Where: Sunset Strip, Hollywood
When: Sept. 20
The crowd on Sunset Boulevard was sparse as gates opened for the seventh annual two-day Sunset Strip Music Festival at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The limited number of patrons on hand did check out acts on the Murs 316 side stage or ducked into the Roxy or Whisky a Go-Go for a few of the early acts, but crowds for Say Say on the outdoor east stage and west stage openers Beware of Darkness' draw was seriously depressing. The weather was great, at least 20 degrees cooler than the previous blistering hot weekend that would have had everyone melting into the asphalt.
Throughout the day there was plenty of room to meander in and out of clubs or get right up close to see top billed acts on the two stages that shut down Sunset, such as Foo Figthers drummer Taylor Hawkins' rock band the Birds of Satan and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno's latest project, Crosses. Things started to finally fill up by the time Long Beach indie rock band Cold War Kids took the stage, and recently reunited L.A. outfit Failure also drew a substantial audience. It was announced a few days before the fest that U.K. rockers Kaiser Chiefs and indie rock band Minus the Bear had dropped off the bill.
It wasn't until Day One headliner and festival honorees Jane's Addiction took the stage that people seemed to have finally climbed down from the hills, stepped out from inside the clubs and bars, out of the darkness and into the light, packing the street so tightly that festival security and the Los Angeles police and fire personnel had to section people off to avoid massive overcrowding.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its studio debut 'Nothing's Shocking,' the L.A.-based quartet performed the album from front to back and pretty flawlessly. Frontman Perry Farrell, who is still a smooth cat on stage, forever-shirtless guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Chris Chaney presented each track as if it was as fresh in their minds as yesterday. Fans roared along to 'Ocean Size,' 'Mountain Song' and 'Pigs in Zen' and danced to 'Standing in the Shower ... Thinking' and 'Idiots Rule.'
Ferrell shared stories of coming out to the Sunset Strip as a little kid, just 'jumping in puddles' along the boulevard. Before getting into one of its biggest hits, 'Jane Says,' Ferrell noted that back in the late '80s the band wouldn't include it in its set because 'we were such ... snobs.' Then he thought to himself, if he'd gone to see Lou Reed and he didn't play 'Heroin' or 'Sweet Jane,' he'd be pretty bummed out, so 'back in the set it goes.' When the track was finished, he quipped with an innocent grin, 'Oh, there was so much drugs back then.'
Jane's Addiction had this audience captivated from start to finish and concluded its set with a few more hits, 'Stop!,' 'Just Because' and 'Been Caught Stealing.' It wasn't overly cocky about it, but rather extremely gracious as Ferrell delivered numerous humble 'thank yous' throughout the set. 'We will never forget this night,' he said. 'We really feel like we shine here in Los Angeles. They didn't appreciate us in New York. You know why? Because we weren't theirs, we were yours and they were jealous.'
The Sunset Strip Music Festival continues on Sunday with performances by Empire of the Sun, Destructo, Mayer Hawthorne, Iration, Big Data, Tove Lo, Big Freedia, We Came as Romans and more.
Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com
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