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April 27, 2007
The Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Glass House, 4/26
The Jesus and Mary Chain got the band back together last night at the "Coachella Secret Show" in front of a capacity crowd at the Glass House in Pomona. This was their first live show since they broke up at the end of their infamous appearance at the (aptly named) House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in 1998.
Last night the Reid Brothers started off rocky, kept it slow, and seemed generally disinterested to be there. Or perhaps they were still pissed off at Rock for not delivering them all the riches they so deserve.
Singer Jim Reid seemed pissed off. Maybe he's always like that. Who knows? But after they had played a few songs he asked the crowd, "Happy we're back?" Which of course got a huge cheer. He replied, "fuck off" and looked at the drummer.
More, including video of "Reverence" from last night's show after the jump...
This is a band that never had a bad record, never had any true peers, never changed their style just to fit in. They also never had any amazing singing going on or unbelievable guitar solos, but that never seemed to be the point. The point seemed to be that groove. That stretched out freedom for feedback to develop and waft through the air. That extra measure to make you ask yourself if that was a live drum or a machine as it relentlessly kept chugging along.
Let's just say that The Jesus and Mary Chain is one of our all time favorite bands. Let's just say that we had a chance to see them play at the Santa Monica Civic back in '86 but it was on Good Friday and we thought "if we see the Jesus and Mary Chain on Good Friday we'll go to hell, right?" And then for some reason we never were offered the chance to see them ever again.
And let's say that last night we were mildly disappointed by the lack of magic that seemed to be in the songs, but not on the stage. Not at least last night.
And yes, we were also a tad disappointed that Annie from Giant Drag appeared to sing background on "Just Like Honey" and not the rumored Scarlett Johansson. Can you blame us?
If you are headed to Coachella today and have the Jesus and Mary Chain on your short list, which you definitely should since they dont play much, sit back away from the stage, lay down and enjoy.
If you want a crazy show walk over and see Peaches.
Jesus and Mary Chain Summer Tour '07
Today - Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella)
5/21 New York, NY - Webster Hall
5/22 New York, NY - Webster Hall
7/04 Lisbon, Portugal - Super Bock Super Rock
7/13 Madrid, Spain - Summercase Festival
7/14 Barcelona, Spain - Summercase Festival
8/12 Hildesheim, Germany - M'era Luna Festival
8/31 Argyll, Scotland - Inveraray Castle (Connect Festival)
9/01 Stradbally, Ireland - Stradbally Hall (Electric Picnic)
photo and video by Sonny I. LaVista for LAist
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HA! i can top your missed J & M Chain concert story ... i once had tickets for 2 shows on the same night and had to choose from JM CHain with Nine Inch Nails OR Joe Satriani ... for whatever reason i went to watch Satriani noodle on his guitar for 2 hours, as soon as i walked into the Santa Monica Civic i instantly knew i'd made a huge mistake, and spent the rest of the night checking my watch as regret welled up inside me
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They did seem disinterested, didn't they? Maybe even bitter? It was still good to be there...for the history of it if not the magic.
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"kept it slow, and seemed generally disinterested to be there"
it's shoegaze...
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you mean "just like honey"? i guess you guys really were only there for the possible scarlett johansson sighting.
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just like HONEY, not candy.
also, if you were expecting them to smile and slap hands with the audience, you've missed the point. they've never looked "interested" on stage.
Could you tell us what else was played?
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it was more than just disinterest; they sounded like a J&MC cover band who were lucky enough to get Jim Reid to sing for them. sure, they knew all the proper notes, but there was absolutely no life in the songs that i've loved for years (both studio & live versions)... Perhaps this was truly a warm-up show, and they'll show their old brilliance at coachella, but as for last night, the writer here was a little too polite if anything
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This is a band that used to start riots, got banned from their own record company's office, and would play shows with their backs to the audience. You really expected them to look "happy"? And, yes, they were brilliant at Coachella.