At the hallowed Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on Thursday night, the recently "relapsed" Jane's Addiction opened its much-hyped and heralded "I-Itz M'My Party" tour.

Inside the Hammerstein, foil streamers hung from the balconies and gigantic artificial flowers poked from a set of scaffolds set up on the venue's spacious floor.

While the nearly 4,000 shoulder-to-shoulder fans waited anxiously, the chords of "Ocean Size" finally seeped into the air. The stage curtain dropped and revealed a two-tiered stage set with scantily-clad dancers, towering flowers, Tiki masks and lights. Farrell, fit in a powder-blue, two-piece suit, stood atop the drum riser. "Three, four!" he screamed, as Navarro ripped into the song's razor-sharp opening. The room exploded.

It was the beginning of a 90-minute excursion into Jane's Addiction's too-short career, featuring tracks from all three of the band's albums: 1990's Ritual de Lo Habitual, 1988's Nothing's Shocking (both on Warner Bros.) and 1987's self-titled live effort on California indie Triple X Records.

"Ain't No Right" came next (giving the crowd its first opportunity to back Farrell's screeching vocals) followed by "Then She Did" -- one of the band's 10-minute plus epics from Ritual. The thunderous "Mountain Song" transformed the floor into a maze of people swaying from one side of the spacious room to the other. Farrell, his grasshopper-esque arms extended in front of him, smiled and preached to the sea above: "I've got a great idea, and you just thought of it," he told the crowd. "Nothing will stop. If this will continue, let it continue with love."

With that, a woman dressed in a dominatrix outfit walked onto the stage. "Señores y señoras," she whimpered, leading into the introduction of the band's resounding "Stop." The crowd took the rest of the opening from her, whipping itself into a frenzy which continued into the next track, the stirring "Three Days." After retreating to a scaffold to perform "Summertime Rolls," Farrell joined the rest of the band on a smaller, acoustic stage for "Jane Says" and "Classic Girl," both of which were sung mostly by the clamorous crowd. Enticing the crowd into a version of "Hava Nagila," Farrell led the band through the drum-heavy "Chip Away." Jane's then returned to the main stage to end the show with the media anthem "Ted, Just Admit It..."

After 15 minutes, Farrell returned to the stage explaining that the show was over, but that it didn't mean "we can't still make beautiful music for you." Navarro, carrying an acoustic guitar, strummed the opening of "I Would For You."

Friday night's show didn't stray much from the night before. However the excitement of Halloween -- with the crowd and the band dressed to the nines -- added to the Jane's legend.

"For us, these are the days," Farrell crooned, repeating a line from "Classic Girl." For Jane's Addiction fans lucky enough to get tickets, yes -- these are the days -- again. But for a tour dubbed a "party" and a reunion excused as a "relapse," it looks like Jane's Addiction is content to celebrate its glorious past. And what a celebration it is. (Jon Vena)

Set List (both nights):

• Ocean Size
• Ain't No Right
• Then She Did
• Stop!
• Three Days
• Mountain Song
• Summertime Rolls (Perry moves to scaffold set to sing)
• Jane Says (Band moves to acoustic stage set, Perry joins them)
• Classic Girl (Band returns to main stage for last song)
• Chip Away
• Ted, Just Admit It

  Encore
  

• I Would For You (Navarro and Farrell only)