janesaddiction.org

Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
November 19, 1990
JUST DON'T CALL HIM A ROLE MODEL WHAT PERRY FARRELL OF JANE'S ADDICTION CRAVES IS THOUGHTFUL, UNPREDICTABLE HARD ROCK, NOT STARDOM AND ITS OBLIGATIONS.
Author: Tom Moon, Inquirer Music Critic

For Perry Farrell, the steel-voiced singer-songwriter and conceptualist of the inventive hard-rock band Jane's Addiction, music is all about overcoming inhibitions - both his own and those of the audience.

"Whatever I do, I try to make it feel like it's the first time I've ever done it," he said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles, where he was preparing for a road trip that brings his quartet to the Tower Theater in Upper Darby for a sold-out show tonight.

"I imagine that nobody knows me, so I do what I like. No reservations," he said. "This is a very different philosophy from the stardom thing, where once you start getting known, you somehow have this moral and social obligation to act a certain way. With me, it's always been little Perry. Nobody's gonna cast a social obligation on me. That's why I don't pay attention to the people who want to censor things."

As a result, Farrell, 31, has been able to remain focused on his music. Which, it so happens, is a good few paces ahead of most other rock efforts this year. Jane's Addiction's third album, Ritual De Lo Habitual, the follow- up to 1988's major-label debut Nothing's Shocking, is an ambitious marriage of high-energy grunge and impeccably clean - even thoughtful - composition.

Its nine selections crackle with mystical images and unpredictable instrumental signatures. Its rhythms surge with a purposeful (some would say downright ritualistic) forward motion that's impossible to ignore. The messages of "Stop!" and "Been Caught Stealing" are funneled through concise traditional forms; other songs, most notably "Three Days," develop through sprawling multisection suites that change tempo and mood with awesome precision.

And though the psychedelic Ritual has again brought the band controversy - as with Shocking, the cover of the new work features a Farrell nude sculpture that some chain stores refused to carry - its makers resolve that they will never alter their musical message or its presentation.

"I'm going out of my way to turn your head," Farrell stated bluntly, saying he was "extremely" proud of Ritual. "I don't feel I should be persecuted because I like to give people a rise. That's the whole point of art, to create or highlight some kind of confrontation. I expect I'm going to p- some people off - that goes with the territory. But the status quo moves slower than me, and if I slowed down to write for the status quo, I would probably sink into anonymity."

As long as there's a Jane's Addiction, Farrell doesn't have to worry about anonymity. Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric A. have developed a following that is extraordinarily devoted, and much larger than this tour of theaters indicates. With virtually no radio play beyond college and alternative outlets, Ritual reached No. 25 on Billboard's top-album chart and has sold more than 500,000 copies in 11 weeks.

In addition, demand for concert tickets far outstrips supply. According to Farrell, promoters in some cities (including Philadelphia, where Electric Factory Concerts had an immediate sellout) have said they could have done two or three additional shows at theaters that seat 2,000 to 8,000 people.

"The crowds have grown double or triple since the last time," Farrell said. "The promoters were telling us to take it to an arena, but that's not where we're coming from. We want our fans to have the intimate theater experience, and we work hard to set a certain vibe that will probably not work past a certain-size venue."

Farrell won't say whether rumors that there might not be a Jane's Addiction after the year-long tour helped fuel demand. His disdain for the cutthroat music business is well-known - "the closest thing to it is World Federation wrestling," he jokes - and though he wants to continue making music, Farrell maintains he'll consider a number of creative options when the tour ends.

These could be with or without the band, he volunteered.

"It's risky for a man to change his occupation and direction in life," Farrell said, sounding as though he were still in the throes of a decision. ''But you have to stay creative and stimulated. Most people are busy but musically numb, because if you fail, you go to the bottom very fast. Rock- and-roll people are reluctant to give up a band when they finally get it rolling, because they think that's their ticket. Luckily, I haven't made a lot of money, so nobody can bribe me with a mortgage. I don't have a single key to my name. The worst you can do to me is take away my surfboard, and that's in storage."

Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
November 20, 1990
SHORT CONCERT SPARKS RIOT
Author: Leon Taylor, Daily News Staff Writer
Staff writer Scott Heimer contributed to this report.

Debris littered the streets near the Tower Theater in Upper Darby today, with 24 people facing various charges and a Philadelphia police officer injured in the wake of last night's disturbance by concert-goers.

Many of the 3,000 people attending the sellout show became unruly when the headliners, a band called Jane's Addiction, walked off the stage early, according to Upper Darby Detective Paul Schneider.

One witness said the group quit after only eight numbers - after 75 minutes instead of the expected 90 - complaining about the sound system.

Fans spilled into the streets around the theater, at 69th and Ludlow streets, and began throwing bottles and stones and blocking traffic about 10:30 p.m. Police said the crowd also tried unsuccessfully to overturn the band's bus.

More than 100 officers, including 30 from Philadelphia, and 48 vehicles from various Delaware County towns responded to help quell the disturbance, which took about an hour.

One Philadelphia officer, who was not identified, suffered a dislocated shoulder while struggling with a concert-goer on the sidewalk. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Although there were initial reports of broken windows, Upper Darby police this morning said they had no reports of damage outside or inside the theater, other than debris on the streets.

Twenty-one adults and two juveniles were given citations for disorderly conduct or public drunkenness. One man was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. His name was not available.

Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
November 20, 1990
20 ARRESTED IN POST-CONCERT MELEE
Author: Peter Landry, Inquirer Staff Writer

The place was packed and the mood was surly.

Especially after lead singer Perry Farrell began baiting the 3,000 people who jammed the Tower Theater to hear his innovative rock band, Jane's Addiction. So when the group abruptly walked off the stage last night after 75 minutes of music, things got nasty.

Irate concert-goers moved outside the Upper Darby theater about 10:30 p.m., yelling, throwing bottles, blocking traffic and refusing to move. The street filled, tensions swelled. Suddenly, the police detailed to work the concert knew they had a bad situation on their hands.

Before the fracas ended about an hour later, more than 100 police had been called in from towns as far away as Radnor and Chester. About 20 people were arrested. One officer was injured - a Philadelphia policeman who was hurt grappling with a concert-goer on the sidewalk. He was receiving emergency treatment early today at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jane's Addiction, a group that fuels innovative lyrics with hard-rock octane, has been a hot commodity on the concert tour this year - especially amid rumors that the band may break up once the tour is done. The Tower show was an immediate sellout.

Upper Darby police said concert-goers had come from as far away as New York City last night. "And they were one of those groups that draw an odd mix," added one detective.

Lead singer Farrell is not one to shy from controversy. And he was in true form last night, according to those on hand.

"He was complaining about the crowd from the stage," said one concert- goer. "He was saying things like it was made up of young, disaffected suburban kids."

When the band made its abrupt departure - about 15 minutes earlier than the usual 90 minutes it puts in on stage - the audience became hostile.

People milled around outside, shouting and blocking 69th and Ludlow Streets and refusing to move, police said. The officers detailed to the show called for assistance, and when reinforcements arrived the crowd began jostling and throwing bottles at police.

"They were angry and the police were good targets," said one Upper Darby detective. "They were throwing bottles and breaking windows."

Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
November 21, 1990
JANE'S ADDICTION A BAD TRIP FOR FANS, PROMOTERS
Author: Jonathan Takiff, Daily News Staff Writer

Concert-goers agitated over Jane's Addiction's unsatisfyingly short, and sometimes obnoxious, Tower Theater performance Monday night can take some revenge.

Electric Factory Concerts yesterday announced it would offer a partial, $5 refund from the $15.50 ticket price to attendees of the Jane's Addiction performance - with the monies presumably coming out of the group's hide. Ticket stubs should be sent with a self-addressed stamped envelope to Electric Factory Concerts, 1231 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.

Show attendees were so ticked off at the psychedelic metal posers' curtailed 51-minute performance on Monday that they blocked traffic, then rocked the group's tour bus and pelted it with bottles and stones outside the Tower at 69th and Ludlow streets. Many epithets also were chanted, including the group's name minus the last syllable.

