Jane says . . . Lakewood may not be so bad after all

 

Let's not draw attention to ourselves or anything. (Pretty much everone else was wearing black.) What you can't see here are the plaid shorts.

So I let the 14-year-olds talk me into taking them to Lakewood to see Jane’s Addiciton and Nine Inch Nails. On a school night. On Mother’s Day, no less! “If I can find one adult who will go with me, I’ll do it,” was my final out. No way is anybody going to Lakewood on a Sunday to see two loud bands, I thought. So who’s the first person I ask? Gaby, who never met a show he wouldn’t gladly attend.  Gaby, it turns out, has been to at least two Lollapaloozas. . .

I’ve had some ugly nights leaving Lakewood and have avoided it for many years. But we drove right in, the lawn sounded great and once it got dark the view was pretty good, too. And no traffic getting the MomVan/ConcertCamper out of there.

I am only a recent fan of Jane’s Addiction, but I love their sound, and their sets were absolutely fabulous. Nine Inch Nails sounded great, too. In fact, I had thought it would be NIN that was not age-appropriate, but it was actually JA who provided the 14-year-olds with plenty to think about.

I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but these kids today with their long hair and their rock ‘n roll music are starting to influence what I listen to. My Pandora was on a JA-NIN-Nirvana-Chili Peppers station all afternoon. And more than once, I’ve found myself forgetting to turn the station back to NPR  after they get out of the van.

Topic for another day: Where was I in the early 1990s, anyway? Because I completely missed all this music. Stuck in the ’80s, I fear.

Nine Inch Nails

Jane’s Addiction

boys who rock

Jane’s

Bad pics of ab-fab sets

age-inappropriate slide show

Here’s a bad but brief video for you: Going acoustic to wind the crowd down early so our hero could rush to the hospital.

The show must go on

Does this look like a guy who’s injured?

Perry Farrel (nee Peretz Bernstein, 50 years old, and definitely not gay — not that there’s anything wrong with marrying a member of the opposite sex, you know) must be the ultimate showman. And I’m not just talking about the clothes and the voice and the drama. 

Leaving the show last night, we though it seemed a little short — JA only played about an hour and 15 minutes, while NIN played almost 2.

Turns out  . . . Farrell tore a calf muscle during the first song last night  (ouchie!),  but our hero soldiered on to deliver everyone’s money’s worth.