Shooter Jennings And Duff McKagan In Conversation At The Grammy Museum - Tenderness

Longtime friends Shooter Jennings and Duff McKagan have teamed up on the forthcoming (May 31st!) solo album from McKagan, Tenderness, and they spoke about their collaboration last Thursday night at The Grammy Museum's Clive Davis Theater. Grammy Director, Scott Goldman, introduced Jennings by saying that he's collaborated with everyone from George Jones to Marilyn Manson (and recently won his first Grammy for producing Brandi Carlile's By The Way, I Forgive You!), and that tells you the huge range that you're dealing with, and that makes sense of how a member of Outlaw Country royalty would come together to work with McKagan, one of the founding members of the monsters of hard rock, Guns N' Roses.

Jennings and McKagan took the stage to much applause, and settled in for a chat about the new album, and their process in making it. These partners met back in 2001, when Jennings was in his band Stargunn (which is also around when I became friends with Jennings!). Jennings was much more metal back then, and said that he came to L.A. because of GNR, and the first CD's he ever bought were GNR. "That 'Welcome To The Jungle' video with Axl getting off the bus in L.A. - that was me!" It was rumored around town back then that he might even take over for Axl Rose in GNR at one point - he had the good hair AND the pants. Though that never happened, a friendship was born between Jennings and McKagan, because as McKagan put it, "I saw in his eyes that he was a truth teller."

As both musicians struck out on their own, McKagan was particularly struck by Jennings' Black Ribbons album (my favorite too - a conceptual masterpiece in my opinion), and had him in mind to work with when coming up with the songs that would become Tenderness. McKagan is also a writer, with books and columns, and refers to himself as an "Armchair Historian". He likes to visit tourist spots, like Monticello, and World War I museums, and is constantly out there meeting and talking with people, and said that when you turn off the news and really talk to people, there just isn't that divide that all of the media talks about. Like after 9/11 - everyone came together to help, it didn't matter what "side" you were on. We were in it together - as we are now and always have been. "Like, I've seen women in full head coverings rocking the fuck out!" Rad.

Inspiration for the new album came to McKagan from artists like Mark Lanegan ("The River Rise") and Greg Dulli ("Deepest Shade" - "that romances the shit out of my musical mind!" - D.M.), and Jennings understood that vibe immediately, and cited Failure's "Stuck On You" as his own touchpoint. Goldman blew smoke at Jennings by asking McKagan, "Was it intimidating to be working with such a dauntingly talented multi-instrumentalist as Shooter?" to which Jennings said, "I'm gonna leave." People talk about humble musicians, but Jennings is the REAL deal - and an awesome dude to boot (which makes sense why these two get along. McKagan seems super thoughtful and aware and kind too). To answer the question, McKagan said he addresses it in the booklet he wrote included with the album ... saying, "Shooter was a few steps ahead always, but didn't make you feel that way." He echoed Brandi Carlile's sentiment, that working with Shooter is "like being two kids in the basement making a rocketship!" After juggling touring and kid schedules, these true partners got down to it. McKagan also used Jennings' band for the project, and told about seeing them play The Troubadour last fall, and hanging over the balcony going, "That's my band!" all excited, because they're THAT good.

Several of the songs from Tenderness touch on issues we're all dealing with these days: addiction, gun control, suicide ... though McKagan is reluctant to pontificate on these things, and doesn't want to be yet another political voice, saying, "Oh, you should think this way .. Fuck me." Using the track "Parkland" as an example, he said it came to him as a B flat/D funeral dirge sound, and he name-checks sites of these mass shooting tragedies ... "And if that's political, you can fuck off." That got rousing applause - because Duh.

McKagan also addressed the issue of addiction, having lost many friends to it over the years. He credited his wife, Susan, several times with saving his own life, and it was refreshing to hear a dude gush over his longtime marriage, calling it "badass and cool". "Being strung out isn't a 'them', it's a "we", McKagan stated, and went on to talk about how losing so many inspired his song, "You're Still Here". Scott Weiland had died, whom McKagan tried to help many times. Then Prince. "My thing is Prince. 1999 saved my life, and got me out of heroin-infested Seattle to L.A." (I knew I liked him). He heard about that tragic death while on tour in Mexico City and was gutted. Then Chris Cornell (whose daughter Lily is two weeks apart from McKagan's daughter). The night Cornell died, Axl Rose had come to GNR and said, "Let's try 'Black Hole Sun' tonight" - which they had never played. McKagan got a text after the show that Cornell had died. Heavy. Then Chester Bennington. It's all so sad, but McKagan made it a little better, saying, "We're gonna remember you. You're still here." Having come out the other side himself, McKagan said, "The celebration is that I get to work with Shooter now, and do something also badass and cool."

