In spirit of our good friends France vs. France's reviews of local shows, and their final show tonight, I think this might be a good new tradition for any member of Race You There to review local shows in Arizona. Unfortunately I was unable to attend their show because I had already promised a friend I would attend the NIN/JA (and Street Sweeper Social Club) show.  So here goes:

We got to Cricket Pavillion early, so we had some time to grab a beer, and check out the circus of freakish alterno-grunge mid 90's kids. NIN fans definitely have a look. Anyhow... the first band to go on was Street Sweeper Social Club, (Tom Morello/ Boots Riley's band) and I have to say I was definitely impressed. The mixture of Morello and Riley had a very "Old school Rage/Old school RHCP" feel to it...so if any of you know me, you know that means I liked it. They (read:Morello) had tons of energy, and were very entertaining. They even played a cover of that obnoxious song "Paper Planes" by MIA and somehow managed to get me, as well as the rest of CP to enjoy it. Morello cocking his guitar and shooting the crowd with it definitely added to the stage presence. He also had an incredible over/under tap guitar solo, followed by another solo with his teeth. The crowd at Cricket was all off their heezy. (I don't even know what that means.)

I was happy to say the set changes were much shorter than the last time I was at Cricket. NIN took the stage shortly after and immediately brought on some heavy, intensity. I had never seen them before, and I really hadn't gotten into them too much, so I can't claim to be a huge fan. But I will say I am glad that they didn't play Hand that Feeds or Fuck You Like An Animal. My main gripe was the lights guy. It seemed like he fell asleep on the console halfway through and then woke up to make the lights awesome to make up for lost time in the middle of the set. Reznor really does know how to put on a show, and he gave the crowd what they wanted. Head Like A Hole (one of the few that I recognized, was super intense. Awesome song. They ended with a dramatic and audience sing along friendly version of Hurt, Reznor's voice getting very obviously raspy towards the end...however, it actually added to the overall mood conveyed in the song. Also, his guitarist had a dread-mullet. Yuck.

Let me start this off by saying I can't stand Jane's Addiction. Never have, likely never will. But they seriously know how to put on a hell of a show. They started off with a huge projector screen coming down in front of them, and they started playing one of their songs over it. then it raised up, and the band was already rocking. You obviously can't help but notice a strangely dressed Perry Farrel (seriously he looked like a wizard-lord of the dance hybrid) and the years definitely have not been good to him. Which brings me to my next point kids- Don't do heroine. But I gotta give it up to the guy, after years of abusing his body, his voice somehow still sounds like a 20 year old's. With some odd stage antics, such as doing literally whatever the fuck he wanted, he commanded the crowd after about 4 songs. I think my disdain for JA comes from Dave Navarro tainting the sounds of my favorite band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a few years. But I have to give it up to Navarro as well, while soloing at the front of the stage on his knees, a (douchey) fan threw a whole cup of ice and water into his face...and he didn't skip a beat. Impressive, Mr. Navarro.... He's very talented... I guess it's just his style that I've never liked. They really rocked the stage, and had an absolutely flawless lights/fog show going on through the whole performance. By the end Farrel had the crowd singing along to every song, and was just generally nice to the audience. A welcome act in a rock concert. They closed it out with an acoustic version of Jane Says, with the drummer playing a steel drum and Farrel working the crowd. It was a really solid show.

Thanks to Coralie for buying my ticket.

<3
Alex