Jane’s Addiction (LC Pavilion) and Young The Giant (Newport Music Hall): Dual Review
February 25, 2012
Music was in the Columbus air Saturday night. Rock legends and rising stars rang sold out shows throughout both Newport Music Hall and LC Pavilion. On OSU’s campus, Young the Giant packed them in while Jane’s Addiction brought the circus to the LC. Both sides of the 102.5 spectrum ignited both adolescent and cultured rock fans, with all in between as fortunate bystanders.
Young The Giant, Newport Music Hall
Young the Giant, an up-and-coming indie power house from California, headlined the Newport playing their debut album. Their fourth Columbus play in two years, we’ve seen this band rise from the 300 cap room of The Basement, to opening for Incubus at the outdoor LC and filling Newport to capacity. With no hesitation, Sameer Gadhi wailed over the enthusiastic crowd; hits ‘Apartment’ and ‘Cough Syrup’ were met with cheers and an electric atmosphere. Not to leave the crowd out of the fun, Gadhi dove into the crowd and surfed while singing the final lines of “My Body”. Young the Giant created a vibrant mixture between the upbeat rock and the slower ballads on their album, even covering R. Kelly’s “Ignition”. A few newly-written songs made the set, with hopes of appearing on a future album.
On the other side of the 102.5 coin, Jane’s Addiction and Black Box Revelation rocked the LC. Black Box Revelation, a two member rock band from Belgium, opened with amazing stage presence and pure high-quality rock. Driving drums and deep guitar riffs set the groundwork for unique vocals, leaning more towards the Death from Above 1979 style as opposed to a Black Keys or White Stripes. The band’s small size didn’t stop the sound from penetrating through every person in the packed venue.
Jane's Addiction, LC Pavilion
Roaring applause transitioned to the main act, rock legends Jane’s Addiction. ‘The Great Escape Artist’ brought powerful rock tones to die-hard fans and newcomers alike from the very beginning, with the unrelenting single “Underground” setting the tone for the unveiling of the set, dancing girls and other stage performers that accompanied Jane’s. The intricately designed pseudo-Carnivale stage, brilliant lighting and visuals set the mood for a set that included hits old and new. Perry Farrell’s voice was melodic as ever, backed up by the expert guitar workings of Dave Navarro. Through multiple visual and audio tones, which included LED screens playing vintage erotica, transition videos that felt like scenes out of a 1930’s propaganda exploitation film, and Navarro’s slowly shed clothing the band evolved throughout the night. They closed the night with a relaxed 3 song acoustic set, picked it back up into the hallucinogenic hit ‘Irresistible Force’, and then drove it home through 2 more and an encore; carrying their audience into a frenzied rush as the final notes rang out. Not a silent voice in the house as the band reminded everyone what real rock sounds like.
After the show, the LC crowd was still dying for more and was granted a surprise visit to the A&R Bar: Young the Giant guest-DJ’d the Soundoff after party. Great music and drinks were enjoyed by all as the night drew to a close. Hall-of-Fame-bound idols mixed with powerful new trends made Columbus the place to be for live music. 2012 is still young, but the bar has been set high by these two amazing bands; challenging the spring acts to bring their all.
-PromoWest Productions
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