Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

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Pandemonium
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Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#1 Post by Pandemonium » Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:34 am

Saw the LA Wiltern Theater show last night. In a nutshell, a surprisingly good set, the band in top notch form and even Perry was very good. The details.......

Got there about 8:15pm, the had just opened the doors letting the line in. In the lobby of The Wiltern, there were several people, mostly women probably employed by the band dressed up in various Victorian garb including one in a wooden cage acting loony as if they were asylum inmates, it was pretty stupid but some people loved taking their picture next to caged chick. Of the likely sold out 3000 people, I'd guess about 10% dressed up in costume for Halloween, nothing really amazing although there seemed to be at least 3 different guys dressed as Slash which actually figured into the show later.

As we've had the Santa Ana winds and heat the last couple days in SoCal, it got pretty warm in the Wiltern really quick and up front in the pit, even though people never really crushed towards the stage or moshed, it was hot by the time Janes came on. Asshole factor was almost zero, at least in the pit. Really good crowd, into the show although the band and especially Perry really had to work to keep the Wiltern engaged. There were a trio of drunk muscleheads dead center who kept whooping it up before the show started but never got out of hand once it did. This sweet but increasingly drunk girl next to me kept offering me hits off her Schnapps bottle she'd snuck in but comically lost interest when she saw my wedding band. Halfway through the show, she started incessantly hollering at the top of her lungs "WOOoOOOoooOO!" to the point I moved more towards the back of the pit on Dave's side of the stage to avoid hearing damage.

The opening band, The New2 or whatever they're called was boring shoegazer rock. No real stage presence, no memorable songs, the only thing of worth was their drummer who seemed wildly out of place in the band. The fact they had boomy, muddy sound as if they were playing in a racquetball court didn't help.

Janes came on at 9:50 to Pink Floyd's "Welcome To The Machine" opening with the usual Underground. The sound at first wasn't too good, Dave's guitar was kind of buried in the mix but bass and drums sounded really powerful which actually made for a great groove during "Mountain Song." By "Just Because," the sound was dialed in. Perry perfectly prefaced JB with a short, funny bit about hanging with Germs singer Darby Crash in a parking lot in the early 80's and intro'd many songs with similar LA-oriented stories throughout the show. In fact, he got a little obnoxious after a while with the "How are ya doin' LA!" shtick to get a easy rise out of the local crowd.

Front loading the first half of the set with their arguably most popular songs really worked well, and in fact, I'd say this was the most well-paced post '91 set I've seen from this band. "Irresistible Force" was an easy bar/drink break and the pit was loose enough I could run out, get a drink at the bar at the back of the floor and get back in my spot in the pit before Dave finished his solo in the song.

As I've read in some reviews of other recent shows, from Chip Away onwards, the show took on a whole different level of energy with awesome performances of Whores and Up The Beach. They started "Three Days" and Perrys vox seemed pretty weak and I was thinking this was going to be a mediocre version of the song but the band really locked into a fantastic groove and it turned out to be one of the best versions of the songs I've ever heard - Dave really nailing the extended solo. Easily the high point of the night. After that, "Splash a Little Water" was utterly antic-climactic and easily the least interesting song of the night. The little vignette with the guy acting out the song was just stupid and unnecessary. They went right into "Ocean Size" and "Stop" so there wasn't any sort of encore break which was kind of refreshing. During their bows, Dave took a top hat and long haired wig from one of the guys dressed as Slash up front and Perry intro'd him as Slash Navarro. And that was the show, clocking in well under 90 minutes.

Only real complaints about the show is the terrible stage lighting which leaves Stephen way in the back in near darkness and the guys up front in constant silhouette. The "Theatrical" aspects of the show are completely a waste of money - the tv screens mostly showed b/w footage from old movies that seemingly had nothing to do with what the band was doing or playing. The opening bit with the girls on the pillars is alright but they were so far back on the deep stage and so poorly lit, they were probably hard to see from the balcony seats.

