Porno For Pyros - June 11, 1993 - Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL

Date: June 11, 1993
Location: Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL
Recorded: Audio
Status: Confirmed
Type: Concert
Lineup: Perry Farrell
Stephen Perkins
Martyn Lenoble
Peter DiStefano
Artwork:
 

Setlist:

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

Show Information:

The Flaming Lips opened.

Chicago Sun-Times
May 7, 1993
Edition: LATE SPORTS FINAL
Section: WEEKEND PLUS
Page: 6
Column: TICKET LINE

Tina, Barry Lead Poplar Creek Lineup
Author: Lynn Voedisch

...

RIVIERA THEATRE, 4746 N. Broadway: Porno for Pyros with Flaming Lips, 7 p.m. June 11 and 12. Tickets, $18.50, on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Ticketmaster, (312) 559-1212.

Chicago Sun-Times
June 14, 1993
Edition: LATE SPORTS FINAL
Section: SECTION 2
FEATURES
Page: 23
Column: WEEKEND REVIEW

ROCK: Porno for Pyros Provocative in Name Only
Author: Jim DeRogatis

Porno for Pyros played the Riviera Theatre Friday on the first of a sold-out two-night stand, and, during a concise 70-minute set:

A ballerina did a striptease. A "hermaphrodite" paraded across the stage on stilts. Dancers mimed a lesbian love scene. And two women spun in circles while hanging by their ankles 12 feet above the stage.

A semi-nude woman spit fire. A chorus line cha-chaed in costumes rejected by "Godspell." And a demented clown gushed fake blood while slicing his face and arms with a linoleum knife.

Oh, and in between, former Jane's Addiction singer Perry Farrell led his new band through an unremarkable rendition of its self-titled debut album.

Since starting Lollapalooza as a "renaissance fair for delinquents," Farrell is trying to encore as the ringmaster of a traveling road show of mass-market decadence. The problem with Porno for Pyros is that the music is almost an afterthought.

The show isn't unenjoyable, but with three rings, chances are there's something you'll dig at any circus.

Musically, openers the Flaming Lips are more genuinely creative and downright weird than Porno for Pyros will ever be. The Norman, Okla., quartet is preparing to release its second Warner Bros. album, "Transmissions From the Satellite Heart," a tour of the bizarre soundscapes on the other side of the fun house mirror.

Guitarist/vocalist Wayne Coyne led the psychedelic combo through an eight-song set that mixed catchy rockers such as "Be My Head" and "She Don't Use Jelly" with extended instrumentals that built from quiet Pink Floyd navel-gazing to thunderous noise-guitar assaults.

When Porno for Pyros appeared under an elaborate big-top stage set, it was both quieter and less adventurous than the Flaming Lips, with the exception of former Jane's drummer Stephen Perkins. Perkins is one of rock's most unique percussionists, propelling the band with a rollicking, complex beat distinguished by nonstop polyrhythms on topkit and percussion.

Porno for Pyros does one thing well: an updated take on the slow, sinister groove behind the Velvet Underground's "Some Kinda Love." It surfaced twice, during "Black Girlfriend" and the single "Pets," the highlights of both the album and the Riviera show.

During the rest of the 14-song set, the band just didn't deliver the hooks like Jane's Addiction. And without the tunes to match the pretensions, Porno for Pyros is just another novelty act.