Saturday, September 5, 2009
Depeche Mode - Tour of the Universe - 09.04.09 - Tampa, FL
A three hour drive that seemed like days. Driving across town from the venue just to find a Starbucks amidst the farmers markets, taco buses, creepy little rundown roadside motels and closed drive in theaters. Scoffing at the $30 "vip" parking in lieu of walking farther to the main gate during the only 15 minutes of rain at the venue all night. Seeing Depeche Mode for the 5th time. Priceless.
While Dave Gahan is still pulling off his signature spins and snake like girations and Martin Gore's outfits are as shiny as ever, for a band with a discography a mile long there was a notable absence of signature songs that people of all ages go to see legendary bands like this for. Specifically staples like People Are People and Everything Counts, though other favorites like Flys On The Windscreen and In Your Room had their moments, Dave's vocals on those powerful, brooding tracks seemed less committed than on previous tours. Perhaps due to recent surgery, or the moist open air venue, or maybe having done them ad nauseam. I Feel You was by far the best track of the night, vocally and visually. Martin stepped up the guitar and head banged like it was a metal show, and stepped back to man the keyboards while Andy Fletcher simply stood there next to the live drummer and additional keyboardist, none of which were introduced, instead Dave introduced Martin three separate times as either Mr. Martin or Mr. Gore. Yes, Dave we get it, he's awesome. And he is, his vocals were as strong as ever and carried every track, especially where Dave fell flat, and as always when he's belting out the soaring piano ballad Somebody.
All in all, despite what seemed like an epic trek through adverse weather, dozen and dozen of State Troopers ganged up on car after car they had pulled over, there really was no better way to kick off the Labor Day weekend then spending a Friday night with Depeche Mode in Tampa, FL.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Beautiful Deadly Children - The Gospel According to Goth
A Kabaret Grotesque by Bertie Weirdly
Mallard Independent Publishing
Beautiful Deadly Children appear to be a long-lived English goth outfit that never quite made a name for themselves outside of their immediate scene in Birmingham (home of Black Sabbath and Napalm Death!), and what notoriety they gained was mostly for flamboyantly unfortunate taste in costumery. I'm talking troll ears, fake claws, batwing dresses with wings, puffy shirts aplenty, and surely illegal applications of PVC and rubber. Whereas any other band would have given up in the face of such deafening indifference, Beautiful Deadly Children took quite the opposite tack. With a delusional self-belief that rivals that of Half Japanese and Andrew WK (and usually I’d approve of such world-making), BDC decided to concentrate not on honing down the music to a darkling point, but to instead pen a lengthy tome detailing their life and times. The results aren't pretty. I'd rather not do a hatchet job on this book, because the concept behind it is something I'd certainly want one of my favorite bands to do (I think the Kills were talking about doing a photography book), but this is... definitely... not... that. Here's the problem, the writing is pretty pedestrian, it feels like I'm reading an overlong Myspace profile. To make matters worse, it seems that they run out of things to write about halfway through (which is weird, because, y'know they had complete control over the book) so by the end, when they start giving (lengthy) make-up tips, the book drops out of my hand and falls to the floor. The tone is in turns overly precious and desperately clumsy. And the pictures, ehh.... you dare not look. It's just a roly-poly bunch of chancers shoehorned into a dizzying array of inappropriate, unflattering, and faintly ridiculous attire. I don’t care if you hang out at the Factory or the Castle every weekend going back a decade, you’re going to be channeling Ogre from “Revenge of the Nerds” ‘round about page 30. I think it's possible to age with dignity in the gothic scene, but these cats just ain't there baby. May I direct you to the new Horrors album instead?
- Mathew Moyer
Mallard Independent Publishing
Beautiful Deadly Children appear to be a long-lived English goth outfit that never quite made a name for themselves outside of their immediate scene in Birmingham (home of Black Sabbath and Napalm Death!), and what notoriety they gained was mostly for flamboyantly unfortunate taste in costumery. I'm talking troll ears, fake claws, batwing dresses with wings, puffy shirts aplenty, and surely illegal applications of PVC and rubber. Whereas any other band would have given up in the face of such deafening indifference, Beautiful Deadly Children took quite the opposite tack. With a delusional self-belief that rivals that of Half Japanese and Andrew WK (and usually I’d approve of such world-making), BDC decided to concentrate not on honing down the music to a darkling point, but to instead pen a lengthy tome detailing their life and times. The results aren't pretty. I'd rather not do a hatchet job on this book, because the concept behind it is something I'd certainly want one of my favorite bands to do (I think the Kills were talking about doing a photography book), but this is... definitely... not... that. Here's the problem, the writing is pretty pedestrian, it feels like I'm reading an overlong Myspace profile. To make matters worse, it seems that they run out of things to write about halfway through (which is weird, because, y'know they had complete control over the book) so by the end, when they start giving (lengthy) make-up tips, the book drops out of my hand and falls to the floor. The tone is in turns overly precious and desperately clumsy. And the pictures, ehh.... you dare not look. It's just a roly-poly bunch of chancers shoehorned into a dizzying array of inappropriate, unflattering, and faintly ridiculous attire. I don’t care if you hang out at the Factory or the Castle every weekend going back a decade, you’re going to be channeling Ogre from “Revenge of the Nerds” ‘round about page 30. I think it's possible to age with dignity in the gothic scene, but these cats just ain't there baby. May I direct you to the new Horrors album instead?
- Mathew Moyer
Monday, August 3, 2009
Von Iva
Girls on Film
Stickfigure
Fresh from a stint as Zooey Deschanel's backing band in by-the-numbers comedy "Yes Man," all-girl trio Von Iva step out on their own with "Girls on Film (*wink wink* or bad Duran Duran reference?), an album drenched in the bad drugs and worse hangover of Noughties clubland hedonism. Von Iva have stripped down their sound to a blandly modern synth/rhythm affair, redolent of bad DFA or Shiny Toy Guns. Singer Jillian Iva does that pseudo-soulful diva thing, while the instrumental backdrop is pounding four-to-the-floor beats and utterly obvious booming synths. The songs are bland and tentative, the performances feel forced. This just feels like a blatant grab for the lastnightsparty or Cobrasnake demographic. Boooooooooring. That said, stardom is most likely imminent.
