I mostly ignored my friends I came to Lollapalooza with once I got inside. When I saw Daft Punk, the three of them were up close and personal with Ben Harper; when I was staring at the skinniest band in existence - Blonde Redhead - they were laughing it up with G. Love & Special Sauce; when I was adoring Muse, they flirted with both Interpol and Muse before calling it a night early and heading back to the hotel. The reality is, I only ended up sitting with them during part of Amy Winehouse and standing with them during Kings of Leon; the rest of the time we were estranged.
I saw one and a half acts with my friends ... wow. And it could've been two and a half! We had plans to see The Black Keys together at the Bud Light 1-b main stage ... then I heard ... off in the distance (me having just listened to Blonde Redhead at the 3-a MySpace stage, near the 1-a AT&T stage) ... is that ... it is!
I heard Perry Farrell singing the opening lyrics to "Stop" by his former band Jane's Addiction; and it all came flooding back to me.
Me, ten years old, sitting at my house in Tacoma, Washington, wishing I was old enough or lucky enough to attend that year's Lollapalooza travelling festival at The Gorge. Me, an absolute Jane's Addiction fanatic for many years. Me, a Perry Farrell deciple even after Jane's broke up and he started Porno For Pyros. Mr. Farrell, who first conceived of Lollapalooza, who's been running it ever since, who initiated this whole run of travelling festivals from Warped and Ozzfest on down.
Could I really walk away from Perry Farrell and look at myself in the mirror later that night?
No, it wasn't just guilt that had me running to the AT&T stage. It wasn't just the inclusion of Jane's Addiction standards like "Stop!" "Mountain Song" and "Been Caught Stealing" (along with "Jane Says" that I had to strain to hear from the MySpace stage as I positioned myself for LCD Soundsystem) or Porno For Pyros' "Pets". It was the fact that this is Perry Farrell singing just for me, for ten year old me, and who knows if I'd ever have this chance again? No, this wasn't the festival that featured Jane's Addiction, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice T, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Rage Against The Machine, and Violent Femmes ... but it was the next best thing, and the only opportunity I'd have to see Perry Farrell in his element. I couldn't pass this up!
And let me just say, Satellite Party ain't no fuckin' slouch! They managed to rock as hard, if not harder, on their own songs than they did on all my darlings from Perry's previous bands. And that new guitarist ... Nick Perri, he had me believin' that Dave Navarro wasn't nothin' but a little do-nothing bitch. Then Mr. Perri absolutely butchered Been Caught Stealing's guitar solo and I knew the fix was in. Sabotage was the name of his game. Nevertheless, he's better now than Dave Navarro has been in a decade or more, and that's good enough for me.
As for Perry Farrell himself? He's just as effeminate and flamboyant as ever, a consummate entertainer through and through. AND he's still got the pipes of his early 90s youth.
I still want to see the Black Keys, because I think they're an up-and-coming band of great importance if they keep their shit together. But, on this day, at this venue, I wouldn't miss Perry Farrell for the world