Jennings and McKagan are readers, and talked about authors and their lyrical influence. McKagan is big on Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway, and their scarcity of words. "They can make me cry over a single sentence. I tried to write to standards of authors that I read. Like, do NOT rhyme 'fire' with 'desire'. Do not fucking do that!" Jennings added about making the album, "We were just chasing a sound. We had a center - which was us - and no boundaries." McKagan was about to add to that, then stopped himself, saying, "You realize this is the most we've ever talked about this. Now we're just making stuff up!"

Goldman publicly thanked McKagan for all of his work on behalf of MusiCares, helping other musicians because he's been there himself. "Being an alcoholic junkie is not part of the rock star dream, and now I have sobriety and a lust for life." He also talked about doing a book of "all the shit I don't remember, like interviewing friends saying, 'What did I do in Louisville?", which cracked people up. Listening to these guys talk together, you realize they're both just regular cool dudes, who also happen to be insanely talented legends that we were lucky to see in such an intimate setting ... and then it was time for them to play!

Joined by violinist, Aubrey Richmond, Jennings sat down at the piano, and McKagan strapped on a guitar. They opened with the title track "Tenderness" and its beautiful piano intro. It's really a song about empathy, and how badly needed that trait is today. Up next was "Chip Away" (which reminded me that McKagan was briefly in Jane's Addiction too!), an upbeat number that featured a fiddle solo and the notion of hanging in there until all of this mess in our country is through - or that's how I took it, anyway.

The short set ended with the one about all of the lost souls, "You're Still Here". It is slow, and there is a funeral air about it, but it's beautiful. The line, "You're still here ... when the lights go down, you are still here ... all you hold dear remains" proved that McKagan attained what he was aiming for. I cried over one sentence. The last notes rung out and McKagan shouted, "We'll see you on the road!" and they sure will. Because their show will be the one where you feel no division in this country, at least for a few hours.  Shooter and Duff ... Thank you for the Tenderness!

Tenderness is out May 31, 2019
Shooter Jennings & Duff McKagan play The Wiltern on June 13, 2019.
Tickets now available.

*Photos by Paul Gronner Photography

Celebrating 50 Years Of MC5 At The Ford Amphitheater - Kicking Out The Jams!

I've seen my friend Brother Wayne Kramer perform a lot of times, but never with his band, Motor City 5, better known as MC5. Until this past Friday night, when Kramer and his cronies performed the Kick Out The Jams album in its entirety for a Jail Guitar Doors benefit at the Ford Amphitheater - and it was something else!

Friday night L.A. traffic found us getting there just as Jason Heath and The Greedy Souls were opening the evening's night of rock and roll with a message. Heath and his band are also great friends of mine, so it was a treat to get to see them rock the Ford stage, with its beautiful outdoor setting and stars shining above.

JHTGS opened with "In Love With My Gun" and "Fair Fight" - both pretty topical at the moment. There was a full band along for this ride, complete with horns and female backup singers sounding great. They tore through "Dead Stars" and "Postcards From The Hanging" from their most recent album, But There's Nowhere To Go. I wrote the bio for that album, but haven't had the chance to see its songs performed live in quite a while, so this was awesome to see our pals up there giving it their all.

"Thunderstruck" is one of my favorites (and I recently learned it's about Matthew Shepard, the young guy man who was beaten to death almost exactly 20 years ago), and it sounded better than ever, as did "Turn On (The Radio)" featuring Jason Federici on keys, and everyone else ruling hard for the song that Heath said "Is about rock and roll changing the world. I don't know if it can, but we're gonna try". After that throwdown, I think they're on to something. Heath also reminded everyone that the evening was a benefit for the wonderful Jail Guitar Doors organization (founded by Billy Bragg in the UK, headed up by Wayne and Margaret Kramer here in the U.S.), and I thought of Franc Foster who died earlier this year.

