Spitfire Tour Performers Offer Range of Hit-and-Miss Messages

Billed as an evening of musicians, actors and activists discussing global affairs, the Spitfire Tour brought a variety of issues to the El Rey Theatre stage on Thursday. But free speech and free enterprise collided when the show started two hours late, bumping up against a later concert featuring Algerian singer Cheb Mami and reggae group Aswad.

Both programs had been relocated from other venues, causing delays that kept both audiences waiting outside for hours. As a result, the back-of-the-room buzz grew distractingly audible about 30 minutes into the nearly two-hour spoken-word show, and impatient world music fans occasionally shouted for the later acts to come on.

Spitfire is aimed at college audiences, and the tour’s revolving lineup has mainly been visiting campuses. Thursday’s group was led by Michael Franti of Spearhead and the Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy, to whom the seated Spitfire audience listened attentively as he performed raps about racism, justice, legalizing marijuana and similar topics with wit and authority.

Ex-Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra also focused on societal inequity, proclaiming that “wealth addiction” is America’s “real scandal” and offering practical, nonviolent suggestions for change. Rapper-actor Ice-T fumbled a bit, rambling absurdly about female sexuality before rapping some fairly riveting tales about the brutal mechanics of gangsta-land retaliation.

Exene Cervenka’s monologue also seemed to ramble, but her concluding point--that modern life can mess up your mind--came across. Actor Andy Dick (of “NewsRadio” fame) picked up the drug-laws thread with a hilarious, if ultimately slight, presentation that also featured two brief songs.

Taking a different tack, Perry Farrell used a multimedia presentation to explain the concept of “Jubilee,” a Jewish celebration of emancipation that comes every 50 years. But his murky message of world peace (or whatever) was diluted by a sense of self-promotion.