3RD ANNUAL CBGB FESTIVAL WITH HEADLINERS - JANE'S ADDICTION

The 3rd annual CBGB Music & Film Festival ended with the biggest bang they’ve had yet in the form of Jane’s Addiction in Times Square this past Sunday. What do you say about a band that has been written about a million times over?

Jane’s Addiction are icons that were assembled in the summer of 1985, before most of you were born. They’ve gone through a few bassists since then and have taken a few breaks but the original trio of Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, and Dave Navarro remain intact and in fine form. We all know Dave plays a mean guitar and “loves to get laid” as Perry eloquently put it in Times Square and has been associated with numerous beautiful woman, and for that we worship him. Navarro, his body full of dramatic tattoos, is also the host of the popular TV show Tattoo Master on SpikeTV.

Perry Farrell has personally brought me so much joy in my life and not just because of Jane’s, he is also the founder of Lollapalooza and still produces the uber-successful festival today. His stage presence is in your face, sometimes brash and x rated, and we love him for it. He is one of a kind, at one moment blasting Wall St. and then proclaiming his love for everybody as can be seen here in this video for “Summertime Rolls”

Stephen Perkins is one of the worlds most versatile percussionists that can sway from playing the steel drum on “Jane Says” and then hammer you into submission with the massive tribal beats of “Mountain Song” and “Stop”. Filling the group out is their newest bassist- who didn’t miss a beat – Chris Chaney who has worked with pretty much everyone including Alanis Morissette and Slash.

The show itself was a spectacle, as all Jane’s gigs are, including dancers onstage and above, who were suspended by hooks embedded in their skin who swung above the madness that was happening below. Perry is the ultimate showman, always making the fans feel special whether it was a simple smile or a touch directed at an individual. Near the middle of the set while the band raged on stage; Perry hopped into the pit and asked the crowd if they had anything to smoke, the next thing I know he is mere inches from my face, blazing away. I was in awe, here was one of the worlds biggest rock-stars in Times Square without a fuck given.

The set was short in actual time, but it felt so much longer and bigger than pervious shows I had seen of theirs; maybe it was Times Square and the huge crowd, perhaps it was because they were headlining the 3rd annual CBGB festival? At any rate it was the perfect ending to one my favorite weeks I’ve ever had as a music fan, thank you CBGB, can’t wait until next year.

Article by: Shayne Hanley