
Bootlegging Jane’s Addiction - artsandsci
https://longreads.com/2017/11/13/bootlegging-janes-addiction/
======
frankharv
I saw them at Fairfax Park in Virginia and it was mind blowing. This nice
little park and all these freaks. They overturned a water truck because all
the water was sold out. It was incredibly hot. Then a big tanker truck showed
up to hose down the crowd. People were underneath the water trailer trying to
get some drops of water. I overheard the truck driver saying "I wounldn't
drink that, I justed sucked it out of a pond up the road" It was epic.

[https://www.restonnow.com/2014/08/07/throwback-thursday-
when...](https://www.restonnow.com/2014/08/07/throwback-thursday-when-
lollapalooza-played-reston/)

~~~
soylentcola
Yep! Then I saw them again a few years ago when they played a show at a park
in Baltimore. I won't lie, it was enjoyable (if only because a band I grew up
loving was playing at a park in my town) but me and my group of
late-30's/early-40's friends couldn't help but laugh at Perry's "stage
banter".

It was either the most rehearsed and corny thing I'd ever heard or a brilliant
troll. Lines like:

"Hello Baltimore! My tailor's from Baltimore...she keeps me looking good in
all my nice clothes...yeah...love my tailor...but back when I was younger, I
didn't buy my clothes...I just stole 'em..." ( _opening riff to "Been Caught
Stealing"_)

Every few songs there was another rambling, tangential "story" that was
clearly planned out as the way to introduce the next tune. They still played
and sang great, but it was a far cry from the shows I listened to on dubbed
tapes as a high school kid in the early 90's.

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AdmiralAsshat
I'm an avid bootleg collector of certain bands. While I won't say that every
good band necessarily sounds better live, most of them do. In exchange for an
arguably muddy sound (which can be greatly improved by a good recorder or a
soundboard recording), you get:

\- A band that has played the same set dozens of times and knows the songs
backwards and forth, as opposed to when the songs were being recorded for the
album and still in flux. The performance is tighter, and the band often makes
(welcome) variations to keep it interesting.

\- New spins on old songs, or covers of other songs, made to fill out the
setlist. Most of these never make it onto official albums.

\- The benefit of multiple performances for a particular lineup or point in
time. There are so many amazing bands that only had a particular singer /
lineup for one or two albums. But with recorded concerts, you can get a few
more performances out of that lineup. Even if the lineup itself remained
through the albums, the delivery may have changed. Anyone who's a fan of
Queensryche knew that Geoff Tate by the early-90's and on didn't have half the
vocal sustaining power that he had in 1983. 1983-1986 Queensryche bootlegs are
some of the most enjoyable in my collection.

~~~
ZenoArrow
> "Anyone who's a fan of Queensryche knew that Geoff Tate by the early-90's
> and on didn't have half the vocal sustaining power that he had in 1983.
> 1983-1986 Queensryche bootlegs are some of the most enjoyable in my
> collection."

Have you got any song recommendations for early 80's Queensryche? The whole
Operation Mindcrime album is great, and I like the song Silent Lucidity (IIRC
that was on a later album), but I haven't heard much early Queensryche.

~~~
AdmiralAsshat
Early Queensryche is _very_ different from later Queensryche. They got alot of
crossover success with Silent Lucidity in the 90's, and basically went in that
direction for the rest of the decade and dropped the metal sound altogether--
taking on a stripped down, grunge sound instead.

Operation: Mindcrime is their best album, bar none. Following that, I'd say
their best effort was their original Queensryche EP:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYPQBNk8I8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYPQBNk8I8)

It's not terribly progressive, more of just an Americanized Judas Priest/Iron
Maiden, but Tate sounds amazing. Warning and Rage for Order aren't bad,
either.

Also, to qualify my earlier comment, this is what Tate sounded like performing
their title song in 1984:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklSwADBOkg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklSwADBOkg)

And here's what he sounded like trying to do the same thing in mid-2000's:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOwlIEeiSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOwlIEeiSA)

It's incredibly sad how much his vocal range diminished, especially since the
tone is still pretty good. Chalk it up to years of smoking.

~~~
ZenoArrow
Thanks for the tips. I can hear what you mean about Geoff Tate's voice, though
like you say the vocal tone is still good in the later stuff, which makes it
enjoyable musically.

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le-mark
_When MTV first reported that the band was breaking up in 1991, I was just 16
and too naive to recognize how stories like theirs were shaping my own
thinking about art and life._

This idea that stories shape ones early outlook on life is something I've been
fascinated with for a long time. I sometimes reflect on the stories I heard
growing up in a poor rural area, and consider the stories I imagined more
affluent kids hearing. Where the same, how were they different? Do the stories
impoverished kids hear contribute to "generational" poverty? Which leads me to
think about fables and fairy tales, and where they come from and what lessons
do they teach.

Does anyone else ponder these things?

~~~
glitcher
Absolutely. Another great example - I used to think that Hollywood forgot how
to make good movies, but now realize it's much more specific to the timing of
my coming of age. There were certain movies from the mid 80s that were so
powerful and memorable to me that, for me, they have never been surpassed in
all the years since.

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davidw
Tangential, but Fishbone is a band that should have gotten a lot more
attention than they did.

~~~
frankharv
They were fabulous too but its been painful seeing the band fall apart. First
Chris then the rest. They were part of Lolapalooza #1 too. It was the high
point of alternative rock I believe. I hated Souxsie and the Banshee's but
when they played everybody was tossing their empty water bottles up in the air
and there was something magical happening.

Perry really had a great idea there. A festival done right. Nothing Shocking.
I saw a later Lolapolooza in Raleigh and it was more more subdued.

~~~
rootw0rm
How could u hate Siouxsie? what kind of monster are you?

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paulsutter
Jane is a real person

[http://www.aintnoright.org/Interviews/janeexclusive03.htm](http://www.aintnoright.org/Interviews/janeexclusive03.htm)

[https://www.google.com/search?q=jane+bainter&tbm=isch](https://www.google.com/search?q=jane+bainter&tbm=isch)

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pbhjpbhj
The title needs "[the band]" inserting:

>"Aaron Gilbreath considers the impact a live Jane’s Addiction recording has
had on him, and the effect heroin had on the band’s — and his own —
creativity."

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underunder
The article mentions Carla Bozulich in passing. I think that’s a great
counterpoint of an artist with copious output, because she got clean at an
early age. Just look at the breadth of her work and think of what Jane’s could
have been.

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elsurudo
I got to see them live with NIN I think in 2009 or 2010 (NINJA tour reunion or
something like that), and despite being in a huge venue in Irvine, their stage
presence was amazing. One of the best I've been. Great band.

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brickmort
One of my favorite bands! from their wild early days to their mature and
unique later albums, Janes Addiction truly embodies the spirit of Rock & Roll
in a way that most bands can only hope to achieve.

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ablation
While interesting, that article is littered with typos. Kind of takes me out
of the moment.

