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JOHN 5 & LIVING COLOUR
Live at NAMM JAM
The Observatory Santa Ana
February 5th, 2026 Review by Bruce R Kilgour
The annual John 5 NAMM Jam returned to The Observatory in Santa Ana and this year, the addition of the legendary Grammy-award winning Living Colour as headliner resulted in an incredible sold-out show during the busy NAMM Show weekend.
Opening the evening was The Violent Hour, a hard-rocking female quintet fronted by former Butcher Babies vocalist Carla Harvey.
Their intense and fun six-song set was comprised of tracks from their self-titled EP, with the addition of a cool cover of the Rose Tattoo classic “Nice Boys,” which the band has modified to “Nice Girls.” The Violent Hour certainly primed the crowd for the rock pyrotechnics that were to follow.
John 5 hit the stage and he and new drummer Joey Aguirre launched into the customary show openers “First Victim / Season of the Witch.” Next up was “The Ghost,” the first of seven songs that 5 is performing from his latest album, followed by fan favorite, “Six Hundred and Sixty-Six Pickers in Hell, CA.”
An extended three-song segment from the “Ghost” LP was next, with 5 donning a cool mask for the shred-heavy “Fiend.” Another new song, “LA Express,” featured 5 playing his mandolin style “mini guitar.”
“Crank It – Living with Ghosts” and the jazz standard “How High the Moon” were next, the latter showing off 5’s Les Paul inspired picking skills. It should be noted that John 5 performs these days as a duo, and Aguirre was a powerful force on drums throughout the set.
John 5 rarely says much during his shows, and when he stepped up to the mic he jokingly said his voice sounded funny, and that is why he doesn’t sing. He instead turned the microphone toward the audience and asked them to sing along to the next song, Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
“I Am John 5” featured an appearance by a dancing roadie sporting an oversized John 5 head, complete with a crazy blonde wig. Two more songs from “Ghost” followed, “You Me and the Devil Makes Three” and “Deviant.” “Que Pasa” – from the popular 2021 album “Sinner” – was next, followed by “The Black Grass Plague,” a track that Guitar World magazine once called “country-metal thunder.”
Prior to performing the final song of the main set, “Moon Glow,” 5 told the audience that he had made a special gift for them.
He then paid tribute to his late friend, the legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, and his guitar tech David Vela passed out dozens of custom guitar picks adorned with Frehley’s likeness while 5 played.
The set closed with 5 joined by Vela on bass for a medley of snippets from 10 Mötley Crüe songs (5 is the current guitarist for that band, having replaced Mick Mars a few years back).
He asked the audience during the “Home Sweet Home” segment to illuminate their phones, as he would be sending the video to Crüe drummer Tommy Lee as a prank. John 5 continues to push boundaries on the guitar, and the audience clearly approved of this incredibly exceptional performance.
New York City-based hard rock legends Living Colour are currently preparing for their South American Best of 40 Years tour.
The band spent the latter part of 2025 appearing at a few festivals after a short run celebrating 35 years of “Time’s Up” (their second LP, released in 1990).
Having not played Southern California since supporting Extreme in 2024, anticipation was high for some funky, politically charged, Living Colour anthems.
Taking the stage to a recording of (Darth Vader’s Theme) “The Imperial March,” the band started with “Leave It Alone” and “Ignorance Is Bliss.”
Next up was what seemed like an impromptu cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” in which vocalist Corey Glover read lyrics from his phone.
“Pride” and “Funny Vibe” followed, and then we were treated to a song they’ve been performing since 2023, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The Prince song was dedicated to “the people of Minneapolis.” Next up was their (still timely) classic from their debut LP “Vivid,”
“Open Letter (To a Landlord),” which highlighted the brilliant riffs of guitarist Vernon Reid.
The medley that followed showcased songs that bassist Doug Wimbish recorded in his pre-Living Colour days with Sugarhill Gang, “White Lines,” “Apache,” and “The Message.” After a brief drum solo from Will Calhoun, “Type” morphed into a cover of “Police and Thieves,” the reggae staple popularized by The Clash in 1977.
The song “Time’s Up” was next, and this became a prelude to their cover of the Funkadelic classic “Get Off Your Ass and Jam.” However, on this evening Glover replaced the lyric “shit, goddamn” with “fuck ICE,” much to the delight of (most of) the audience.
Next was the band’s signature Grammy and MTV award-winning 1988 hit, “Cult of Personality,” another song that certainly resonates with many these days. This was the last song on the band’s printed set list, but the crowd wanted more and were rewarded with a rousing cover of The Clash’s hit “Should I Stay or Should I Go” followed by a snippet of “What’s Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song).”
Living Colour remains one of the most important and dynamic rock bands of the last four decades, and this Orange County performance during NAMM weekend proved that their loyal fans still adore them. The band has no North American dates currently scheduled but tentatively plans to tour later in 2026.
SHOW PHOTO GALLERY
by Shane Pase Photography
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