- Matthew Moyer
Stickfigure
Fresh from a stint as Zooey Deschanel's backing band in by-the-numbers comedy "Yes Man," all-girl trio Von Iva step out on their own with "Girls on Film (*wink wink* or bad Duran Duran reference?), an album drenched in the bad drugs and worse hangover of Noughties clubland hedonism. Von Iva have stripped down their sound to a blandly modern synth/rhythm affair, redolent of bad DFA or Shiny Toy Guns. Singer Jillian Iva does that pseudo-soulful diva thing, while the instrumental backdrop is pounding four-to-the-floor beats and utterly obvious booming synths. The songs are bland and tentative, the performances feel forced. This just feels like a blatant grab for the lastnightsparty or Cobrasnake demographic. Boooooooooring. That said, stardom is most likely imminent.
- Matthew Moyer
Monday, July 13, 2009
Nachtmahr (PRE-SHOW)
LIVE Saturday 7/18
Edge 17 - Factory
For those craving a great industrial show, your about to get your wish. Nachtmahr, hailing from Austria, are about to hit Jacksonville with their brand of hard-hitting electro that's sure to please rivetheads around town and in the nearby area. Nachtmahr is the side project of one Thomas Rainer who is also one half of the electro/darkwave group L'Ame Immortelle (the latter being a band many electro fans should be familiar with). While L'Ame Immortelle had it's share of heavy moments, Thomas got the idea for Nachtmahr while doing a series of dj shows inspired by the material he was spinning. The music is brutal, harsh, peppered with German voiceover samples and will simply destroy any dance floor. There are some instrumentals on the cd I have (Fuer Frei!) and I assume that is the case with some of the newer releases, that I don't have. If I had to compare them to anyone I would say they share common ground with their German brethren Feindflug and possibly elements of Suicide Commando and Hocico. This is the music that so many of us love, but don't get to hear (or see live) very often without a road trip. So don't whine to anyone that there are no industrial bands coming through our area if you miss this show. You have been warned!
- Craig Harvey
Nachtmahr performs live
Saturday July 18th
at FACTORY @ EDGE 17
1187 Edgewood Ave South
Jacksonville, FL 32205
www.edge17.com
www.FactoryJax.com
Edge 17 - Factory
For those craving a great industrial show, your about to get your wish. Nachtmahr, hailing from Austria, are about to hit Jacksonville with their brand of hard-hitting electro that's sure to please rivetheads around town and in the nearby area. Nachtmahr is the side project of one Thomas Rainer who is also one half of the electro/darkwave group L'Ame Immortelle (the latter being a band many electro fans should be familiar with). While L'Ame Immortelle had it's share of heavy moments, Thomas got the idea for Nachtmahr while doing a series of dj shows inspired by the material he was spinning. The music is brutal, harsh, peppered with German voiceover samples and will simply destroy any dance floor. There are some instrumentals on the cd I have (Fuer Frei!) and I assume that is the case with some of the newer releases, that I don't have. If I had to compare them to anyone I would say they share common ground with their German brethren Feindflug and possibly elements of Suicide Commando and Hocico. This is the music that so many of us love, but don't get to hear (or see live) very often without a road trip. So don't whine to anyone that there are no industrial bands coming through our area if you miss this show. You have been warned!
- Craig Harvey
Nachtmahr performs live
Saturday July 18th
at FACTORY @ EDGE 17
1187 Edgewood Ave South
Jacksonville, FL 32205
www.edge17.com
www.FactoryJax.com
Nachtmahr (PRE-SHOW)
LIVE Saturday 7/18
Edge 17 - Factory
For those craving a great industrial show, your about to get your wish. Nachtmahr, hailing from Austria, are about to hit Jacksonville with their brand of hard-hitting electro that's sure to please rivetheads around town and in the nearby area. Nachtmahr is the side project of one Thomas Rainer who is also one half of the electro/darkwave group L'Ame Immortelle (the latter being a band many electro fans should be familiar with). While L'Ame Immortelle had it's share of heavy moments, Thomas got the idea for Nachtmahr while doing a series of dj shows inspired by the material he was spinning. The music is brutal, harsh, peppered with German voiceover samples and will simply destroy any dance floor. There are some instrumentals on the cd I have (Fuer Frei!) and I assume that is the case with some of the newer releases, that I don't have. If I had to compare them to anyone I would say they share common ground with their German brethren Feindflug and possibly elements of Suicide Commando and Hocico. This is the music that so many of us love, but don't get to hear (or see live) very often without a road trip. So don't whine to anyone that there are no industrial bands coming through our area if you miss this show. You have been warned!
- Craig Harvey
Edge 17 - Factory
For those craving a great industrial show, your about to get your wish. Nachtmahr, hailing from Austria, are about to hit Jacksonville with their brand of hard-hitting electro that's sure to please rivetheads around town and in the nearby area. Nachtmahr is the side project of one Thomas Rainer who is also one half of the electro/darkwave group L'Ame Immortelle (the latter being a band many electro fans should be familiar with). While L'Ame Immortelle had it's share of heavy moments, Thomas got the idea for Nachtmahr while doing a series of dj shows inspired by the material he was spinning. The music is brutal, harsh, peppered with German voiceover samples and will simply destroy any dance floor. There are some instrumentals on the cd I have (Fuer Frei!) and I assume that is the case with some of the newer releases, that I don't have. If I had to compare them to anyone I would say they share common ground with their German brethren Feindflug and possibly elements of Suicide Commando and Hocico. This is the music that so many of us love, but don't get to hear (or see live) very often without a road trip. So don't whine to anyone that there are no industrial bands coming through our area if you miss this show. You have been warned!
- Craig Harvey
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Katzenjammer Kabarett
Grand Guignol and Varietes
Projekt
Oh, thank god for this! I was getting so fucking bored of how so many so-called dark cabaret bands were just bleeding the whole shebang dry with bloodless artifice and facile undestanding of the very basic artform; like, “Hey I'll just use this Cabaret 101 piano vamp over and over and over and over and everyone will be shocked by my decadence.” Zzzzzzzzzz. But then comes French quartet Katzenjammer Kabarett (pretentious name that references classic late 19th century comic strip? Yeah, I'll have some of that.), paying some fealty to the cabaret aesthetic but then shaking it up like a cheap snowglobe - cramming in a dizzying array of other influences like postpunk, early British goth, Japanese music, 4AD’s dream experiments, chamber music, disco, Ze Records at its height. And, oh yeah, Siouxsie and the Banshees loom large, particularly in the singer’s lusty, singular vocals. “Grand Guignol” is an invigorating, heady mix, with remarkably assured performances, arrangements and an unerring instinct for fucking with the format.
Art-damaged gothic chamber music, you saved my damn life! What took you so fucking long?
