Somebody left a comment today that was just a link to a picture of Perry from the last Lollapalooza tour, the TypePad engine cut it off so
here it is.

I searched his other posts, and they are mainly negative, so apparently it was meant to be a bad vibe, but it got me thinking of the great Jane's shows I've seen....

I missed last year's Lollapalloza. I am bummed not just cause I missed Jane's, but I absolutely love Queens of the Stone Age, and would have been stoked to see them too. I got to see them last year on Halloween night at the Greek Theatre here in Los Angeles, and it was pouring down rain (it's an amphitheatre), but what an awesome show. They came out as the Village People for the encore.

I was at the first Lollapalloza at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Northern California, and it was an incredible time. The EVENT was wonderful, all the acts, booths, and the wild variety of acts ( ICE-T and Bodycount, Souixie, NIN, etc.) and the vibe was something different, special, like we were a part of something new, world-shaking, and at the center was the Jane's gig. Sadly, I dropped acid during Souixie and started peaking right during the opening chords of the Jane's set. I have this wonderful miniature memory of wandering around all the people on a grassy hill with the anticipation of the show coursing through them. Then, ...nothing. Don't remember a thing. Little flashes of being up front, lots of colors, but I got jipped pretty hardcore out of what I am sure was a great show. So if that isn't a good reason to watch it with the drugs, I don't know what is. You might miss a great gig.

The best Jane's gig I remember is the Ritual tour at Universal Amphitheatre (that one I kept it together for). Nine Inch Nails opened up, and I remember thinking, that guy (Trent) is out of his mind - he just beat the hell out of that keyboard. I'd seen lots of guitar smashing, but I'd never seen someone taking a whole synth and destroying it. Then Jane's came on and owned. It was beautiful. Still have my tour shirt.

Last Demcember Riss and I went to the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. It's a legendary show every year in Los Angeles. Apparently it used to be an acoustic show, but these days everybody does their full live treatment. I suppose it's a competition thing, which is a pity, becuase I would love it if bands actually downsized and tried out that dynamic. Love to hear a band commit to the asthetic and pull it off.

Jane's played, & It ended up being a great mini-gig (bands only play 5-7 songs). I was just amazed I was hearing them play the old tunes after so many years and how good they sounded. "Just Because" ended up as an instrumental but whatever...it still rocked. There was some visible tension, but it sounded mighty anyway. Later, Perry walked up into the audience and was carried around. It was great. I was really happy to have seen the gig, but Riss was prepearing for the aftermath. I was genuinely saddened that it seemed like one of my favorite bands was about to break up - again. The Panic Channel was about as probable or as possible as walking on the moon that night. Goes to show you - you never, ever can tell what is in the future, so don't waste your time trying.

I guess the point of this little walk down memory lane is this...  If you are a Jane's fan, and hate our new band because it's not Jane's, we're not trying to win you over. It'll never happen. We're trying to build something new from the ground up. The great thing is that we have no idea what it will be like. Every day that we play and write, the band and it's sound grow a little bit. It's not Jane's Addiction, not even close. No band could be JA but them. For some fan circles, they debate if Relapse/Strays was even Jane's Addiciton. Nothing can ever recapture what Jane's was in the early 90's. Bands can try to be good, even great, but only a few bands become important. That is a by-product of the music, the times, and the people listening to the music in those times. It can't be generated at will. I personally would have loved to have one more Jane's album. I dug Strays, it made me feel like the old Jane's was back. For the record, Jane's was going its separate ways before we started playing in Perkins' garage for fun.

When I see a picture of Perry, I think of the great Jane's music I have enjoyed, and the respect I will always have for him as an artist and performer, and think of that time in my life when the music rotated my world in a different direction. Nothing else.