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Panic Channel, Navarro let music talk |
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Written by ALANA GRELYAK / Photos by BARRY BRECHEISEN
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Tuesday, 06 June 2006 |
Aside from the obvious excitement caused by being 10 feet away from Dave Navarro, The Panic Channel, a new band comprised of three of the previous members of Jane’s Addiction plus singer Steve Isaacs, offered up a fantastic live show. Though their new album, ONe, hasn’t yet been released, The Panic Channel still managed to capture the attention of the audience with their as-of-now unfamiliar songs.
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The Panic Channel
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 Entertainment
Art
Double Door
Chicago, Ill.
May 31, 2006
Setlist
1. Left to Lose
2. Tea House
3. Awake
4. Bloody Mary
5. Go On
6. Listen
7. Why Cry
8. Said You’d Be
9. She Won’t Last
10. Blue Bruises
11. Night One
12. Outsider (Acoustic)
13. Dazed & Confused (Led Zeppelin cover)
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Using the Double Door’s intimate atmosphere to their fullest advantage, the members of The Panic Channel held everyone’s attention. I was especially struck by what I perceived as a raw honesty from all the members. During a false start on a track called “Why Cry,” Navarro had no problem flagging down the rest of the guys to stop the music and begin again, blaming Isaacs for not starting the song correctly, a fault that Isaacs smilingly accepted.
Leaning into the crowd to sing directly into the eyes of several gooey-legged female fans, the beautiful Isaacs proved that he is capable of fronting a band of musicians more experienced than he. Something about him still seemed somewhat green and slightly garage, but for me it added to his appeal. He spoke to the crowd easily, never stumbling over any of his words, and his singing was even better. Even when not accompanied by the rest of the band, Isaacs’ voice was perfectly in tune and, unlike many live singers, he really sang every note. Navarro’s stage presence was somewhat more aloof. He shook a few hands but was obviously in his own head for most of the show. He did not make a point of trying to woo the audience members with his good looks or gorgeous smiles. His musical talent was enough to do that on its own.
The Panic Channel’s music is lyrical, heavy on melodious singing, and uses a lot of complicated yet unobtrusive bass lines per bassist Chris Chaney. The songs were easy to follow, which is good as most of the people in the audience hadn’t yet heard any of them. The band played songs from their soon to be released album, including “Bloody Mary,” which Isaacs claims he wrote about a semi-fictional character involved in Navarro’s past days of drug abuse, and “Said You’d Be,” a cynical and somewhat angry jab at President Bush’s inability to live up to his promises.
The concert went by quickly, the band members joking with each other throughout, the friendship among them obvious. The band again took advantage of the small venue to play an acoustic song called “Outsider” as their penultimate tune, with drummer Stephen Perkins keeping time on a small set of hand drums. They also performed a cover of the Led Zeppelin tune “Dazed and Confused,” stressing that they were too young of a band to do something as pretentious as exiting the stage before an encore. As a finale, the band members expressed their mistrust of even numbers, and asked the Chicago audience to count from 1 to 13 for the camera, in the hopes that it would be used as the thirteenth track on the album’s final release version, due out August 15th of this year. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