- Matthew Moyer
Projekt
Oh, thank god for this! I was getting so fucking bored of how so many so-called dark cabaret bands were just bleeding the whole shebang dry with bloodless artifice and facile undestanding of the very basic artform; like, “Hey I'll just use this Cabaret 101 piano vamp over and over and over and over and everyone will be shocked by my decadence.” Zzzzzzzzzz. But then comes French quartet Katzenjammer Kabarett (pretentious name that references classic late 19th century comic strip? Yeah, I'll have some of that.), paying some fealty to the cabaret aesthetic but then shaking it up like a cheap snowglobe - cramming in a dizzying array of other influences like postpunk, early British goth, Japanese music, 4AD’s dream experiments, chamber music, disco, Ze Records at its height. And, oh yeah, Siouxsie and the Banshees loom large, particularly in the singer’s lusty, singular vocals. “Grand Guignol” is an invigorating, heady mix, with remarkably assured performances, arrangements and an unerring instinct for fucking with the format.
Art-damaged gothic chamber music, you saved my damn life! What took you so fucking long?
- Matthew Moyer
Blood Money
Blood Brotherhood
Killer Pimp Records
Sometimes even avant-garde classical music doesn't afford the aesthetic freedoms that the truly restless hunger for. To that end, cigar-chompin' composer and academic Ken Ueno has joined up with Tom Worster and Jon Whitney to form Blood Money, a trio that attempts a meditative inversion of the power electronics aesthetic. “Blood Brotherhood” is not a linear or normal song-based record, but it is completely shorn of the tiresome masculine histrionics that permeates much noise music. In its place, with the barest of sonic tools, are songs mostly based around less than a smattering of accidental percussion, a thin lattice of electronic hums, whines and static buzzing, and the tightly simmering vocals of Ueno, delivering through clenched teeth and muted microphone, an otherworldly hybrid of Dionysio D'Arrington, Telepathik Friend, tuvan throat singing, Diamanda Galas and speaking in tongues. Some of the earlier numbers with just the spooky tom of a single drum, mosquito-like keyboard hum and vocals that seem to be attuned to an alien language, unsure of each syllable remind me of a summoning at midnight under the haunted walls of a hundred-years old fortress. Ghost ships pass through a fog-shrouded inlet. Metal snakes shed their skin and consume diamonds. Another time, stretching every syllable to the breaking point, Ueno proclaims a coming release, as the undulating noise pulses drop out, and all that is left is the flickering murmur of a cathedral organ. “Blood Brotherhood” is a bold symbiosis with silence, a joining of irreconcilable opposites for a haunted inner peace.
As an art statement, in conception and execution, “Blood Brotherhood” often hedges close to fucking stunning. Whether you'd want to listen to it repeatedly? Well, let's just say that there are handy pop-psych exams no farther than your internet browser far more qualified to judge that than I.
- Matthew Moyer
Killer Pimp Records
Sometimes even avant-garde classical music doesn't afford the aesthetic freedoms that the truly restless hunger for. To that end, cigar-chompin' composer and academic Ken Ueno has joined up with Tom Worster and Jon Whitney to form Blood Money, a trio that attempts a meditative inversion of the power electronics aesthetic. “Blood Brotherhood” is not a linear or normal song-based record, but it is completely shorn of the tiresome masculine histrionics that permeates much noise music. In its place, with the barest of sonic tools, are songs mostly based around less than a smattering of accidental percussion, a thin lattice of electronic hums, whines and static buzzing, and the tightly simmering vocals of Ueno, delivering through clenched teeth and muted microphone, an otherworldly hybrid of Dionysio D'Arrington, Telepathik Friend, tuvan throat singing, Diamanda Galas and speaking in tongues. Some of the earlier numbers with just the spooky tom of a single drum, mosquito-like keyboard hum and vocals that seem to be attuned to an alien language, unsure of each syllable remind me of a summoning at midnight under the haunted walls of a hundred-years old fortress. Ghost ships pass through a fog-shrouded inlet. Metal snakes shed their skin and consume diamonds. Another time, stretching every syllable to the breaking point, Ueno proclaims a coming release, as the undulating noise pulses drop out, and all that is left is the flickering murmur of a cathedral organ. “Blood Brotherhood” is a bold symbiosis with silence, a joining of irreconcilable opposites for a haunted inner peace.
As an art statement, in conception and execution, “Blood Brotherhood” often hedges close to fucking stunning. Whether you'd want to listen to it repeatedly? Well, let's just say that there are handy pop-psych exams no farther than your internet browser far more qualified to judge that than I.
- Matthew Moyer
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Demon Hunter
45 Days DVD
Solid State
I have to admit, I picked this up from the office because I liked the bands logo. I had seen adds for their music and it was metal, so I figured I would give it a whirl. Then I found out they are a christian band. Well, that took off some serious points before I even listened to the music. Yes, folks I don't like christianity, so sue me. However, since I had the dvd's already I went ahead with it. The concert was just "ok". Yes, they had all the right elements (that was basically by-the- book, cookie cutter new wave of American metal sound) to be "heavy" but there was nothing that original about them. Even if they hadn't been a christian band, I would have felt the same. Again, it was just average. The tour documentary of 45 days in the life of Demon Hunter, centers around the band, touring, the fans talking about how the band's music brought them closer to god, Jesus, etc, etc..... If your a fan of these guys, this is your lucky day, but for anyone else, I say pass. There are far better and more original metal bands out there to listen to.
- Craig Harvey
Solid State
I have to admit, I picked this up from the office because I liked the bands logo. I had seen adds for their music and it was metal, so I figured I would give it a whirl. Then I found out they are a christian band. Well, that took off some serious points before I even listened to the music. Yes, folks I don't like christianity, so sue me. However, since I had the dvd's already I went ahead with it. The concert was just "ok". Yes, they had all the right elements (that was basically by-the- book, cookie cutter new wave of American metal sound) to be "heavy" but there was nothing that original about them. Even if they hadn't been a christian band, I would have felt the same. Again, it was just average. The tour documentary of 45 days in the life of Demon Hunter, centers around the band, touring, the fans talking about how the band's music brought them closer to god, Jesus, etc, etc..... If your a fan of these guys, this is your lucky day, but for anyone else, I say pass. There are far better and more original metal bands out there to listen to.
