Jane’s Addiction Live: Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow 31-05-24

Here we go! No!

Two snapshots of my life, a mere 12,135 days apart.

I file out into the cold night air of Leeds utterly wrung out, sweat (not necessarily my own) evaporating off my soaking Ritual De Lo Habitual T-shirt, ears ringing, grinning savagely having just seen one of the best shows I will ever see.

I file out into the cold night air of Glasgow utterly wrung out, sweat (not necessarily my own) evaporating off my soaking Nothing’s Shocking T-shirt, ears ringing, grinning savagely having just seen one of the best shows I have seen in the last 33 years.

11 March 1991 – 31 May 2024. Creado y regado de Los Angeles, Juana’s Addicción.

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Jane’s Addiction changed my musical life back in 1988, somewhere during the opening bars of ‘Ocean Size’ my horizons expanded and never retracted. I could never interest any of my rocker friends in them and so they stayed my band, which is a good thing as an overly-precious precocious teenager. Fast forward.

They played Leeds University on 11 March 1991 at a time when they were playing stadium gigs in the US*. I went with my best mate Ads, another chum and my girlfriend. Perry had recently shaved his head and looked like Frank Zappa, on the barrier front and centre I caught his eye at one point and he smiled at me. It was pretty much the best gig I have ever seen, felt.

Drugs, money, acrimonious partings, less affecting side projects, Jane’s drifted away. I never bothered with the reunions until now. Ads told me that they were reforming with original bassist Eric A and we grabbed tickets for their Glasgow show as I was desperate to finally go to a gig at Barrowland Ballroom and spend some proper time together again.

A good choice, all ends up.

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After meeting up with a much newer friend, Mr Resurrection Jim we make our way to the Barrowland. Wow, is all I can say. What. A. Venue. The ceiling alone makes a trip there worthwhile and I’ve always been a sucker for a venue you go upstairs to.

We end up four or five bodies from the front and I get more and more excited as the clock ticks. I can just feel around me how much the crowd are up for this, judging by the demographics here a lot of us have been waiting for this since ’91. And then the lights go down …

The roar that greets the shadowy figures playing ‘Up The Beach’ is a palpable wall of noise and goodwill, Jane’s Addiction actually look slightly askance at the intensity of it and then they’re off with every note being sung back to them all night long.

The setlist is great, 15 prime cuts including one track that Perry informs us is ‘so new, we still suck at it’; they don’t of course. There are no real omissions, apart maybe ‘Summertime Rolls’ and as a picky fanboy I come away happy.

Perry appears to be incrementally transforming into Quentin Crisp these days, he is still a galvanizing frontman and if his voice and athleticism have faded a touch over the last 33 years, then that’s fine, so has mine.

Dave Navarro stays stage left, hidden under a big hat, his bare, doodled upon torso not betraying a single bead of sweat all night. He is fantastic, his whiplash soloing during ‘Three Days’ particularly is just sublime.

Stephen Perkins, in a kilt for tonight, is much more extrovert than I remember him being, smashing everything in sight but never ever overplaying by a single beat.

The real revelation is Eric A. I remember him as a tall, thin bare-chested figure last time around. This time he is a huge, solid figure, more Frankenstein’s monster than human, in stark contrast to Navarro he is dripping sweat onto the stage from the first notes of ‘Up The Beach’. He dominates the band’s sound in a really interesting way, a crushing, rolling bass sound that somehow conspires to be as loud as it is spare.

The relief from the crowd at seeing such beloved favourites absolutely living up to their legend is palpable. We give them our adulation and the band dig deep to justify ever scintilla of it, dashing it back into our upraised baying faces.

I could cite every track as a favourite but ‘Ocean Size’ is suitably massive sounding, like it could shake the stars from the Barrowland ceiling and ‘Mountain Song’ is a frenzy. We refuse to let them fade into the night and call them back for an impromptu ‘Been Caught Stealing’ which is the first time we get a proper 1991-style mosh pit, all the mums and dads shedding their politeness and letting rip at last.

The band look genuinely moved by their reception in Glasgow and as we file out I see that every single person’s face carries a savage satisfied grin as we shuffle towards the icy comfort of the night air.

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This was such a life-affirming, legend-affirming experience. Thank you boys, thank you Jane’s, thank you Ads, thank you Jim and thank you Barrowland Ballroom.

1233 Down (still).

*we got chatting to a bunch of Americans outside the gig who had come over especially, they could not believe they were going to see Jane’s in such a small venue.