Satellite Party at Spaceland

Surprise, Surprise. Another "secret show". Originally billed as "The Solutionists", Satellite Party was relatively more of a "secret show" than Helmet. It was one of the few times you will ever see guitar techs working at a spaceland show. It was also one of the few times you will see two Marshall JCM 2000 amp heads stacked on each other for one guitarist. When I saw the brown Washburn guitar with a reverse headstock, it could only mean that Nuno Bettencourt was in the house. Of course you may know Nuno when he was rocking out with Extreme. The Satellite Party features collaborations with Peter Hook(Joy Division/New Order), some of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fergie, and some previously unheard spoken word by Jim Morrison. The touring lineup consists of Perry Farrell, Nuno Bettencourt, drummer Kevin Figueiredo, bassist Carl Restivo and his wife Etty Lau Farrell on back up vocals. Their keyboardist was rocking a Moog Voyager, a Nord Electro 3, and a M-Audio controller hooked up to his laptop. They debuted songs off of Ultra Payloaded which were presented in a more stripped down rock and roll vibe. I would imagine the cd would be more orchestral judging by the track they have on myspace. Perry has always been known for being an intense stage performer. I think the size of the stage at Spaceland may have left Perry feeling confined. This will not be a problem in the future as I am sure they will play much larger venues. The songs sounded more Jane's Addiction than Porno for Pyros. They did a great rendition of "Mountain Song" which probably stirred up flashbacks of those who attended Lollapalooza. Perry always surrounds himself with excellent musicians and with the executive production of Steve Lillywhite(U2/Morrissey) it will be interesting to see how long this party will rage for.