I met Foster through one of these JGD shows, and became friends after writing about his travels from inmate to musical mentor to other prisoners. Foster's presence here on this night was sorely missed. When Heath and Co. played "Nowhere To Go" it got me thinking about how I really don't know where else to go in this crazy world. Where is cool to live? And if you find it, how long will we be able to survive with climate change about to make life on this planet extinct? Deep thoughts, but I snapped back in time to hear "Devil Ain't Talkin'", complete with horns, which I think always elevate everything. I love Jason Heath and The Greedy Souls and you should take any chance you get to see them jam together. Right on.

We went to mingle with some friends and missed half of Starcrawler, but heard it muffled from a distance. A photographer we know told us that she'll never shoot this band again because the singer kicked her camera into her face and she had to go to the hospital, so we weren't in any hurry to see some jerks.

We got back to our seats in time to see the female lead vocalist (Arrow de Wilde) spit up (fake) blood and smash another photographer's camera (she's darn lucky it wasn't Paul's). The punkish rock was o.k., but it seemed to me if it were really good, they wouldn't need such antics. Why be so destructive to people that are helping to promote you? It was a turn off. The crowd - leaning on the older side, as Kramer himself is now 70, and it IS the 50th anniversary of MC5 - was taken aback when de Wilde shouted, "Oh, C'mon, turn up your fucking hearing aids!" You heard an audible gasp, and I don't think this band won any new fans after that. And, it must be said, the crowd never sat down ONCE when MC5 took the stage - so there.

I gather that de Wilde is going for a female Iggy Pop type thing, but it came off as truly disturbed. When she staggered off to the side of the stage, looking all frantic and lost, I genuinely almost left my seat to go help her. She looked so fucked up it was almost scary, but I'm glad I didn't go to her aid, as I most likely would have been left covered with fake blood, which she spread over everyone as she ran out into the crowd and back off stage. The remaining musicians kept playing without her, with the guitarist playing off into the wings. Then they were done and we all kind of shrugged, and looked forward to the mighty MC5 (in this incarnation) taking the stage!

Kramer is the lone original Detroit guy left in the band, that now features Seattle guys (like Soundgarden's Kim Thayil and Pearl Jam's Matt Cameron), and Zen Guerilla frontman Marcus Durant singing lead. Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, and Faith No More's bassist Billy Gould round the band out, making it a supergroup of expert rockers. Margaret Kramer made a speech on behalf of Jail Guitar Doors, and then it was time to ... KICK OUT THE JAMS!!

Wayne Kramer led the band on stage RUNNING to the mic stand, and they all tore into "Rambling Rose", and the entire crowd leaped to its collective feet - and stayed there until the last note was smashed. They went straight into "Kick Out The Jams" and everyone's phones were out trying to capture the energy, which was impossible unless you were there. People were going NUTS for this jam that was celebrating its 50th year of being kicked out. It was EXCITING in there, believe me. Especially when Kramer ripped out a guitar solo on his iconic star spangled axe. Phew!

"Come Together" was just as rocking, and "Motor City's Burning" showed that Durant is a very pale black man, tearing up his harmonica while giving the song its very Motown vibey soul. Bluesy and awesome, it was a real standout. Brother Wayne next did band intros, and shouted out everyone on stage, and said, "I'm so happy to be here tonight with you in L.A.!", and we were all so happy about it too. "Rama Lama" showed off everyone at their best, and even featured some ass shaking from Kramer, as well as a guitar battle between him and Thayil. SO good.

That this guy is now 70 is proof that rock and roll keeps one young at heart, and Kramer was pulling Townshend-like arm windmills on "Borderline" and cranking out more electric solos on "I Want You Right Now", which was awesome. "Starship" got very acid rocky, and it was clear that this one was written in the groovy late 60's.  They ended the song all pointing up, as if to ask the aliens to please take us now. To have mercy on us.

Not a person had yet sat down - in Los Angeles - and wouldn't for the remainder of the show. I've been at a LOT of shows in L.A. lately, and this never happens if there are seats. The once in a lifetime experience that this was (and that I kept hearing people say that) amped up the electricity in the venue, and people were going to be rocking for its entirety. RAD.

Kramer acknowledged his band mates that made this music together 50 years ago, then strapped on an acoustic guitar for "Shakin' Street", which ruled. The guy behind me said, "If they play 'Future/Now' I'll shit my pants!" - which they next DID play, and I was nervous to look behind me to see if he had actually shat himself, but I could hear that he was very happy by his shouts. Good for him!

