listeners to conclude that Jane's Addiction is both great and full of fertilizer - at the same time.

The band's show at the Living Room tonight is its second visit to Providence; Jane's Addiction was the opening act for punk godfathers the Ramones at the same club a few months ago. At the time, the band was disappointing, delivering a one-dimensional set of metallic thrash as lead singer Perry Farrell tossed his dreadlocks to the beat.

In a phone interview, Farrell explained that when you open for the Ramones, you have to go with the flow.

"A Ramones crowd is from the old school of punk - we didn't want to go against the grain of the night," he said. "You can't do the mood stuff for a Ramones crowd. If you try to slow a crowd down, it just doesn't work." This time around, with Jane's Addiction headlining the show, Farrell promised the audience would get a fuller look at the band.

At 29, Farrell is articulate and quick, spinning off opinions on just about everything. Critics, for example. Some consider Jane's Addiction as a peculiar heavy metal band; others bring up Led Zeppelin to describe the music's combination of power and gentleness.

"The people who compare us to Led Zeppelin stopped listening to music in 1972. That's when they had a life, that's what they know. To tell the truth, changing dynamics is such a natural thing, such a simple idea. A lot of bands don't play softer stuff because they can't, because they don't have a soft side to themselves. There's not a romantic bone in their bodies."

And then there is the famous album cover, which depicts a sculpture Farrell made of two naked albino women with flames shooting from their heads. More weird than erotic, the cover nevertheless got the album banned by several major retail chains.

"Warner Bros. asked if we would change it, I said no. I can't sit around and worry about what people are going to think. . . . I just thought a beautiful female albino would represent our music. I wasn't trying to offend anyone," Farrell said.

And whether planned or not, the controversy got Jane's Addiction some extra publicity.

Incidentally, Farrell said there is an actual Jane. As a matter of fact, on the album's lyric sheet there is a fuzzy picture of a man and woman with the caption "Jane marries John." But Farrell was reluctant to divulge any more information about the mysterious Jane.

* * *

Jane's Addiction plays the Living Room tonight. Tickets are $5.