M'Lou Elkins
CONCERT REVIEW + PHOTOS
Jane’s Addiction / Love and Rockets
The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory – 8/18/24 – Irving, TX
©M’Lou Elkins/Skip2Photography.com
On a blisteringly hot Sunday evening, the co-headlining tour of Jane’s Addiction and Love and Rockets rolled through Irving, TX to play the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.
Jane’s Addiction will be playing with all original members, including their formidable guitarist Dave Navarro. By 6:45pm the venue was buzzing with activity as many concertgoers reunited with friends they hadn’t seen in ages, all of whom wanted to catch the OG Jane’s Addiction in action.
At 7pm DJ Sista Whitenoise took the stage to warm up the crowd as a last-minute replacement for Crawlers, who dropped off the bill for tonight’s show. The DJ’s inclusive song selections were the perfect transition to get the evening going.
At promptly 8pm the Love and Rockets trio of Daniel Ash, David J., and Kevin Haskins took the stage and immediately launched into “The Light” off of 1987’s Earth Sun Moon, followed by “Kundalini Express” and “No Big Deal.”
The band sounded tight and Ash, dressed completely in white except for his snazzy black shades, sounded amazing, hitting every note with ease. They brought everyone to their feet when the opening chords to “Haunted When the Minutes Drag” began, and they followed that with another fan favorite “No New Tale to Tell.”
Love and Rocket’s hour-long set ended with “Ball of Confusion,” “Mirror People,” and “Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man).” As the band exited the stage to the echoes of their last chords played, I couldn’t help but wonder how many new fans they’d made out of those who had only come to see Jane’s Addiction.
The venue reverberated with the sound of tribal drum beats and the anticipation ran high. Finally, shortly after 9:30 the music stopped, the lights went out, and singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins took their places on the stage against the simplistic backdrop of a red neon Jane’s Addiction logo and launched into “Kettle Whistle.”
After Farrell reminisced about the times the band spent in Deep Ellum, the familiar opening bassline to “Whores” got the crowd on their feet, followed by “Pigs in Zen” that had them cheering at level 10.
Navarro, dressed in all black – including black eye makeup, appeared healthy after recovering from his bout with long COVID. Rail-thin Farrell clad in a vest and jacket raised a bottle of wine as if to toast the crowd.
The band’s ability to improvise is a testament to the chemistry they share as they launched into “Ted, Just Admit It.” With “Summertime Roles” Farrell showed he hasn’t lost any of his singing chops, as he carried those high notes with ease.
Back-to-back crowd favorites “Jane Says” and “Mountain Song” generated the largest audience reaction of the night, especially “Jane Says” which was basically one big sing-along.
After “Stop!” and “ Been Caught Stealing,” Farrell announced; “It’s been a pleasure, Dallas. Wishing you all the love in the world, and we hope to see you again in the future.”
After a short break, the guys returned to play a one-song encore, “Chip Away,” with Navarro, Perkins, and Avery on several drums that were brought on stage. As they bowed and thanked the crowd before exiting the stage, you had to be grateful for what you just witnessed: the OG Jane’s Addiction doing their thing, and you had to wonder – would you ever get the chance to see this again?
Check out the Love and Rockets concert photo gallery from the show below:
Check out the Jane’s Addiction concert photo gallery from the show below:
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