I'm really glad I decided to go to the show. It was vastly better than the '02 NYE show I saw here at the Wiltern which is the only other time I've seen the Cheney version of Janes. Musically, the band was untouchable, even Chris's bass sounded powerful and solid and he was quite animated although he never strayed into center stage from his little bass area. Perkins was as solid as ever and Dave was totally into it and spot on as well. At one point, Dave played one of the songs guitar solo's to a enthralled young kid seated just off stage on his side. Perry had a ton of energy and had his shirt off ten minutes into the show and sounded good most of the songs except now-typical weak spots for him, BCS and ANR where he almost whispers lyrics. He's an easy target to knock for some people these days, but the man is in amazing shape and when he's on his game, he's still a funny, entertaining frontman. Getting Ocean Size, Up The Beach and a superb version of Three Days really made this a memorable show. Adding Summertime Rolls like what San Francisco got would have pushed this night over the top.

Perry ended the show saying it was the last one of the tour, so I don't quite know what they'll do if anything different for the Dec shows.

Here's someone's YouTube clip of Three Days from Cheney's side of the pit:


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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#2 Post by tvrec » Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:04 am

Great write-up, P.

Just a couple notes to add. The kid off to the side whom you mention was one of PerryEtty's kids.

Watching The New Number 2 was also pretty strange given how much Dhani Harrison looks like his dad.

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#3 Post by Pandemonium » Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:43 am

I want to add, the current version of Jane says is terrible with the backing track and Chris' "bouncy" bass playing. Also this:

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#4 Post by SR » Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:56 am

As usual, your notes put me right there. I saw them in SD just a few months ago and mentioned the same strong points. The problem with those points is that they have simply become the most proficent cover band of themselves....they play their own music better technically than they used to. That was never the magic.....

Good show, I am sure. In spite of myself, I still love to hear them play certain songs live a great deal.

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#5 Post by tvrec » Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:59 am

Hilarious, P ^^^; I took a picture of the same exact thing just because it was so cheesy. The Dobel thing, really, was the weakest part of the night. Downstairs bar had a banner for Dobel featuring Perry across the front of it and the bathrooms were plastered with Dobel shot specials. Then, and this was probably the worst, about a third of the way into the set, Perry served up his official product placement, hoisting a bottle of Dobel up, as he has done with his wine for years--the label clearly positioned for the numerous photos that were taken by an official photographer on the stage, clearly there to capture this specific moment like no other during the show.

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#6 Post by Romeo » Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:17 pm

SR wrote:As usual, your notes put me right there. I saw them in SD just a few months ago and mentioned the same strong points. The problem with those points is that they have simply become the most proficent cover band of themselves....they play their own music better technically than they used to. That was never the magic.....

Good show, I am sure. In spite of myself, I still love to hear them play certain songs live a great deal.
said the same thing about Brooklyn

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#7 Post by Pandemonium » Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:52 pm

tvrec wrote:Hilarious, P ^^^; I took a picture of the same exact thing just because it was so cheesy. The Dobel thing, really, was the weakest part of the night. Downstairs bar had a banner for Dobel featuring Perry across the front of it and the bathrooms were plastered with Dobel shot specials. Then, and this was probably the worst, about a third of the way into the set, Perry served up his official product placement, hoisting a bottle of Dobel up, as he has done with his wine for years--the label clearly positioned for the numerous photos that were taken by an official photographer on the stage, clearly there to capture this specific moment like no other during the show.
Ha! I actually thought that was a typical bottle of wine, I was off to Dave's side and didn't see it that clearly. He did pour cups from that bottle to several people up front late in the show, right?

So Perry (and Janes by default) has officially crossed into Sammy Hagar territory shilling booze in the middle of his show.

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#8 Post by Japhy » Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:26 pm

That's a damn good Three Days. Sounds like they've pulled out a few decent moments at this recent run of shows - good on 'em.

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#9 Post by jptm » Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:54 pm

tvrec wrote:Just a couple notes to add. The kid off to the side whom you mention was one of PerryEtty's kids./quote]
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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#10 Post by Artemis » Sun Oct 28, 2012 7:41 pm

Good review, Pandemonium. :thumb:

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#11 Post by Juana » Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:59 pm

Great review man! Glad it was a good time for ya!

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Re: Oct 27 - Wiltern Theater LA Review/Comments

#12 Post by clickie » Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:13 am

Milfalicious!

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