- Craig Harvey
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Standeg
Ultrahightechviolet
Artoffact Records
This album is by some of the founding members of Haujobb. Well, they wear their former influences on their sleeve that's for sure. They even do an updated version of the song "Homes and Gardens". That said, there is still some dark, futuristic, industrial/ebm to be found here. Track one, "Replikant" was my favorite. Merging some heavy guitar into this instrumental, along side the synths gave it a very eerie, majestic, almost soundtrack quality. The re-make of "Homes and Gardens" wasn't bad, but I prefer the original. Still, this is better than much of the music this genre has put out as of late.
- Craig Harvey
Artoffact Records
This album is by some of the founding members of Haujobb. Well, they wear their former influences on their sleeve that's for sure. They even do an updated version of the song "Homes and Gardens". That said, there is still some dark, futuristic, industrial/ebm to be found here. Track one, "Replikant" was my favorite. Merging some heavy guitar into this instrumental, along side the synths gave it a very eerie, majestic, almost soundtrack quality. The re-make of "Homes and Gardens" wasn't bad, but I prefer the original. Still, this is better than much of the music this genre has put out as of late.
- Craig Harvey
Delain
April Rain
Sensory Records
The cover to this album was a little misleading to my eyes. This beautiful girl, hair blown back, with her band sihouetted in the background gave the appearance of some type of dance/pop album. Wrong again. Remember folks, you can't judge the music by the cover. Delain is a symphonic metal band with female vocals. The band was founded by ex - Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt back in 2002. "April Rain" is their second album. Granted their are several bands of this ilk; Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Leave's Eyes, Midnattsol etc... Delain definitely shows they have the talent to keep up with their peers. Vocalist Charlotte Wessels has a stunning, beautiful voice and her range is impeccable. The guitars are downtuned for maximum heaviness, and the entire album is slick and well produced. There are also some male vocals by guitarist Ronald Landa who moves from clean to "growling vocals". Thankfully the growling vocals are only on one track. Not that I don't like that style, but their are two many bands of this type who go back and forth between the beautiful female and growling male vocals already. I was definitely impressed and I think you will be as well, especially if you like this type of metal.
- Craig Harvey
Sensory Records
The cover to this album was a little misleading to my eyes. This beautiful girl, hair blown back, with her band sihouetted in the background gave the appearance of some type of dance/pop album. Wrong again. Remember folks, you can't judge the music by the cover. Delain is a symphonic metal band with female vocals. The band was founded by ex - Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt back in 2002. "April Rain" is their second album. Granted their are several bands of this ilk; Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Leave's Eyes, Midnattsol etc... Delain definitely shows they have the talent to keep up with their peers. Vocalist Charlotte Wessels has a stunning, beautiful voice and her range is impeccable. The guitars are downtuned for maximum heaviness, and the entire album is slick and well produced. There are also some male vocals by guitarist Ronald Landa who moves from clean to "growling vocals". Thankfully the growling vocals are only on one track. Not that I don't like that style, but their are two many bands of this type who go back and forth between the beautiful female and growling male vocals already. I was definitely impressed and I think you will be as well, especially if you like this type of metal.
- Craig Harvey
Friday, June 19, 2009
Aidan Baker & THISQUIETARMY
A Picture of a Picture
Killer Pimp
So this is what Aidan Baker is up to when he's not creating Foucault-does-doom via the Cure's “Pornography” in Nadja with partner Leah Buckareff. With THISQUIETARMY (aka Eric Quach of Destroyalldreamers) at his side this time around, Baker creates airy, pillowy-soft, self-regenerating ambient bliss. Creating music that makes “Music For Airports” seem downright noodly, Baker and THISQUIETARMY manipulate sparse patches of watery guitar fuzz, cloudbursts of synth, and naturally occurring electronic sinewaves and pulses to create music that seems like microtonal flowers continually bursting to life, before slowly closing again. Closer listens reveal a much more lyrical bent to this music. The sound manipulators are very much in synch, each trying to out-sad the others with the most melancholy innervision, songs build, but so subtly and quietly you might not even notice it. Gigantic compositions and emotions rendered in quiet miniature. For fans of Brian Eno, Lycia, Harmonia.
- Matthew Moyer
Killer Pimp
So this is what Aidan Baker is up to when he's not creating Foucault-does-doom via the Cure's “Pornography” in Nadja with partner Leah Buckareff. With THISQUIETARMY (aka Eric Quach of Destroyalldreamers) at his side this time around, Baker creates airy, pillowy-soft, self-regenerating ambient bliss. Creating music that makes “Music For Airports” seem downright noodly, Baker and THISQUIETARMY manipulate sparse patches of watery guitar fuzz, cloudbursts of synth, and naturally occurring electronic sinewaves and pulses to create music that seems like microtonal flowers continually bursting to life, before slowly closing again. Closer listens reveal a much more lyrical bent to this music. The sound manipulators are very much in synch, each trying to out-sad the others with the most melancholy innervision, songs build, but so subtly and quietly you might not even notice it. Gigantic compositions and emotions rendered in quiet miniature. For fans of Brian Eno, Lycia, Harmonia.
- Matthew Moyer
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
Mute
Although one would be hard pressed to imagine membership in the Knife creatively restricting, some spontaneous urge obviously got its filigreed fingers around the neck of Karin Dreijer Andersson one-half of the Magick Brother/Magick Sister electro duo. And while the Knife dazzle and horrify with creeping, pounding, industrial rhythms (parts of the Knife's last album reminded me of early Skinny Puppy), tandem, off-kilter vocals, and a visual image straight out of “Eyes Wide Shut,” Fever Ray is a different type of spellbinding. Created, as she says, in a state of mostly complete solitude in a small studio over eight months during banker's hours, it's seemingly more organic and naturalist. Moss and jade leaves grow between the synthesizer keys. The music is just this close to being new age in terms of ambience and a sense of inner calm, though the sounds are tweaked and warped enough to keep it wayyyy off the radar of Enya fans. and Andersson's vocals take the center stage, still either slowed down to an androgyne crawl or a sharp, distorted incantatory tone that insinuates into your inner ear.
Instead of the implied threats and subliminal violence of Andersson’s day job, as Fever Ray she sings straight from the stream of subconsciousness, talking about dream visions, hopes, everyday banalities like "talking on the telephone to a friend about dish soap” without even one word seeming trite. Indeed it's weirdly profound and comforting. The pacing is languid. Lazy hand drums, handclaps and ticktock-machine clocks are cut through with bell-like synth tones and gleaming sound knives. The songs are carefully constructed in that way that seems so offhand and spontaneous. The overall effect of the “Fever Ray” album is dazzling, weird, choked-up beauty. Highlights include “Dry and Dusty’s” slo-mo vocal torch with sunburst synths, “Seven's” Italo disco-goes-native kitchen sink drama and evil-Kate-Bush vocals, “Triangle Walks’” evocation of classic Depeche Mode-chanson collages, “Now's the Only Time I Know’s” labyrinthine woodblock echoes, “Keep the Streets Empty for Me’s" orchestrated electronic hum and echo, like a pillow for her most straightforwardly beautiful vocals yet. "Morning keeps the streets empty," she sighs.
