The Prodigal Sons Return
The much vaunted and influential Janes Addiction return to Glasgow tonight to aurally assault the world famous Barrowlands Ballroom and the anticipation for the long awaited return is tangible.
The giants of rock hail from the glitz of Los Angeles and all it’s trappings and the boys are renowned, or is it infamous, for their enjoyment of said trappings… can the East End of Glasgow sate their appetite?
The warm up act for tonight aren’t exactly virgins in the scene as they are riding the crest of a wave after smashing it on tour with Depeche Mode. Humanist received universal plaudits during and after the tour for their huge sound and arena filling attitude.
Utilising the talents of guest vocalists on the recorded work, Humanist are difficult to define or put into any genre box. They produce cinematic sounds all the way through to gothic vibes and dance inducing bangers!
Strangely, there is a common thread that joins them with Janes Addiction… Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode.
Janes Addiction are one of Dave’s favourite bands due, in no small part, to his drug fuelled years in Los Angeles. Mr Gahan “credits” his rock phase to bands such as Janes Addiction,,, the connection of tonight’s bands is that Dave Gahan supplied vocals for Humanist.
Dave Gahan, who resides in New York, arrived in the UK a few days prior to the Janes Addiction / Humanist shindig… he couldn’t be making a guest appearance, could he?
Anyway… Humanist strode confidently onto the hallowed stage to massive acclaim from the those lucky enough to have tickets to the sold out event and hit out with ‘Beast of the Nation’.
It’s huge and it immediately captures the crowd; Humanist hit their stride and set about warming up the crowd for the headline artist.
The short setlist is epic, the sound is as expected in the Barrowlands and, despite their serious faces, Humanist were loving it!
The penultimate song is ‘Shock Collar’; Dave Gahan guested on this one… alas, there was to be no guest appearance from lithe frontman but it did little to slow the Humanist juggernaut and after the final song, ‘English Ghosts’ they retired to tumultuous applause.
They could now relax and watch the mighty Janes Addiction knowing they had amply warmed the crowd.
The wait was almost over for the expectant fans; some had waited three decades for the return of the rock giants whilst a sizeable number weren’t old enough to have witnessed that tour and have lived off the legends imparted by their parents… it was time to judge the memories of the excited parents!
The dimming of house lights and the sound of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ signalled the next coming of the rock gods in the shape of men… Janes Addiction are risen!
Perry Farrell is resplendent in the stereotypical garb of a rock god… a huge woollen shawl and fedora type hat! Is he the godfather of rock or the grandfather of rock?
To counter the attire he has a bottle of wine in his possession and seems intent on tanning it in a wannae (Glaswegian for drinking the whole bottle in one visit)
‘Up the Beach’ followed by ‘Whores’ and lots of alcohol send the crowd into a frenzy as proud parents give their children a “told you so” look.
Perry is in a chatty mood and the Glasgow crowd lap it up; when he speaks, they listen.
He informs the crowd of important things like what he had for breakfast and tells them it’s time to remove the world leaders. He couldn’t give the crowd a definitive time line on his version of a new world order but he did say that there probably won’t be orgies in the streets!
He had eggs, beans and a pint of lager for breakfast by all accounts and why wouldn’t he?
The heat was reaching unbearable levels in the venue and this led to Dave Navarro going taps aff (Glaswegian for removing ones upper body clothing) and in an unfortunate turn of events, a number of males in the crowd followed suit… enough said on that!
The set was a tour de force as the lads absolutely battered the Barrowlands into a full submission; seldom does an evening’s entertainment get better than his. Those on their first venture into the world of Janes Addiction couldn’t fail to have been impressed and can now put some perspective on the stories of old told by their (now cool) parents.
All told tonight was a massive hit with all involved; the newness of Humanist to the greatness of Janes Addiction, everything in that small musical enclave in the East End of Glasgow was good.
As the crowd spilled out of the venue the chat was of how Janes Addiction smashed it and of how a three decade wait was worth it; there were teenagers in newly acquired JA tee shirts and smiles that would outshine a Cheshire cat.
Review and Photographs by John Brown