"Please welcome our good friend, Duff McKagan!" shouted Kramer, and welcome the GNR legend we did. He joined the and for "Call Me Animal" and they just beat that song to a pulp. While they were all simply shredding, a trio of horn players walked on to the stage, and once again brought the energy even higher. Kramer introduced them at song's end as "The Parolee Horns!", and then introduced another special guest, Greg Dulli from The Afghan Whigs! Awesome.  Dulli TORE through a fast paced "Let Me Try" and "Skunk", and the place went wild. The guys on stage were getting a full cardio workout, and the audience was doing their best to keep up. Phew!

After that frenzy, Kramer took a moment to speak his mind. "I know our country's going through tough times. There's a rapist on the Supreme Court, there's a rapist in the White House ... but it is our right to exercise our power  - and we do that when we VOTE!" A "VOTE!" chant started up, as everyone was SO fed up at the SCOTUS news of the day, and Kramer continued, "We can save this world, but we gotta get to WORK. We're gonna let those bums in Washington know, WE'RE LOOKING AT YOU!" and they blazed through "Looking At You" just to show 'em.

Everyone came back up for a raucous run-through of "Sister Anne" for the final hard rocking All Star jam. Thayil's fingers were flying, and everyone was giving it their absolute all. The crowd ate it up and shouted for more, but there's a curfew. Kramer shouted, "Thank you all! You are terrific! See you next year, same time, same station ... GO VOTE!!!"

The musicians had a group bow together, and left the stage. They left everyone else standing there shaking their heads in amazement at what they had just seen. LOVING it. There was a little backstage soirée, and I got to catch up with my Justice Tour Alumni (a tour we did with Tom Morello a decade ago!) friends, all of whom I love so much. In dark times like these, it is reassuring that there are people who still believe in good, and still try to do something that matters in this world. Like bring music to inmates in order to create a better life for themselves. Like doing benefit shows just for the good in it. Like urging people to vote with their voices that people might listen to. Like simply caring. And if you can do all of that while rocking faces off - even better.

Thanks and LOVE to all the Jail Guitar Doors friends and family who made this momentous night possible. As for those jams? They done kicked 'em OUT!

 MC50th is touring now!

*Photos by Paul Gronner Photography

Live On The Sunset Strip ... JANE'S ADDICTION!

There may be no better way to kick off a weekend of celebrating Independence and Freedom than to have your mind blown by Jane's Addiction. BLOWN!

Juana's Adiccion kicked off the Bing Sunset Strip Summer Concert Series at The Roxy last Friday night, in a show for FANS, called "Fan's Addiction". They weren't fronting. The people crowding the house were ALL Superfans, - you could tell. Fans that may not have ever seen Jane's live, or if they had, it had been a loooong while. The only way to get tickets was to win them from the band's website, Tweeting with Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro to win, or standing on line at The Roxy all day long (Rewarded in most cases. That's how packed it was). That makes for an extra special show, as out were the jaded seen it all types, and IN were the fans that count Jane's as one of their ALL-time favorite bands.


Like me. At the first Lollapalooza I literally somehow healed myself from too much sun and tequila & oranges ruin just in time to squeeze down front and scream along with every word Perry sang. That was the only time I've ever bounced back so dramatically, and it was because of the music. Now THIS night, I felt great to begin with, so it was all even better. Years have passed, both since that first Lollapalooza Jane's experience, and since Jane's recorded their first album - Jane's Addiction - in this very same venue. I am now blessed to call (longtime/former Venice dwellers) Perry and Etty Farrell friends, but that hasn't affected the fervor with which I revere the music, not one iota. It does, however, help a bit to get in the door to such a memorable evening.

Not an easy task. Those people had been lined up all day with the hopes of getting in The Roxy, and they were going to go OFF once inside. To behold such a spectacle, that - leaping ahead - HYPER ... I heard a lot of chatter after the show saying it had been the very best show many had EVER seen.

That show began with an opening set, not by some random up and comer band like usually is the case, but by a custom-made (by Perry) revue designed to shock and awe, put on by our own Venice Beach Freak Show! Todd Ray yelled "Where are the Freaks in the house?!" to unanimous applause from the house, and his cast of characters - Larry the Mexican Wolf Boy, Murrugun the Mystic, Brett the Sword Swallower, and The Rubber Boy - came out and had the crowd screaming the entire time.


Larry was hairy, Brett swallowed three swords at once (!), the Rubber Boy was jump-roping with his own arms, but Murrugun was the craziest. He pierced his flesh with metal skewers, all the way through, to where you had to either look away or risk throwing up. Yipes. The screams and gasps were authentic, and there's much more of that craziness to be seen each weekend on the Venice Boardwalk.


