The Jesus and Mary Chain at the House of Blues San Diego

Check out my photos of The Jesus and Mary Chain at the House of Blues San Diego over at Stereogum.

Jesus And The Mary Chain at the House Of Blues Anaheim

Jesus and The Mary Chain have returned. After a triumphant show at the Glass House, I was hoping to see them again. When I saw they were playing the House of Blues Anaheim, It was a no brainer.

Speaking of brains, Creature With The Atomic Brain opened the show with their blend of early Queens of The Stone Age rock and Screaming Trees vibe. I imagine they were sad that Mark Lanegan(Screaming Trees/Queens of The Stone Age) and his new band The Soulsavers didn't open as they were originally scheduled. The sound mix was fair but I still couldn't hear the vocals. Aldo (Vocals/Guitars) had a Fender Stratocaster that he was rocking out with and I suspect used an Electro Harmonix pedal a few times for some burning synthesizer leads during the songs. They have a new release entitled "I Am The Golden Gate Bridge" that appears to only be released in Holland. I was going to pick up their cd at the San Diego show but it was cancelled due to the devastating fires.

Evan Dando was up next and I will admit I am a big fan of the Lemonheads. I still think "It's A Shame About Ray" and "Come On Feel The Lemonheads" were some underrated albums of the nineties. Evan had his white Gibson SG and was accompanied by another guitarist as he strummed and strolled down memory lane. Some of the highlights from his set included a wistful version of "Down About It" with a capo on the 2nd fret. I was wishing Juliana Hatfield would have come out for her backing vocals during the track but no such luck. The deceptively simple guitar chords of D-A-G rang out as Evan gave a foot stomping rendition of "Into Your Arms". Evan played a solid set that also included "My Drug Buddy", "It's A Shame About Ray" and "The Great Big No". Evan will be back as the Lemonheads in December and I will try to catch a full set from him in the future.

The Jesus and Mary Chain(JAMC) appeared on stage and even though I saw them at the Glass House, it still seemed surreal. I remember breaking many guitar strings back in the day trying to emulate the sheets of noise that JAMC produced on their records. They opened with "Never Understand" and seemed to be in good spirits. Mark Crozer (Guitars) had a shirt that was emblazoned with the logo "Jim Fixed It for Me". I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw that. Loz Colbert (Drums) had a shirt that said "Shoegaze" on it which I also thought was funny. "Head On" was next and it looked like I was in for a repeat of the Glass House show which would be nothing to complain about. These notions were quickly put aside when they tore into "Dead End Kids" which was a Jim Reid solo song. Jim Reid (Vocals) sounded excellent and the band sounded very cohesive. William Reid (Guitars) was in front of his Orange Amplifier stack with a Gibson Hollowbody guitar providing his trademark fuzz. I was really impressed by Loz's drumming on this particular night as he nailed every track. The true highlight for me was hearing "Sometimes Always" with Miranda Lee Richards on background vocals. Mark switched to a 12 string Rickenbacker guitar that recreated the chimey textured chords of the song. Jim even remarked that it had been fifteen years since they last played it. They closed with "Reverence" and I was still torn that I would miss them with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Wiltern. I had already had tickets for Interpol but thought I would see them again in San Diego. Even though the San Diego show was canceled, I hope they reschedule. I assume they omitted "Catchfire" from their setlist due to the Southern California fires.

Jesus and The Mary Chain at the Glasshouse

There are a few bands that I missed back in day. Jesus and The Mary Chain were one of those bands. I still bitterly remember Lollapolloza 1992 selling out one person before me. After meeting a small army of colleagues at the immensely overcrowed "bar" a few doors down, we went to the glasshouse to see some legends perform.




I thought there would be a larger roar when Jesus and Mary Chain appeared on stage. Most people where probably still in shock that the band made it this far. The opening chords of "Never Understand" rang out and I was entranced. The distortion and feedback from William Reid's guitar setup was not what I imagined but still was impressive. William was playing his hollowbody Gibson through some Orange Amps and had a Crowther Audio Hot Cake pedal combined with a Dunlop Wah Pedal. One glitch the band encountered was a restart of "Cracking Up" as Jim had miss timed the intro vocals but covered it up when he mentioned he originally didn't sing on the song. One thing that impressed me the most Jim Reid's vocals sounded timeless given all the years. The new song "All Things" sounded great and gives me a glimmer of hope that they will release a new album in the future. All of the songs sounded superb but I felt that "Blues from a Gun" had a extra singe of flame on the track. The highly rumored appearance of a movie actress turned out to be Annie Hardy from Giant Drag. Unfortunately, her vocals were turned down to an undectectable level. It was good to see Phil King and Loz Colbert onstage again. I don't think a Lush reunion would ever happen, but there still maybe hope for a Ride reunion. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Smashing Pumpkins "Reunion" will be just as good if not better.




Jesus and Mary Chain Setlist from the Glass House:
"Never Understand"
"Head On"
"Far Gone and Out"
"Sidewalking"
"Snakedriver"
"Happy When It Rains"
"Some Candy Talking"
"Between Planets"
"Blues From A Gun"
"Cracking Up"
"All Things (New Song!)
"Teenage Lust"
"Just Like Honey (Annie from Giant Drag on background vocals)"
"Reverence"