Porno for Pyros Lit a Fire at Observatory North Park
Porno For Pyros played the Observatory North Park February 15th)on the second stop of their farewell Horns, Thorns, En Halos tour. Previously reuniting for a one-off show in LA in July 2022, the band intended to tour in 2023 but postponed to work on new music, leading to their first singles since the 90s. On this evening, founding members Perry Farrell, Peter DiStefano, and Stephen Perkins, longtime member Mike Watt (along with Robin Hatch on keys and Etty Farrell on backup vocals) served up an exciting set of crowd-pleasing greatest hits.
Show openers Glossy and Tigercub were truly appreciative of their time on stage in front of the capacity crowd. A late addition to the lineup, LA’s Glossy quickly caught everyone’s attention with straight-from-metal Cookie Monster vocals before settling down into a quick set of enjoyable speed thrash. In an effort to conserve as much time as possible for the headliners, Tigercub quickly took the stage afterwards, playing favorites recognized from their own headlining show at Soda Bar last October. Their particular flavor of rather British rock (think Tears For Fears as played by Royal Blood, perhaps) went down easy with the nostalgia-ready crowd, earning Tigercub numerous new fans and brisk merch sales.
With the sound system properly warmed up, Porno For Pyros took the stage to the delight of the crowd (and their phones). With the rest of the performers already in place, Perry sauntered out, dressed to the nines and carrying his wine, as Peter bowed the intro to “Orgasm.” While the band has clearly aged (Mike Watt played bass while seated the entire show and Perry utilizes some mic effects to compensate for his change in range), the music hasn’t lost a step, nor has Perry’s showmanship. Regaling the crowd with anecdotes and intros for almost every song, he managed to push their set’s runtime a bit past the 11pm curfew though nobody in the audience was complaining!
Throughout the set, Peter DiStefano’s guitar solos stole the show, never an easy feat when competing with Perry’s frontman antics and Perkins’ unsurpassed wizardry behind his impressive kit. Familiar songs from their self-titled debut as well as standouts from their sophomore effort Good God’s Urge appeased the masses that want things to “sound like it does on the album” yet sounded vital and new thanks to the energy thrown into the tunes by a band that still definitely knows their craft. With their latest singles “Agua” and “Little Me” added in along with a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Gypsy Boy” that was distinctly theirs, Porno For Pyros’ swan song set certainly satiated all those 90s kids (and adults) that had eagerly devoured their albums when they came out. Knowing this would be a “last chance to see” made the experience bittersweet, but their commanding performance made for an uplifting evening of camaraderie in music.
