Perry Farrell - The Last of the Dionysian Alien Rock Frontmen
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I've seen Janes Addiction twice, once at Hammerstein Ballroom with Flea on Bass in '97 in the vid below, and once at Jones Beach last month. For some assanine reason, one can't drink a beer at Jones Beach unless they pay for VIP seats (cuz it's a state park), so one must take matters into one's own hands before arriving, which isn't always pretty, as one tends to indulge more up front hoping against hope that one's buzz will last longer. But alas, that is a mistaken assumption.
The NINJA tour features the original Janes line up with Nine Inch Nails opening. Much fun was had by all, but no one ever seems to have as much fun as Perry. That guy was born in another dimension and clearly still lives there. I can't connect with him at all, and I'm a rocker Jew lead singer who cut off his extremely ethnic last name as well, so that's saying something. Watching him I was reminded of how much the world has moved on. Are there any wild and crazy rock frontman of this species left that wouldn't be caught dead twittering? By this I mean the other, the demi god on some destructive far out trip. We need to connect to our rock stars now, they can't be the other. They must be us. Where's the healthy worship in that I ask? If anyone can accompish being just another everyman, what have we mortals to strive for? I don't wanna hang out with these guys. They're all most likely total dicks with their heads in their asses. But it's fun to watch isn't it?
So, in conclusion, where has good ol' rock godhood gone? To the same place dinosaurs and major labels have I guess.
And have we somehow evolved past the need to watch someone destruct or indulge or explore the netherworlds before our eyes?
You will have to decide.
And oh yeah, who's better on bass? Eric Avery or Flea?
Comments (11)
I will have to go with flea, the guy is nuts
but eric avery, despite looking like he's in an entirely different band than navarro and perry, is rock solid
Avery. Flea is like the showboater (if there can be one) of rock bass. Avery is hard as granite keeping his fills subtle.
I caught Perry two years ago touring with satellite party and he was out of this world - very charismatic and creative on stage (although toned down compared to what I've seen in videos of the past).
I'd say a new guy to look for as far as "weird front-man" is Cedric Bixar from The Mars Volta. Again, he's kind of a dick on stage and off but it's sure fun as hell to watch.
Another one would be Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal) but he's less rock and more pop-dance. Even so, his stage antics are so odd that David Bowie would be jealous.
I'd say they are about even as far as skill is concerned on bass but Flea is a greater showman onstage.
I got to see JA back in the day in '94 on the Lollapalooza tour before they brokeup. They were incredible live. Perry is definitely an original that's for sure.
The only other frontman out there that can hang with Perry, and he's getting older as well, is Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream. He might not be as weird, but he definitely lives the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
Hmmm. With all of the unfortunate passings of late, how amazing that Perry the Fair Prince of Drug Abuse is still with us and raving. And that's certainly better than the alternative.
i've never caught primal scream live actually dale, thanks for the heads up
m the k, yes, the constitution of such a man is impressive, i couldn't walk let alone sing on such cocktails
here's a thought....perhaps tim burton should have cast perry instead of jonny dep as the mad hatter?
When I went to see Erykah Badu live a month ago her opening act Janelle Monae was one crazy woman to watch onstage. She was all over the place, had incredible energy & seemed quite unhinged. Really mesmerizing and fun to watch. She even crowd surfed.
neil, have you seen the movie that perry made in the early ninties with his then gf "the gift?" needless to say, his acting is cringeworthy at best haha.
augusts1 - i saw janelle, she was freaking amazing, not really a rock type more of a funk-broadway wizardess from mars, but still awesome.
how about Wayne Coyle from The Flaming Lips? He's still in some galaxy or something...
Janelle is definitely from another planet though Allen, but yea, pretty damn awesome. She reminds me of Grace Jones quite a bit. I checked out some of her music online before the concert & was on the fence about her but after seeing her in person I was convinced.
thanks for the tip augusts1
a friend just passed on a few of her tunes to me
the song titles look like a rush concept album!
haven't listened yet
yes steve, wayne is a weird one, i still have to see christmas on mars, but no i have not seen perry's film or cringeworthy acting, though i certainly saw a lot of that in terminator salvation, what an absolute embarassment!