The skewers did not stop there. As tangible excitement built (like that old feeling you used to get pre-BIG show), next to take the stage were two tattooed and lingerie-clad ladies, one of whom took metal longass needles and inserted them through one cheek and out the other, licking it when it came out for good measure. More shrieking went down for that, but NOTHING compared to when both girls were suddenly hooked up to harnesses attached to metal rods in their backs ... flesh stretched out and crazy to where I had sympathy pain in my own piercing the next day, no joke.


Up they flew, swinging around from the ceiling, when the curtain dramatically rose and Jane's Addiction was revealed, blasting the opening notes of "Whores"!


To say that people went absolutely eyes-crossed crazy is too subtle ... all you could do was just scream senselessly at how Amaze-balls it all was. Perry dodged the girls as he sang, sometimes stopping to give them a swing push, as Dave tore through a possessed-like solo. I talked with many music biz folks after the show, and all agreed that it was one of the all-time Best Openings To A Show. Ev. Er.


The band was in perfect form from the outset: Perry smiling and having a ball; Dave skulking about the stage tearing his guitar to pieces, Stephen Perkins grinning like a little kid as he beat the daylights out of his drum kit, and Duff McKagan replacing Eric Avery seamlessly on the bass. The stage was done up as kind of an altar, with white Christmas lights hanging around a saintly painting and colorful Day Of The Dead-like accessories.


Awesome. (I'll be using that adjective a lot as we continue, I suspect).


"Ain't No Right" and "Had A Dad" immediately followed the spectacular opening number, and found Perry slapping fives with everyone down front, swigging from a bottle of red wine, and shimmy dancing along with the band he's fronted for over two decades, but performing his heart out like it was his first time.


He is the ultimate front man, he really is, and you can see the joy he gets out of these kind of moments coming off of him, like heat wave mirages (though it may really have been heat mirages, as it was a sweaty inferno of excitement in there). Dave calmly puffed away on a cigarette and shrugged his classic riffs out like it was no big deal. But it was.


Awesome. The crowd alone could tell you that, as they were SO into it for every last note and word played, you thought some would have to be carried out on gurneys.


Between songs, Perry said, "I'm talking to my homies in L.A. ... Kiss my ass, Boston!" (Referring, of course, to our recent NBA Smackdown with the Celtics - Ha!) L.A. was more than receptive too ... particularly when the "Everybody, everybody ..." opening to "Ted, Just Admit It" began, and Mrs. Farrell and her dancing partner, Stephanie Spanski, came out in black lingerie with feather butts, to bump and grind around the band. The guys (probably a bunch of girls too) in the place needed bibs at this point, so hot were these two.


Etty is a gorgeous woman - inside and out - and somehow managed to look like a wind machine was permanently on her - as cool and vampy (despite the heat), she pranced around her husband. The true love between them shone as bright as the spotlights. (I don't exaggerate in this case. They're the same at home as they are steaming up a stage. Theirs is a real and enviable love. So there.)


When the opening chords to "Mountain Song" started up, the audience was just GONE. Completely out of their minds. I personally was so happy to be there, I felt like I was vibrating like the breeze that comes out of speakers when you're too close - especially when I got a little Perry shout-out ("Cash in now, Carol ... Cash in now!") that pretty much made my Summer. When the resulting furor rose at that behemoth of a number's end, Perry said, "Do you know how much I love hearing that shit?!" Mad adulation - We meant the song, but he meant the cheering. There was a mutual love fest going on in the room, no doubt about it.


It continued with a crazy tearing through of "Been Caught Stealing", with Perry taking someone's cell camera and mugging for it, shaking his ass, and generally beaming throughout, while Stephen's curly-haired mohawk flopped around as he delivered a proper flogging to the song. Dave is just a blast to watch, and Duff is straight badass.


The slightly ominous tones of the dramatic "3 Days" started up, and Etty and Stephanie came out to flank Perry ("Three lovers in three ways ...") wearing black gags. Sexy, dark, edgy, DOPE as ever. For real, this band has held up almost miraculously, and makes a whole lot of newer bands seem like lint to pick off. Tight, almost telepathic tone changes, illustrated how being in it for the long haul makes for serious musical excellence. Duff as the new guy crunched out the bass lines like he was practicing them in night school after his GNR day job. Perfection. The song builds and builds, until Perry singing "All of us with wings .." felt undoubtedly true. Perkins took a blistering solo, and then it all exploded in such a way that left the room breathless ... but still yelling.


