Porno For Pyros - June 17, 1993 - Wallace Civic Center, Fitchburg, MA

Date: June 17, 1993
Location: Wallace Civic Center, Fitchburg, MA
Recorded: Audio
Status: Confirmed
Type: Concert
Lineup: Perry Farrell
Stephen Perkins
Martyn Lenoble
Peter DiStefano
Artwork:
 

Setlist:

Orgasm
A Little Sadness
Porno For Pyros
Bad Shit
Tonight
Cursed Female
Cursed Male
Pets
Dominator
Blood Rag
Packin' .25
Black Girlfriend

Show Information:

Boston Globe
May 14, 1993
Edition: THIRD
Section: ARTS AND FILM
Page: 59

WIDESPREAD PANIC? NOT TO WORRY
Author: Steve Morse, Globe Staff

...

MORE CONCERT NEWS: Pat Benatar, who's rocking again after making a blues- swing album last time, plays the Paradise June 12. Porno for Pyros at Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg June 17. General admission tickets only. Robyn Hitchcock's Berklee show next Tuesday has been moved to Nightstage. Danzig's Orpheum show next Saturday has been moved to Avalon. Bill Morrissey and Greg Brown perform a record release concert at the Middle East June 3. The Middle East also has two new reggae bookings -- th e Meditations on May 27 and Eek-A-Mouse June 4. And look for South African reggae singer Lucky Dube sometime in July.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
June 19, 1993
Edition: ALL
Section: ENTERTAINMENT
Page: A7
Column: MUSIC REVIEW

WEIRDNESS PERSONIFIED AT PORNO FOR PYROS CONCERT
Author: Scott McLennan; Entertainment Columnist

FITCHBURG - Porno for Pyros lived up to its name Thursday night at the Wallace Civic Center with an art-rock show that went for the shocking more than the rocking.

During a 50-minute set that drew entirely from the band's debut album, Porno for Pyros trotted out strippers, transvestites, go-go dancers and a clown who simulated slashing his wrists and throat with a straight-edge razor.

Porno for Pyros is a quartet of surf punks from Venice, Calif., fronted by Perry Farrell. Farrell's the reigning king of counterculture, singer for the defunct Jane's Addiction and creator of the Lollapalooza tours. Porno for Pyros is neither a crowning achievement for Farrell, nor a complete washout. It's a middling shot at being provocative and cutting edge. Musically, Porno for Pyros does not match the slash-and-burn intensity of Jane's Addiction. Theatrically, the band delivers a stage act that is unmatched in perversity, but a little skewed in its way of thinking.

About 2,800 Perryphiles came to pay homage to their quixotic antihero and take in the theater of the bizarre Thursday. It was the only show on the tour not to sell out or be played in a major city.

Farrell has turned Porno for Pyros into an essay on the decline of American society, which he seems to think is best represented by the Los Angeles riots of April 1992. Farrell doesn't abhor the riots or rotting nature of his world. He'd just as soon be the ringleader for a circus of freaks.

STRIPPED TO G-STRING

The Porno for Pyros stage show has a loose story line about two women, one a dancer the other a stripper. Farrell introduced the dancer during the opener, "Orgasm," and the two melted in a warm embrace by song's end. The other character in this tale appeared during the song "Porno for Pyros," stripping down to a G-string and tassled pasties while twirling two flaming batons.

The two women then engaged in a conversation during which the stripper lured the dancer into a career change convincing her there is no future in noble arts. This scenario played into the song couplet of "Cursed Female" and "Cursed Male." The latter was embellished by the appearance of Giant Louise, billed as the "World's Tallest Transvestite." Through it all, guitarist Peter DiStefano, bass player Martyn LeNoble, and drummer Stephen Perkins steamed through a groove-heavy, repetitive series of punky jams that were easy to ignore when the performance action heated up.

While someone was always gyrating on stage, the last bit of true decadence came as part of "Blood Rag," when slasher the clown seated himself in front of a full-length mirror and began his act.

Though Perkins, a former Jane's mate, and LeNoble made up a savage rhythm section, and DiStefano played a variety of guitars, the music was stuck in a quagmire.