Before the ruckus was over, the rock (and roll) wary Upper Darby police - with reinforcments called in from other suburbs and Philadelphia - had arrested 22 adults and one minor on charges of creating a disturbance. Two people needed medical treatment, one a Philadelphia officer who had grappled with an irate concertgoer.

Most of the problems Monday night seemed to be in the addled brain of Jane's Addiction's front man Perry Farrell, a controversial figure who has patterned his life in the wretched-excess vein of The Doors' late singer, Jim Morrison. Farrell, who has been threatening to leave the group because the music is no longer "spontaneous," took a fast dislike to the makeup of the Tower audience and their unwillingness to storm the stage. Actually, Tower guards prevent fans from congregating in front of the stage.

After the first song, Farrell started baiting the crowd, declaring "This is bull - - - -." He was also heard to proclaim "I don't owe you anything," and "you're all white . . . you can't dance" and "I bet you think this is loud."

As ever, the group performed their intense, sludge-like music in the near- dark, bathed mostly in fog-like smoke. It took several minutes for the audience to even realize that the band had left the stage, only 51 minutes after they first appeared, and that they had no intention of returning - despite the fact they hadn't performed their most popular songs, "Jane Says," "Stop" and their current MTV breakout track, "Been Caught Stealing." The last song can be blamed for bringing out some of those well- scrubbed suburban youth that so ticked off Farrell - as well as the group's old original hardcore and speed-metal devotees.

Not everyone in the crowd felt shortchanged. "Almost every rock band does the obligatory encores; they're written into the set list," observed veteran showgoer Tom Sheehy. "Jane's Addiction was just being honest. They decided we sucked or they sucked or both. And we can blame Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen and the Grateful Dead for conditioning people to expect marathon shows, to judge their music quantitatively instead of qualitatively. One of the best bands I've ever seen only played for 29 minutes - The Beatles. Another was Jane's Addiction. There were moments Monday when they were on fire."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
November 21, 1990
3,000 RIOT AFTER EARLY ROCK BAND EXIT
Author: PRESS NEWS SERVICES
Dateline: UPPER DARBY, PA.

-- So you say you want a revolution?

How does 3,000 angry fans sound, provoked by a rock band called Jane's Addiction and contained by 150 cops? Mix in a few flying beer bottles, add an attempt to overturn a tour bus and -- presto -- street-fighting men and women.

It happened Monday night in Upper Darby.

A capacity crowd at the Tower Theater paid at least $15.50 each to see and hear Jane's Addiction, a four-man L.A. band, play one concert in the Philadelphia area.

Unfortunately, Jane's Addiction, described by some devotees as "a thinking man's heavy metal," apparently didn't give enough of a fix to their fans: The music stopped after the band played just eight songs lasting 50 minutes.

When the group walked off the stage after hurling insults at the crowd, angry fans poured out into the Upper Darby streets about 10:30 p.m., according to police. Several began throwing beer bottles and rocking the empty tour bus belonging to the band.

Upper Darby police called for backups. More than 150 police responded, some in riot helmets, from more than 40 departments. What followed was "a near- riot situation," according to a police affidavit.

"It was a total mob scene," said concert-goer Kirk Dupuis, 27. The young fans, most of them teenagers or in their 20s, "were trying to rock and tip the bus. ... There were sirens, police were pushing the kids, and the kids were fighting back. It would have made a great scene from a Stanley Kubrick movie."

Police said they tried to disperse the fans and wound up arresting 22 people for disorderly conduct.

Monday night's problems began when Jane's Addiction lead singer Perry Farrell complained on stage that the audience was too strait-laced, according to several who attended the concert.

The lights went on, and for the next 10 minutes, fans yelled obscenities, according to several concert-goers. Then the audience spilled out the front of the Tower Theater, where they confronted the police.

Police cleared the area in about an hour.

Followers of Jane's Addiction say band members thrive on controversy and can be surly toward fans they feel are boring.