"Ain't life great?! I'm having such a fucking good time!", yelled Perry after that one, but it could have been said by anyone there. Strangers would pass by and high-five me, unprovoked. The resulting photos of the night show nothing but joy on every face you focus on. The real kind of happy that can't be faked. Shiny, excited, wild eyes were everywhere, and they lit up even more when the band revved up again for "Stop!" Perry was as dancing maniac, and the band showed zero mercy to the surging crowd. When it got to the "Hum ... along with me, hum along with the t.v. ... Whoa-oh-oh-oh, Whoa-oh-oh-oh, Whoa-oh-oh-OH-oh ..." part - ALL voices joined as one, and you could tell the entire band was thrilled, knowing that their heydays were far from over.


The entire Sunset Strip was thrilled (if the noise carried like I think it did) for "Ocean Size". It was done to epic proportions, and as Perry sang, "Wish I was Ocean size ...", I wanted to tell him, "Perry, You are." Nothing felt bigger at that moment in time, and as they rocked us to our collective cores, nothing but that feeling felt better. The stoke that comes from a good old- fashioned rock out cannot be diminished, nor can the camaraderie that comes from sharing that experience with a bunch of other like-minded new friends.


That was it for the regular set, but it started the frenzy anew, as rabid men and women shouted for more. Pretty soon, some roadies came out and set up some steel drums, which earned their own cheers. Uh-oh. That could only mean one thing ... and it did.


Stephen came out and stood at the steel drum set, Dave and Duff brought out acoustics, while Perry and the Girls danced around to the more than classic, "Jane Says". There wasn't one word of it that wasn't shouted along with by the entire room. Not one. When they brought up the house lights for the band to see the crowd sing-along, all the faces reflected the same pure giddy happiness. By the way, I don't care if you think I'm being gushy about all of this, I'm merely reporting the simple facts of a SPECTACULAR show. It was truly one for the ages.


"How are you all?" {{ ROOOOOAAAARRR!!! }} "Remember how vibrant the music scene used to be in L.A.? {{ WOOOOOOOOO!!!! }} "Well, I don't keep track, I just keep going!"
{{ AAAAHHHHH!! }} "We recorded our first album here in 1987, and I insulted every record executive in this whole city ... I invited 'em all to come check out my balls!" {{ A-HAHAHAH! }} "Tonight felt like the Good Old Days ... but these ARE the days!" {{ YEAAA-whistles-AAAAA-shrieks -AAAAAH! }} And with that, Dave, Stephen and Duff each began banging on big drums in unison at the front of the stage, signaling the opening to ... "Chip Away"!


You could barely stand how great it was in there then. That song has always felt just HUGE to me, and tonight it was that much and more. Like Ho. Ly. SHIT (That was the dominant phrase being uttered by nearby fans)! Etty and Stephanie were leading the clapping, the guys in the band were banging the drums senseless, and everyone else was just jumping up and down (waitresses, bartenders, security, EVERYONE!) as Perry screamed, "I don't, I don't, I don't feel easy!", over and over until the fever pitched and it all finally had to come to an end. Not that anyone wanted it to.


Jane's Addiction came to the front of the stage, arm in arm, and stood there just soaking up the adulation for a beautiful moment of complete triumph. After all the years, hardships, fights, yes, addictions, memories, and completely righteous shows like this, they're still standing. And so are we. Not just standing either, but SOARING. The arms of everyone present did not come down and the throats did not stop straining with ragged effort and noise until the house lights came on, and we all realized that it was over over. And with that realization came the accompanying one: group-think/talk of it having been "One of the greatest shows I've ever ever seen, Man!"


It really was. Like old school shows, where people didn't want to leave, they just wanted to keep talking about it. When they were finally forced to leave, they kept talking about it on the sidewalk outside, and on up until right now, when I'm still talking about it. And I'll for sure never stop smiling about the memory of it.

So as the Summertime begins to roll, I thank Jane's Addiction for sharing their gifts, and that feeling of being rocked until you're hyperkid when relating the tale. For me, it's an escape, a treasure, and ...

"It brought peace to my mind in the Summertime ... and it rolled ...".







*All photographic excellence was committed by Paul Gronner.com.