Don’t get me wrong, seeing the likes of Pearl Jam (first mosh pit ever for me), Ministry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Soundgarden was divine.  My buds and I simply ran out of gas before JA hit the stage, wilting in the Texas heat.

27 years they’ve been around and this night at the Bayou Music Center (formerly Verizon) I got my chance to see the band with Farrell, joined by Stephen Perkins on drums, bassist Chris Chaney, and bad ass Dave Navarro on guitar! It was worth the wait. This gig swirled me back into recall of the blessed performers that I’ve seen since the 70’s that brought not only killer guitar blazers, but a theatrical influence to the whole experience.

Catching the duo of David Bowie and Mick Ronson in the Spiders From Mars was epic and the king of the macabre, Alice Cooper, was my idol. Tonight I felt that ‘duo thing’ with Navarro letting Farrell do his thing and the video monitors and “actors” pouring their sexy based theater spiel all night. Guy can play and pulls no punches. Plus, if he’s after the “I’m demonic” look, he’s accomplishing that for sure! Rarely do you see two performers go shirtless and pull it off quite nicely like these two did.

The band wasted no time promoting the current disc “The Great Escape Artist” with the cut ‘Underground’. They rolled into late 80’s gem ‘Mountain Song’ next and JA pretty much ran the gamut of their history in the 95 minute set. The shock value and rock mixed so well that you felt if you looked away you’d miss something! I really enjoyed when mid-show they changed the set to a living room set up and delivered 2 killer tunes of note, ‘Classic Girl’ and a stirring robust version of ‘Jane Says’ with the crowd bellowing the words along with Farrell. This juncture showed the band to be extremely tight with PF’s spot on vocals and Navarro’s shredding best.

Throughout the gig Farrell addressed the crowd very little, but swayed back and forth across the stage chugging’ on a wine bottle and slapping’ hands with the fans. Plus, to say this guy has a kink side to him is putting it mildly.  After all when JA broke up, he spawned a band with the name ‘Porno For Pyros’! Embracing women with balls tied to their mouths and singing with one on her knees in a suggestive manner is apparently just run of the mill for his gigs. Wild sheet for sure, but the audience drank it all in and then some.

Overall, the spooky sex drenched mood, rockin’ melody, and bizarre atmospherics captivated this reviewer and left me satisfied that I had finally seen the end to that Lollapalooza from way back when………….God Bless and support LIVE music!