Jane's Addiction and Nine Inch Nails

A handful of observations about last night's NIN/JA show...

First off, Trent Reznor now bears an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Springsteen. Seriously, he's got short hair and long sideburns, he's sobered up, healthy looking, and even a little buff, and last night he was wearing good 'ol American blue jeans and a button-down black shirt that was quickly drenched in sweat. I'm not a big NIN fan, but they sounded good, especially on the thrashing "March of the Pigs," my favorite song of theirs. I kept waiting for them to play "Closer" so I could watch all the drunken frat boys pumping their fists while collectively singing "I wanna fuck you like an animal," but alas it didn't happen, to their credit I think. They finished their set with "Head Like a Hole." Eventually I just sat down on the lawn and watched them on the big screen, so it was sort of like listening to a Nine Inch Nails album while watching Springsteen at the Super Bowl. Honestly, the thing I will remember most is the beautiful full moon that arose at dusk between the palm trees in a brilliant orange color illuminated by the setting sun. Oh yeah and then this drunk girl fell over my friend Katy and then tried to make out with her as she was trying to console her.

Jane's Addiction, on the other hand, proved themselves to be the Rock Gods they have always been. Perry Farrell pranced around the stage with a set of maracas and some sort of feather boa like the old Jewish drag queen he's become. Let's just say he looked perfectly at home in West Palm Beach. And as cheesy as he is, Dave Navarro is still one motherfucker of a guitar player. Their show began with a black-and-white film showing some topless ladies engaged in a burlesque dance and then segued into the rolling bass line of "Three Days." I'm so glad that Flea is gone and Eric Avery is back in the band because those simple, rumbling bass lines are one of the things I love most about Jane's. "Three Days" has got to be one of the best epic rock songs ever written, and Navarro absolutely shredded on what I think is his most beautiful heroin-drenched guitar solo. Unfortunately their stage set was missing that opium den/Voodoo/Catholic idolatry of candles and red velvet that Perry's girlfriend Casey Niccoli used to design. But unlike NIN, Jane's lived up to their stadium rock billing because Perry and Dave are old-fashioned rock stars who somehow manage to fulfill their enormous egos, especially Perry, who always had a devious shit-eating grin on his face while peridoically drinking straight out of a huge bottle. Other highlights included a gorgeous version of "Then She Did...," which caused me to be close my eyes and get so blissed out that my friend Erin started watching me and laughing, at which point I shoved her and told her to fuck off (sorry Erin, but you had it coming bee-yatch!) There were some other songs that I didn't recognize because they must have been from that crappy album they made after reuniting, but there were rocking versions of "Been Caught Stealing" and "Ted, Just Admit It," with the latter including a cool film collage of sex, violence, violent sexuality, etc.