Carlswerk Victoria, Cologne, Germany25th June 2024
Jane’s Addiction - “Europe 2024” - Support: Humanist
JANE’S ADDICTION has announced their first live performances in Germany in 20 years. The legendary US Alternative band, featuring original members Perry Farrell, Eric Avery, Dave Navarro, and Stephen Perkins, performed on June 6, 2024, at Große Freiheit 36 in Hamburg and on June 25, 2024, at Carlswerk Victoria in Cologne.
Humanist
The project is a rush of future Rock’n’Roll, orchestrated by multi-instrumentalist / songwriter and producer Rob Marshall. The debut album (21 February 2020 Ignition Records), showcased the vocal talents of Dave Gahan (DEPECHE MODE), Mark Lanegan (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) and Mark Gardner (RIDE) among others. Marshall wrote, played and produced all the music: as the website says “a swirling Niagara of fuzzed-out industrial melody and noise, flowing into darker, more brooding territories, the boom of drop forges in shadowy, cavernous factories pounding white-hot steel…” The second HUMANIST album ‘On The Edge Of A Lost And Lonely World’ is due to be released in July 2024. Earlier this year, HUMANIST supported DEPECHE MODE during their tour - maybe due to the connection to Dave Gahan. http://www.humanistuk.com / https://www.facebook.com/humanistofficialuk
Music & Performance
Even though I saw some shows of the latest DEPECHE MODE Tour, I missed HUMANIST as support act. The happier I was to finally have the chance to check the project of Rob Marshall out. The support slot on this evening was short, 30 minutes and just six songs. But this is enough to get a fairly good impression about what HUMANIST means live - dark, slow instrumentals and a deep baritone voice. For his live shows, Marshall hast support on stage: Jimmy Gnecco from OURS on vocals, Wendy Rae Fowler on bass and of course there was a drummer as well (sadly I could not really see who it was…). I found the music dark and gloomy, based on the perfect guitar work of Rob Marshall, reminding a bit of BAUHAUS or CULT. There are eerie and atmospheric melodies, wonderfully supported by the voice of Jimmy. Well done and the audience in Cologne liked it.
Setlist
01. Beast of the Nation
02. This Holding Pattern
03. Skull
04. Immortal
05. Shock Collar
06. English Ghosts
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.3 / 10
Jane’s Addiction
Great bands break rules, but legends write their own. JANE’S ADDICTION has rewritten the rulebook of Alternative music and culture by combining classic genre-defying songs with a cinematic live experience. Perry Farrell is one of the most visionary and enigmatic front men in music history. His vocals exude vitality, vulnerability, and vitality. Guitar god Dave Navarro conjures psychedelic and epic riffs. Stephen Perkins’ tribal stomp remains hypnotic and captivating. The band has created a sound that the world has never heard before. It is as riff-heavy as it is emotional. In his lyrics, Farrell describes the strange sides of life and tells personal stories that are just as memorable to fans as Navarro’s licks. Founded in Los Angeles in 1985, JANE’S ADDICTION is considered a significant pioneer of Alternative Rock. Throughout their career, the band has released four studio albums. The band’s first farewell tour in 1991 was the starting point for the first Lollapalooza festival and an impressive global success story. The band’s last album, ‘The Great Escape Artist’, was released in October 2011, and the last single, ‘Another Soulmate’, was out in 2013. In the fall of 2013, JANE’S ADDICTION was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. https://janesaddiction.com / https://www.facebook.com/JanesAddiction
Music & Performance
It is more than ten years ago that JANE’S ADDICTION played Germany for the last time. And you might ask if they are still relevant? At least somehow, they are. But I expected more people to show up. Might it be the hot weather, the football Euro Championship or simply that people had forgotten about the band, the Carlswerk was only filled to 2/3 I guess. But there were lots of hardcore fans following the band from their beginnings and I heard a lot of different languages. Many people from Netherlands or Belgium showed up in Cologne to see the band. Well, I said there are still relevant. Their works ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ and ‘Ritual De Lo Habitual’ are legendary and also the new album ‘Strays’ is a great work of guitar music. The band was hot to enter the stage. I just stood two metres besides them when they were preparing to enter the stage and they were already excited to play for the Cologne fans.
The show started with ‘Up the Beach’ where the band entered the stage under loud applause and Perry Farrell was waving a bottle of red wine to greet the audience (and of course he empties the wine during the show), his face partly hidden by the brim of his hat, which he later in the show took off… just like his jacket which he undressed in some kind of striptease and waved it around his head. Farrell was of course the centre of the show, but also guitar wizard Dave Navarro impressed with several solos. The especially the hardcore fans frenetically celebrated each song. For ‘Mountain Song’, Farrell invited an “old friend” onto stage: American guitarist and singer Tom Morello who became known as the guitarist of the Crossover band RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and who played in the Alternative Rock band AUDIOSLAVE. Morello later returned to the stage for the last song of the evening.
The songs, old and new, are of course real hits, a must for alternative Rock’n’Rollers so to say. Fans were excited by a very good concert and a fantastic Perry Farrell. JANE’S ADDICTION have always had an innate heaviness, but their unique selling point has been and still is the way they splice it with sleazy funk and a massive dollop of nonconformity. Every night during their tour, they change the setlist, so you could never know what to expect and were always surprised. For the final song, ‘Chip Away’, Tom Morello joins them on stage again. Three drums were placed on stage and Dave, Eric and Stephen plus Tom were pounding away on their percussion pieces whilst Perry croons his way through the tribal stomp of this last song. JANE’S ADDICTION once again demonstrated the influence that they have exerted on everything that came after them and they showed that there are still many things left to say. JANE’S ADDICTION is back and hopefully, this time they’ll stay for a while longer…
Setlist
01. Up the Beach
02. Whores
03. Pigs in Zen
04. Ain’t No Right
05. Ted, Just Admit It...
06. Mountain Song (with Tom Morello)
07. Summertime Rolls
08. Jane Says
09. Kettle Whistle
10. Then She Did...
11. Ocean Size
12. Three Days
13. Stop!
14. Been Caught Stealing
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15. Chip Away (with Tom Morello)
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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