Concert Review: Jane's Addiction

Perry Farrell (Peretz Bernstein), Stephen "Shlomo" Perkins and Dave Navarro performed in front of 5,000 at the TA Exhibition Center.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Jane's Addiction 311 (photo credit: Avihai Levy)
Jane's Addiction 311
(photo credit: Avihai Levy)
If anticipation was a drug, 5,000 Jane’s Addiction fans were as high as Sputnik at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center Thursday night, prior to the alternative rock gods’ show – which many thought might not happen. Indeed, in the wake of mass concern following the beloved group’s last-minute cancellation of a gig in Leeds, England just days prior due to singer Perry Farrell’s throat ailment, the much-hyped reunion show appeared to be in jeopardy.
However, the legendary front man did not disappoint.
Looking at least 15 years younger than his 51 years of age, and every bit the part of the helmsman of one of the most respected and celebrated rock groups of the past quarter century, Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein) along with wingman and guitar virtuoso, Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen "Shlomo" Perkins, did what Jane’s Addiction does: Rock.
Launching the show with a booming cover of “Whores,” the group took the thousands of young and Gen X fans huddled together into the stratosphere with them during a 12-song set list that included perennial favorites “Just Because,” “Been Caught Stealing,” and “Mountain Song.”
With the sole complaint that all the grandmothers in Israel were trying to feed him – and noting that Perkins, whose Jewish name is Shlomo, got his first drum set after his bar mitzva roughly 30 years ago – Farrell, a proud Jew, expressed his appreciation of performing in Israel, and the crowd roared its approval.
Going out with a bang – launched by an enormous confetti cannon – the group performed an encore of the classic “Jane Say’s,” leaving the crowd as only true masters of rock do: wanting more.