Enterprising musicians are going to be ripping off the tricks on this album in no time flat.
- Matthew Moyer
Mute
Although one would be hard pressed to imagine membership in the Knife creatively restricting, some spontaneous urge obviously got its filigreed fingers around the neck of Karin Dreijer Andersson one-half of the Magick Brother/Magick Sister electro duo. And while the Knife dazzle and horrify with creeping, pounding, industrial rhythms (parts of the Knife's last album reminded me of early Skinny Puppy), tandem, off-kilter vocals, and a visual image straight out of “Eyes Wide Shut,” Fever Ray is a different type of spellbinding. Created, as she says, in a state of mostly complete solitude in a small studio over eight months during banker's hours, it's seemingly more organic and naturalist. Moss and jade leaves grow between the synthesizer keys. The music is just this close to being new age in terms of ambience and a sense of inner calm, though the sounds are tweaked and warped enough to keep it wayyyy off the radar of Enya fans. and Andersson's vocals take the center stage, still either slowed down to an androgyne crawl or a sharp, distorted incantatory tone that insinuates into your inner ear.
Instead of the implied threats and subliminal violence of Andersson’s day job, as Fever Ray she sings straight from the stream of subconsciousness, talking about dream visions, hopes, everyday banalities like "talking on the telephone to a friend about dish soap” without even one word seeming trite. Indeed it's weirdly profound and comforting. The pacing is languid. Lazy hand drums, handclaps and ticktock-machine clocks are cut through with bell-like synth tones and gleaming sound knives. The songs are carefully constructed in that way that seems so offhand and spontaneous. The overall effect of the “Fever Ray” album is dazzling, weird, choked-up beauty. Highlights include “Dry and Dusty’s” slo-mo vocal torch with sunburst synths, “Seven's” Italo disco-goes-native kitchen sink drama and evil-Kate-Bush vocals, “Triangle Walks’” evocation of classic Depeche Mode-chanson collages, “Now's the Only Time I Know’s” labyrinthine woodblock echoes, “Keep the Streets Empty for Me’s" orchestrated electronic hum and echo, like a pillow for her most straightforwardly beautiful vocals yet. "Morning keeps the streets empty," she sighs.
Enterprising musicians are going to be ripping off the tricks on this album in no time flat.
- Matthew Moyer
Monday, June 15, 2009
Heather Wikstrom
Self Titled
This Jacksonville resident (who originally moved here from Las Vegas a few years back) gave me a copy of her debut cd to review and I can tell you after just one listen; why this lovely young woman does not have a recording contract is a mystery to me. This girl can sing. Not only sing, but write good songs as well. Her voice has quite a wide range and she covers a lot of musical ground on her album. While I would have to classify it as a "pop" album, I can hear her summoning a little of Melissa Etheridge, Madonna, Amy Lee and a host of others in her vocal style. Most of her songs are about relationships (some based on personal experience and some fictional) and the music was all done by the producer, which mixes guitar, bass, drums, piano and some electronics. Truthfully, I can see Heather right at home doing pop material, fronting a blues/rock band, soft jazzy numbers or even singing for a house/techo dj's album. She has got the ability to do it all. I hope this talented lady gets noticed in the near future and if you see an add for her playing out, do yourself a favor and go see her perform.
- Craig Harvey
To purchase her music go to:
http://www.myspace.com/heatherwikstrom
or Heather_Wikstrom@hotmail.com
This Jacksonville resident (who originally moved here from Las Vegas a few years back) gave me a copy of her debut cd to review and I can tell you after just one listen; why this lovely young woman does not have a recording contract is a mystery to me. This girl can sing. Not only sing, but write good songs as well. Her voice has quite a wide range and she covers a lot of musical ground on her album. While I would have to classify it as a "pop" album, I can hear her summoning a little of Melissa Etheridge, Madonna, Amy Lee and a host of others in her vocal style. Most of her songs are about relationships (some based on personal experience and some fictional) and the music was all done by the producer, which mixes guitar, bass, drums, piano and some electronics. Truthfully, I can see Heather right at home doing pop material, fronting a blues/rock band, soft jazzy numbers or even singing for a house/techo dj's album. She has got the ability to do it all. I hope this talented lady gets noticed in the near future and if you see an add for her playing out, do yourself a favor and go see her perform.
- Craig Harvey
To purchase her music go to:
http://www.myspace.com/heatherwikstrom
or Heather_Wikstrom@hotmail.com
Chimaira
The Infection
Nuclear Blast
Chimaira are one of those bands, who for some reason (even after putting out 5 previous albums) I just haven't paid much attention to. However, when their sixth album "The Infection" showed up at the office, I decided it was time to give them a listen and see how they ranked in the metal world. The new album is well produced with solid, down-tuned riffs, a powerful rhythm section, and the yelling/growling style of vocals (which has become rather overdone in my opinion). That said, fans of the metalcore/NWOAHM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal) style of music will undoubtedly enjoy this release. I however, found it to be just average with not much new to offer my auditory senses. The songs are too similar from track to track and the vocals have the same problem. The best song on the entire album is the last, entitled "The Heart Of It All". Clocking in at just under 15 minutes, this instrumental piece shows a side to the band that would be nice to hear more of in their music. Lot's of texture, movement between clean and distorted tones, and without the vocals I was able to really hear the musicianship come through. This is not a bad cd to be sure, but unfortunately to my ears, it's not making me want to go out and purchase their older material either.
- Craig Harvey
Nuclear Blast
Chimaira are one of those bands, who for some reason (even after putting out 5 previous albums) I just haven't paid much attention to. However, when their sixth album "The Infection" showed up at the office, I decided it was time to give them a listen and see how they ranked in the metal world. The new album is well produced with solid, down-tuned riffs, a powerful rhythm section, and the yelling/growling style of vocals (which has become rather overdone in my opinion). That said, fans of the metalcore/NWOAHM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal) style of music will undoubtedly enjoy this release. I however, found it to be just average with not much new to offer my auditory senses. The songs are too similar from track to track and the vocals have the same problem. The best song on the entire album is the last, entitled "The Heart Of It All". Clocking in at just under 15 minutes, this instrumental piece shows a side to the band that would be nice to hear more of in their music. Lot's of texture, movement between clean and distorted tones, and without the vocals I was able to really hear the musicianship come through. This is not a bad cd to be sure, but unfortunately to my ears, it's not making me want to go out and purchase their older material either.
