ROCK N ROLL EXPERIENCE - Satellite Party / Mink 9/7/07

Friday night’s are always a fun time if you’re in downtown Baltimore...you can usually catch a free show happening outside between 7 PM - 9 PM, & if you’re not familiar with the Power Plant area of Baltimore, it’s a cool little strip of bar’s & restaurant’s, & pn friday’s during the summer months, they usually have a nice sized stage outside that hosts various local & national acts, so as usual, I went downtown early enough to catch part of the free show outside, which was Rob Delluca, who I might add is an EXCELLENT guitarist, & when it was 8 PM, I went into Ram’s Head Live, because that was when doors opened for the Mink / Satellite Party show, but to my surprise, there was less than 10 people there! What I actually saw happen was, venue staff went outside to the crowd & gave away FREE tickets to the show, which helped fill in the venue pretty nicely!

Mink opened the show & Mink is a staright up rock n roll band that blends punk power with pop hooks to create a sound that’s what I would describe as a more developed & more musical rendition of the Ramones! The band was decked out in matching black stretch jeans, & they all had their own look which set each member apart, & the hybrid of the band is that there’s 3 members from New York & 2 from Australia!

Stella Mozgawa, the bands drummer, is a powerhouse, & it’s fun to watch her plat..she’s always popping about behind the kit, smiling, interacting with the crowd & the band, & she definitley adds to their live show! Nick Maybury, the bands lead guitarist, is the other secret weapon that Mink has...this guy’s got the rock star looks, the rock star poses, & he can play like an mf from hell!

The highlight of Mink’s set for me, was the bands cover of “Suffragette City” by David Bowie, which was pretty impressive, although an opening band never gets a proper audio mix, & the mix for Mink as not as good as it should have been, but that aside, the bands performance was stellar & I will definitley check them out again the next time they play the area!

So, after Mink finished their set, there was very little down time, just enough really to move equipment & clear the stage for the Satellite Party guys! I was quite amazed by the set list Satellite Party played..it was mostly Janes Addiction & Porno for Pyro’s songs! The very first thing that struck me was that the guitarist who was onstage with the band, who was the replacement for Nuno Bettencourt, was none other than Nick from Silvertide, & after the show I asked Perry Farrell if Nick was the official full time Satellite Party guitarist & Perry told me that Nick quite Silvertide & was his full time guitarist, & he went on to tell me a story of how when he was auditioning guitarists, that Nick was the first guy that stood out because of how he played & his style of playing! I asked Perry if he’d ever play with Dave Navarro again & he was kinda reluctant about that matter & wanted to talk more about Nick & he made a comment about greed & money, which I am assuming was about some of Dave’s career choices over the past few years. I asked Perry why Nuno Bettencourt was not in the band & he said that Nuno had a bad attitude & that it was something that couldn’t be worked out & that was kinda what he elluded to regarding Dave Navarro as well.

Highlights of the set included “Mountain Song”, “Superstar” (Which is the theme song to THE ENTOURAGE on HBO), “Tahitian Moon”, & “Jane Says” which was the closer of the night. Perhaps the funniest thing Perry said onstage was that he went to New York a few days ago & celebrated his favorite holiday...Fashion Week! Perry shimmied across the stage sporting a sequen scarf & striped top & I had commented that the only other guy I know that can move like Perry Farrell is Scott Weiland...they have this amazing energy onstage & there’s few guys who can match that kinda vibe!

Overall, this was one of the best rock n roll concert’s I’ve attended all year..it was just killer from beginning till end & I know I say it alot, but if you missed this show, you missed a great time! Perry & the entire band even came out after the show & took pics & signed autographs for the crowd!