Jane’s Addiction with the
Dears and Live at the Air
Canada Centre, October 5. Tickets:
$29.50-$65. Attendance: 6,000. Rating:
NNN Rating: NNN
“jubilee” ain’t just any old namefor a Jane’s Addiction tour. It’s the Judaic law of redemption and forgiveness.Perry Farrell forgives us, but can we forgive him?
One thing’s for certain: Jane’s Addiction like their fans and want to treat them right. That’s what they told the aging alt-rock crowd a few times Friday at the Air Canada Centre, and, judging by their Jubilee 2001 stage show, they weren’t kidding. Hell, Farrell brought three and a half outfits for the occasion.
Jubilee activities included nearly naked dancing girls gyrating their way through song after song. Sometimes the dancers writhed amidst the rock stars’ limbs, sometimes they ground their way to liberation on risers set up all around the floor and sometimes they whirlybirded on an S/M swing set. So in case you thought you weren’t gonna make it to the corner girly bar, you were entirely in luck.
A semi-acoustic set (including the song Jane Says) played on a second stage at the other end of the floor was a nice break from the mainstage’s crunching guitar festivities. But in the end it disappointed due to inaudible Farrell vocals. By the time the band returned to the front, he’d exhausted the limit of his vocal power and once again had to rely on the presence of the ladies.
After a while, Jane’s stuff sounds the same, save for the mixing in of Farrell’s newest songs from his newly released solo techno dance album, Song Yet To Be Sung.
The whole thing was redeemed by the Slap N’ Munch. A dancer doing her best imitation of a lost young waif, after being mime-slapped by a male dancer, was hoisted 5 feet onto scaffolding, where she received mimed cunnilingus.
Yes, indeed, forgiveness for all.