- Craig Harvey
Sunday, May 31, 2009
NINJA TOUR
Lakewood Amphitheater
Atlanta, GA
May 10, 2009
Story and photos by
Tommy Salmon
Movement Senior Correspondent
The NINJA tour is an amazing showcase for some of the sounds and ideas born in underground culture over 20 years ago. The fact that it goes over so well today stands as proof positive that these "cult" bands of yesteryear indeed altered popular culture for the better. However (and this isn't a bad thing), despite their trailblazing work, the structure of the evening wound up following that of a traditional three-act play, complete with a rise, fall, and resolution. More specifically, the Street Sweeper Social Club got the party started, Nine Inch Nails delivered a devastating set steeped in a sense of finality, and finally -perhaps even miraculously- Jane's Addiction rose Phoenix-like from the ashes to restore the sense of adventure and hope that got this whole thing started in the first place.
With matching pseudo-military jackets and power-fighting anthems like “Fight! Smash! Win!,” Street Sweeper Social Club came off as an incendiary cross between the International Noise Conspiracy and Public Enemy. The band is centered around guitarist Tom “The Nightwatchman” Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and Boots Riley, rapper from the Coup and founder of the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective. Fans of Rage and/or the Coup definitely caught glimmers of each band’s appeal courtesy of Morello’s innovative guitar work and Riley’s politically-fused vocals. To be fair, Morello is far more than just an exquisite noisemaker, and with a guitar bearing the slogan “Arm the Homeless,” he too took to the microphone in between songs to encourage the audience to be a part of their 3 Point Plan, which is to “Feed the poor, Fight the power, and ROCK THE FUCK OUT!” He also offered up some texting info for the audience to become more involved with their food drive. While the vast majority of the audience was there to see either Nine Inch Nails or Jane’s Addiction, SSSC wound up being the bona-fide surprise of the evening. Their debut album won’t be out for a few more months, but they held their own against the big boys. If anything, since this was widely regarded as NIN’s final tour and Jane’s Addiction’s show is based on their reunion, Street Sweeper Social Club was the only band on the bill with any plans for the immediate future. Their set was a quick thirty minutes, but folks were impressed and got the feeling they would be hearing more from them in the future.
Calling it the NINJA tour is a pretty awesome incorporation of the two other bands’ names, but the NIN portion of the show was also known amongst fans as the “Wave Goodbye” tour. Hell, if it’s on a $35 shirt on sale in the foodstuffs area, it’s a pretty official title. While it would be unreasonable to assume we won’t be hearing from Trent Reznor again -it’s obvious the guy loves to create- he seems completely comfortable with ending an era of doing business as usual. The record-release-promote cycle is assuredly a thing of the past for him, and with NIN’s set, Reznor celebrates the fact that he isn’t out there to promote a specific product. Far from the standard “hits-and-the-new-stuff” collection most bands are obliged to perform, Reznor made a point of mentioning (and proving) that this tour was about the band doing whatever they felt like. The result was a collection of crowd-pleasers, die-hard fan-pleasers, rarities and personal band favorites, even going as far as to bring out Saul Williams for a performance of the song “Banged and Blown Through” off of his Reznor-produced album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust! . Far from a victory lap, NIN is spending this tour providing an overview of a complex career.
As for the performance itself, Reznor and crew are going out at the top of their game. The light show and stage setup has been toned down a little, the reasoning is that they can’t get locked in to anything elaborate with a setlist they intend on changing every night of the tour. As for what they are working with, it’s still leaps and bounds ahead of most bands, and warnings of “intense lighting” were posted at each entrance. Even when they’re holding back a little, Nine Inch Nails are still legally obliged to offer a warning. The changing setlist was also cause for a lax attitude on cameras and recording gear, with the understanding that fans would be able catch a taste of what happens elsewhere on the tour beyond the particular show they were able to attend. Again, this too came with a warning, (posted by Reznor on the band’s website) - bring what you want, but do so with the understanding that it *may* get broken. Sure enough, the crowd was filled with budding guerrilla documentarians with iPhones and digicams, but halfway through the show the majority of them were far more interested in actually experiencing the show than capturing it. The novelty of taking photos of a band kicking ass was simply no match for the actual ass-kicking at hand.
Based on his appearance, demeanor and a brief bit of banter toward the end of his set, Reznor seems to have literally exorcised AND exercised away his demons. The guy is in astounding shape physically, and his band’s sound reflects this muscularity and discipline. As such, Reznor finds himself at the end of a long-fought road, free from any label restrictions, healthy, engaged, and well….very content. There was a point while singing “Something I Can Never Have,” where he looked out at the sea of fans singing along and he just couldn’t help but smile. There‘s no doubt the song has quite a bit of personal pain invested in it, but by this point it‘s also regarded as an early career highlight, and no matter how much he gave of himself, he was getting it back tenfold from a crowd that adored him. He seems to have come full circle, and he’s either come to peace with, or conquered, many of the issues that fueled Nine Inch Nails.
When he took a moment to address the crowd with talk of “going away for a while, maybe forever” he had to be aware of it’s resemblance to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust announcement of his “last show ever.” However, when the crowd responded with the prerequisite “NOOOOOOO!!!” Reznor actually shrugged off the drama of it, like it really wasn’t that big of a deal, he’s just beyond playing the corporate game. He told folks interested in making music that nowadays “you don’t have to do it like this” and just before he aired what was poised to be an anti-label laundry list, he cut himself short mid-sentence, smiled, and shook his head in a manner that suggested there was really no point in complaining about something from which he is now happily removed. Sure, he ended the show with a blistering rendition of “Head Like a Hole” thereby following the showbiz notion of “giving the people what they want,” but ultimately, Trent Reznor has found himself at a well-deserved point in his career where his is free to do absolutely whatever he wants.
