The alt-rock band Jane’s Addiction will kick off the Sunset Strip Music Festival in September and receive the festival’s annual Elmer Valentine Award.
Other performers booked for Sept. 20, the first day of the two-day festival, include Failure, Cold War Kids, ††† (Crosses), Minus the Bear, Kaiser Chiefs, The Birds of Satan, Nightmare and the Cat, Beware of Darkness and Say Say.
The headliner on Sept. 21 will be Empire of the Sun, the Australian electronic music duo. Other performers booked so far for that day are Mayer Hawthorne, Iration, Big Data, Tove Lo, Big Freedia, We Came as Romans, Nostalghia and Fenech-Soler.
Jane’s Addiction, which is Los Angeles-based, had its first live performance at The Roxy in 1985. Original members Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins continue to perform with the group. This year the group is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its ground-breaking album “Nothing’s Shocking,” which featured the popular hit “Jane Says.” Farrell, Navarro and Perkins have been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2011 Jane’s was inducted into Guitar Center’s Rock Walk of Fame.
At that time Tom Morello, best known for his time with Rage Against the Machine, acknowledged Jane’s Addiction as the first alt band to significantly alter the rock scene.
“Nirvana often gets credit for being the first ‘alternative’ band to break through, the band that changed music and led rock out of the hair metal wilderness of the ’80s,” Morelloe said. “That’s just not true. It was Jane’s Addiction.”
The Elmer Valentine Award that Jane’s Addiction will receive at a ceremony on Sept. 19 celebrates the music and people that have contributed to The Strip’s reputation as the home of rock. The award presentations began in 2008, with awards to Lou Adler, Mario Maglieri and Elmer Valentine, founders of famed Whisky A Go-Go, The Roxy and Rainbow Bar & Grill. Other honorees over the years include Ozzy Osbourne (2009) who received the first actual “Elmer Valentine Award” (so named after Valentine’s death), Slash (2010), Mötley Crüe (2011), The Doors (2012) and Joan Jett (2013).
Perry Farrell, Jane’s Addiction frontman, recalled the Strip’s early influence on him. “It all started for me back when my big brother used to tell me about The Strip, and about the amazing scene where artists like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison blew people’s minds by pioneering a new sound …,” he said . “So when it came time for Jane’s to record our first album, we told Warner Brothers that before we could even release a studio record we had to make a live record on The Strip, and we even recorded it at The Roxy… We are very proud to come from this heritage and are truly honored by the Valentine Award.”
The Day Two headliner, Empire of the Sun, is known for its larger-than-life productions featuring dancing swordfish girls, cryo-bazookas and otherworldly special effects. The group was started in 2008 by two of Australia’s leading musician/producers, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore. The band’s debut “Walking On A Dream” sold a million-plus copies worldwide, spawning the singles ‘We Are The People,’ ‘Walking On A Dream,’ ‘Standing on the Shore,’ ‘Without You’ and ‘Half-Mast’.
The festival will include three outdoor stages, interactive experiences and food and drinks. Sunset Boulevard will be closed to traffic between Doheny Drive and San Vicente Boulevard from 2 to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 2 to 11 p.m. on Sunday. Venues lining The Strip including Whisky A Go-Go, The Roxy and Viper Room will host live performances for ticketed attendees throughout the day and into the night and after the street fest closes until 2 a.m.
Tickets for the 2014 festival can be purchased now online. Ticket options are a single day general admission for $75 or a two-day festival pass for $125. VIP tickets range from $149-$499 per ticket and include in-and-out privileges from the festival, access to a rooftop VIP area with views of the West stage and additional amenities that vary per level.
