On Monday I was invited over to Highline Ballroom to check out Satellite Party, which is Perry Farrell's new gig. At first I was hesitant to bother with this since these types of bands tend to suck but then I listened to the album on MySpace and was surprised by the quality. However, hearing that former Extreme guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, was in the band scared me a bit.
Anyway, I decided to go - mostly because I'm a big Jane's Addiction fan and I never had the chance to see them. I figured this was as close as I would get. We skipped the opening bands and got to Highline a few minutes before the show started. It was my first time at the Highline and I have to say it's a nice place. I could do without the weird purple lights on the side walls but otherwise I dig it - great sight lines.
When the band came out the crowd went wild. It was an odd crowd, lots of chubby LI and Jersey dudes. Perry came out and it was amazing to see someone nearly 50 years old that looks like he's 20. The old meatheads agreed as I over heard several comments, "Bro, Perry looks fuckin' good bro." FYI: I'm from Jersey so I can talk all the shit I want.
Honestly I'm not familiar with Satellite Party songs but when they went into the first song most of the crowd was singing along. I was blown away by how tight the band sounded. Last I heard Perry couldn't sing anymore but tonight he was on point. They all sounded great and Nuno was fucking killing it all night. That dude can play some fucking guitar, I spent most of the night just watching him play.
Early in the set they played "Stop" - one of my favorite Jane's songs. It sounded SO fucking good and every person in the joint was singing and jumping around. Later on they played "Mountain Song," I was actually in the pisser at the time and when I heard that opening bass line I ran out straight into the crowd. The opening and verse sounded awesome but when they got to the chorus they slowed it down, or rather didn't speed it up like the original. It was some mellow trippy version and I wasn't really feeling it. Nonetheless it was still cool to hear some Jane's.
Satellite Party played a killer set and I really can't believe it. I was expecting them to embarrass themselves but instead they delivered a great performance. Between the musicianship, songs, and Perry's crazy talk in between songs it was highly entertaining. If you have a chance to see Satellite Party then you have to go. Seriously, they're "fuckin' awesome bro."
Hey Bro,
ReplyDeleteI was there too, good show, mountain song was off 'cos nuno was having problems. There was no guitar for the first half of the song!
James.
yeah, I noticed that. That wouldn't effect the tempo though. They definitely meant to play it slowed down, which is not so good.
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