NIN setlist: 1,000,000/Wish/Heresy/March Of The Pigs/Something I Can Never Have/Metal/The Becoming/Head Down/Mr. Self Destruct/Reptile/The Big Come Down/Gave Up/Gone, Still/Survivalism (w/ Saul Williams)/Banged And Blown Through (w/ Saul Williams)/Home/Physical (You're So)/Down In It/The Hand That Feeds/Head Like A Hole
About 20 minutes after NIN was finished, the collective age of Lakewood seemed to have gone up about 10 years. A few folks who voiced displeasure online over NIN’s choice to go on before Jane’s Addiction actually did follow up on their threats of leaving prior to Jane’s set. Not exactly the mass exodus threatened in some heated exchanges in the NIN.com forum, but the crowd did thin out slightly. To be fair, some of this may also be a matter of the overall mood of the place being altered after NIN delivered over 90 minutes of a set guaranteed to exhaust anyone’s sense of aggression. Spent of tension, the mood became one of excitement for the appearance of Jane’s Addiction with their original lineup.
A curtain was lowered in front of the stage about 10 minutes prior to Jane’s set, and this too seemed to heighten the sense of mystery and suspense. After 17 years of sporadic (and incomplete) sightings, the band that brought underground art rock from the back streets of Los Angeles into the homes of suburbia via the now-classic albums Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual was about to take the stage and work their culture-shifting magic.
Jane’s show began with a film clip from the 1997 movie The River’s Wild projected onto the curtain. In the scene, a young boy chats with a man wearing a Lollapolooza cap. The scene humorously acknowledges the band’s impact (the man in the cap is Kevin Bacon- Jane’s Addiction is ONE DEGREE from Kevin Bacon!) as the man recalls the band as “great,” and the boy, perhaps speaking for a generation, intones a desire about to become a reality:
"Boy, I wish I got to see Jane's Addiction before they broke up.”
The comment brings down the house, and Perry Farrell’s spoken word intro from the band’s epic “Three Days” fills the arena. The bassline… that bassline played by the bass player begins, and there they are- Jane’s Addiction.
A little more than 25 years have passed since JA first performed, but their sound has remained intact. Some wear and tear on Farrell’s voice now places the songs in a lower key, but otherwise, their playing ability has not diminished. More importantly, their ability to play together hasn’t suffered at all. It seems like absence has indeed made the heart grow fonder, and throughout the show there were moments of interplay between the members that bordered on gleeful. The manic physicality and banshee-wails that drove performances in the early nineties have been replaced with a more relaxed tone and groove, but this works for the band for several reasons. Competing with Nine Inch Nails’ precision and force would be a losing proposition at this point, so the band wisely sidesteps that confrontation with a looser, more organic approach. Compared to their early days, it’s the difference between cocky and cocksure, and the band’s performance is created with the audience, not simply aimed at them. Farrell’s playful banter incorporated local spots around Atlanta, various bits of Georgian lore, the full moon, and the evening’s warm weather. While the songs themselves have become standards over the years, it all came together to create the feeling of a one-of-a-kind celebration of this specific evening. NIN blew people away, no doubt about it, but Jane’s Addiction, and in particular Perry’s role as a frontman, put on a show that brought the crowd together with a sense of community that goes back over a dozen years.
They ended their show with “Jane Says,” a song about a roommate that Perry and Eric had back in the 80’s. With two acoustic guitars, a small percussion set including steel drums, and the only prerecorded music of their set- a minimal drum loop, the band led several thousand people through a sing-along on a tune originally preformed in their living room. It’s been years since Jane has indeed kicked her habit, but Jane’s Addiction still has that spark that can make listening to music a special experience.
Jane's Addiction setlist: Three Days/Whores/Ain't No Right/Pigs In Zen/Then She Did.../Mountain Song/Been Caught Stealing/Ted, Just Admit It.../Had A Dad/Ocean Size/Summertime Rolls/Stop!/Jane Says
Atlanta, GA
May 10, 2009
Story and photos by
Tommy Salmon
Movement Senior Correspondent
The NINJA tour is an amazing showcase for some of the sounds and ideas born in underground culture over 20 years ago. The fact that it goes over so well today stands as proof positive that these "cult" bands of yesteryear indeed altered popular culture for the better. However (and this isn't a bad thing), despite their trailblazing work, the structure of the evening wound up following that of a traditional three-act play, complete with a rise, fall, and resolution. More specifically, the Street Sweeper Social Club got the party started, Nine Inch Nails delivered a devastating set steeped in a sense of finality, and finally -perhaps even miraculously- Jane's Addiction rose Phoenix-like from the ashes to restore the sense of adventure and hope that got this whole thing started in the first place.
With matching pseudo-military jackets and power-fighting anthems like “Fight! Smash! Win!,” Street Sweeper Social Club came off as an incendiary cross between the International Noise Conspiracy and Public Enemy. The band is centered around guitarist Tom “The Nightwatchman” Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and Boots Riley, rapper from the Coup and founder of the Mau Mau Rhythm Collective. Fans of Rage and/or the Coup definitely caught glimmers of each band’s appeal courtesy of Morello’s innovative guitar work and Riley’s politically-fused vocals. To be fair, Morello is far more than just an exquisite noisemaker, and with a guitar bearing the slogan “Arm the Homeless,” he too took to the microphone in between songs to encourage the audience to be a part of their 3 Point Plan, which is to “Feed the poor, Fight the power, and ROCK THE FUCK OUT!” He also offered up some texting info for the audience to become more involved with their food drive. While the vast majority of the audience was there to see either Nine Inch Nails or Jane’s Addiction, SSSC wound up being the bona-fide surprise of the evening. Their debut album won’t be out for a few more months, but they held their own against the big boys. If anything, since this was widely regarded as NIN’s final tour and Jane’s Addiction’s show is based on their reunion, Street Sweeper Social Club was the only band on the bill with any plans for the immediate future. Their set was a quick thirty minutes, but folks were impressed and got the feeling they would be hearing more from them in the future.
Calling it the NINJA tour is a pretty awesome incorporation of the two other bands’ names, but the NIN portion of the show was also known amongst fans as the “Wave Goodbye” tour. Hell, if it’s on a $35 shirt on sale in the foodstuffs area, it’s a pretty official title. While it would be unreasonable to assume we won’t be hearing from Trent Reznor again -it’s obvious the guy loves to create- he seems completely comfortable with ending an era of doing business as usual. The record-release-promote cycle is assuredly a thing of the past for him, and with NIN’s set, Reznor celebrates the fact that he isn’t out there to promote a specific product. Far from the standard “hits-and-the-new-stuff” collection most bands are obliged to perform, Reznor made a point of mentioning (and proving) that this tour was about the band doing whatever they felt like. The result was a collection of crowd-pleasers, die-hard fan-pleasers, rarities and personal band favorites, even going as far as to bring out Saul Williams for a performance of the song “Banged and Blown Through” off of his Reznor-produced album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust! . Far from a victory lap, NIN is spending this tour providing an overview of a complex career.
As for the performance itself, Reznor and crew are going out at the top of their game. The light show and stage setup has been toned down a little, the reasoning is that they can’t get locked in to anything elaborate with a setlist they intend on changing every night of the tour. As for what they are working with, it’s still leaps and bounds ahead of most bands, and warnings of “intense lighting” were posted at each entrance. Even when they’re holding back a little, Nine Inch Nails are still legally obliged to offer a warning. The changing setlist was also cause for a lax attitude on cameras and recording gear, with the understanding that fans would be able catch a taste of what happens elsewhere on the tour beyond the particular show they were able to attend. Again, this too came with a warning, (posted by Reznor on the band’s website) - bring what you want, but do so with the understanding that it *may* get broken. Sure enough, the crowd was filled with budding guerrilla documentarians with iPhones and digicams, but halfway through the show the majority of them were far more interested in actually experiencing the show than capturing it. The novelty of taking photos of a band kicking ass was simply no match for the actual ass-kicking at hand.
Based on his appearance, demeanor and a brief bit of banter toward the end of his set, Reznor seems to have literally exorcised AND exercised away his demons. The guy is in astounding shape physically, and his band’s sound reflects this muscularity and discipline. As such, Reznor finds himself at the end of a long-fought road, free from any label restrictions, healthy, engaged, and well….very content. There was a point while singing “Something I Can Never Have,” where he looked out at the sea of fans singing along and he just couldn’t help but smile. There‘s no doubt the song has quite a bit of personal pain invested in it, but by this point it‘s also regarded as an early career highlight, and no matter how much he gave of himself, he was getting it back tenfold from a crowd that adored him. He seems to have come full circle, and he’s either come to peace with, or conquered, many of the issues that fueled Nine Inch Nails.
When he took a moment to address the crowd with talk of “going away for a while, maybe forever” he had to be aware of it’s resemblance to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust announcement of his “last show ever.” However, when the crowd responded with the prerequisite “NOOOOOOO!!!” Reznor actually shrugged off the drama of it, like it really wasn’t that big of a deal, he’s just beyond playing the corporate game. He told folks interested in making music that nowadays “you don’t have to do it like this” and just before he aired what was poised to be an anti-label laundry list, he cut himself short mid-sentence, smiled, and shook his head in a manner that suggested there was really no point in complaining about something from which he is now happily removed. Sure, he ended the show with a blistering rendition of “Head Like a Hole” thereby following the showbiz notion of “giving the people what they want,” but ultimately, Trent Reznor has found himself at a well-deserved point in his career where his is free to do absolutely whatever he wants.
NIN setlist: 1,000,000/Wish/Heresy/March Of The Pigs/Something I Can Never Have/Metal/The Becoming/Head Down/Mr. Self Destruct/Reptile/The Big Come Down/Gave Up/Gone, Still/Survivalism (w/ Saul Williams)/Banged And Blown Through (w/ Saul Williams)/Home/Physical (You're So)/Down In It/The Hand That Feeds/Head Like A Hole
About 20 minutes after NIN was finished, the collective age of Lakewood seemed to have gone up about 10 years. A few folks who voiced displeasure online over NIN’s choice to go on before Jane’s Addiction actually did follow up on their threats of leaving prior to Jane’s set. Not exactly the mass exodus threatened in some heated exchanges in the NIN.com forum, but the crowd did thin out slightly. To be fair, some of this may also be a matter of the overall mood of the place being altered after NIN delivered over 90 minutes of a set guaranteed to exhaust anyone’s sense of aggression. Spent of tension, the mood became one of excitement for the appearance of Jane’s Addiction with their original lineup.
A curtain was lowered in front of the stage about 10 minutes prior to Jane’s set, and this too seemed to heighten the sense of mystery and suspense. After 17 years of sporadic (and incomplete) sightings, the band that brought underground art rock from the back streets of Los Angeles into the homes of suburbia via the now-classic albums Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual was about to take the stage and work their culture-shifting magic.
Jane’s show began with a film clip from the 1997 movie The River’s Wild projected onto the curtain. In the scene, a young boy chats with a man wearing a Lollapolooza cap. The scene humorously acknowledges the band’s impact (the man in the cap is Kevin Bacon- Jane’s Addiction is ONE DEGREE from Kevin Bacon!) as the man recalls the band as “great,” and the boy, perhaps speaking for a generation, intones a desire about to become a reality:
"Boy, I wish I got to see Jane's Addiction before they broke up.”
The comment brings down the house, and Perry Farrell’s spoken word intro from the band’s epic “Three Days” fills the arena. The bassline… that bassline played by the bass player begins, and there they are- Jane’s Addiction.
A little more than 25 years have passed since JA first performed, but their sound has remained intact. Some wear and tear on Farrell’s voice now places the songs in a lower key, but otherwise, their playing ability has not diminished. More importantly, their ability to play together hasn’t suffered at all. It seems like absence has indeed made the heart grow fonder, and throughout the show there were moments of interplay between the members that bordered on gleeful. The manic physicality and banshee-wails that drove performances in the early nineties have been replaced with a more relaxed tone and groove, but this works for the band for several reasons. Competing with Nine Inch Nails’ precision and force would be a losing proposition at this point, so the band wisely sidesteps that confrontation with a looser, more organic approach. Compared to their early days, it’s the difference between cocky and cocksure, and the band’s performance is created with the audience, not simply aimed at them. Farrell’s playful banter incorporated local spots around Atlanta, various bits of Georgian lore, the full moon, and the evening’s warm weather. While the songs themselves have become standards over the years, it all came together to create the feeling of a one-of-a-kind celebration of this specific evening. NIN blew people away, no doubt about it, but Jane’s Addiction, and in particular Perry’s role as a frontman, put on a show that brought the crowd together with a sense of community that goes back over a dozen years.
They ended their show with “Jane Says,” a song about a roommate that Perry and Eric had back in the 80’s. With two acoustic guitars, a small percussion set including steel drums, and the only prerecorded music of their set- a minimal drum loop, the band led several thousand people through a sing-along on a tune originally preformed in their living room. It’s been years since Jane has indeed kicked her habit, but Jane’s Addiction still has that spark that can make listening to music a special experience.
Jane's Addiction setlist: Three Days/Whores/Ain't No Right/Pigs In Zen/Then She Did.../Mountain Song/Been Caught Stealing/Ted, Just Admit It.../Had A Dad/Ocean Size/Summertime Rolls/Stop!/Jane Says
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