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The Jesus and Mary Chain on Tour
Early on, the Scottish alternative rock band Jesus and Mary Chain were known for short and feedback-heavy live shows that took cues from aggressive punk and industrial bands. Although the group eventually toned down their confrontational tendencies, they instead channeled their penchant for noise into dark and moody shows with plenty of propulsive grooves and raucous riffs.
Over the years, The Jesus and Mary Chain have appeared at Coachella, opened for Nine Inch Nails and celebrated the 30th anniversary of their album Psychocandy in 2015 with the Psychocandy Live tour.
The Jesus and Mary Chain in Concert
The Jesus and Mary Chain were originally formed by brothers Jim and William Reid in the early '80s. After releasing their debut single, "Upside Down," in 1984 on legendary label Creation Records, the group signed to Blanco y Negro to release their 1985 debut, the seminal Psychocandy. At this point, the group's lineup featured another future rock star, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, on drums, and their music incorporated inspiration from acts such as The Shangri-Las, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground.
From there, The Jesus and Mary Chain streamlined their sound into something moodier and even poppier, which helped propel 1987's Darklands and 1989's Automatic to U.K. album chart success. The latter album even spawned two alternative radio hits in the U.S., as "Blues From a Gun" topped the Billboard modern rock chart, and "Head On" — soon to be covered by Pixies — peaked at No. 2. As the '90s progressed, The Jesus and Mary Chain continued to find success, including with 1994's "Sometimes Always," a duet with Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval that peaked at No. 3 on the alternative chart.
Although the band split up in the late '90s, they reunited in 2007 and have toured regularly since then. In 2017, The Jesus and Mary Chain released a new studio album, Damage and Joy, the first album since 1998's Munki. The band has continued to enjoy notoriety and success thanks to some subtle pop culture nods: The 1985 song "Just Like Honey" was used in a pivotal scene in 2003's Lost in Translation, while Ben Gibbard namechecked the group in Death Cab for Cutie's "We Looked Like Giants."
One of the best concerts I have seen this year. The band was tight and played several encores including some of their older songs. The new songs blended with the older material.
Such an amazing night at The Masquerade, the first time I was at their new venue for a show, and a sold out one at that. I was lucky enough to be right upfront and just a bit right of center for this show. They played an almost greatest hits song list of classic material, nothing new, but still an amazing performance with a lot of energy. Can't wait for the new album and hopefully another tour of the US to support it.
First time I've heard a band start a song over four times. Poor lighting (purple swirling lights for an hour plus), could not hear the singer when he was not singing at top volume, just really disappointed. Imagine Just Like Honey with only the female voice, that's exactly how it was. I can't figure out if this was the Masquerade's issue with sound and lighting or the band's insistence on being neither seen nor heard.
The band sounds better than ever. They opened with a set of songs, took a short break, returned to the stage and played Psychocandy in order. Amazing.
Awesome show. Jim & William Reid as awesome as ever. Sounded great. This was a bucket list show for me.
Best yet! I saw Psycho Candy in Brazil in 1986. I can assure J & MC is best yet 30 years later! The song is stronger than before and the guys are really motivated!
That was an incredible and unforgettable evening for me. Thank you J&MC! Thank you T5!
jim and William have the most underrated band ever imo, their albums are non derivative gold and have paved the way for so many bands with a tenth of the talent its literally innumerable. psycocandy is my least favorite of all their albums that said still a fantastic recollection of that album. with the mini bonus set containing head on and a few other masterpieces. its a dream I know but if they continued on with the idea of touring albums I would be in heavan and may hit the road to follow shows containing darklands, barbed wire, automatic, honeys dead, sound of speed, stoned and dethroned, hate rock and roll, and munki. I mean jesus! look at that list of pure quality music that goes so far past anything today, its a body of work that has very few rivals. if you haven't seen them don't miss a chance, its life altering, at least it was for me starting with darklands.
incredible show. got there 5 minutes before jamc went on due to insane traffic on hwy. 70, but well worth it. 4 songs from automatic, 3 from honey's dead. wow.
These guys were clearly on stage for the money. Bummer.
Been waiting 25 years to see the JAMC, and the sound at the Vogue killed the experience for me. Band's performance was fine, but the guitars (specifically William's lead guitars) were completely obliterated by over-amped drums. When you go see a guitar band, known for its wall of guitar sound, you expect to hear some guitars. As it was, we had to strain to hear solos, and got headaches from the drum noise. Too bad; hopefully they will tour again, and at a different venue. Or at least with someone else running the soundboard.
As a long time fan it was a great moment to learn that JMC was coming to the states. Lots of fun to know they were coming to Indianapolis at the Vogue. Loved the song list, lots of favorites. Felt like a local show and not like a commercial concert. They were excellent.
It was twenty years ago last month that I last saw JAMC; on the second annual Lollapalooza....and while hair was grayer and stomachs were a little bigger....they still brought on a good show. Some parts were sloppy and slow, but others were fast and tight. Despite the venue having the A/C and fans cranked up so much it felt like an icebox - and for some odd reason smelling like chlorine, I would go back; nice area in the Broad Ripple area of Indy.....
...despite some feedback and a couple of "do overs" they still sounded great. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to see them at the Paradise which is always a great place for a show. Loud, but good! What I didn't like? There were 2 opening bands. Both were ok if it was one or the other, but combined, it was just too much.
Outstanding! They've aged a bit, but the music hasn't.
I went thinking it was going to be a lackluster tired performance. I was so wrong. The J&MC where nothing short of brilliant!
toronto, packed show showed a little rustyness from the last decade but railed on their fantastic song list. they should order the songs with a few slow jams in there rather than just railing the whole show. the slow stuff off like stoned and dethroned is beautiful and would give the band a little rest to fire off the fast stuff. over all fantastic show. they are coming to my home town tomorrow, detroit rock city and i hope they have fun and tear up st andrews hall. ill be front row with 20 friends helping jim with the lyrics and cheering on bill to do that voodoo that he do so well.
I saw the Jesus & Mary Chain at the Channel a couple times in the 80's, the songs were great but the performances, while intense, were not always well played. This show was the same. About 70% of the songs were done great, but about 30% were off, either rythmically or for some other reason. BUT, these guys believe in what they do, and I think they are right about what rock 'n' roll is, and that's the point, isn't it.
I love the Jesus & Mary Chain. Wish I loved this show. The first 6 or 7 songs held promise but around Sidewalkin' things went downhill. Early sloppiness turned into awkward song endings, out-of-tune guitars, stops and starts...and a show by a band that looked like they got back together the week before and were regretting it. In the 80's it was cool to show disdain for the audience...refreshing even...(playing with their backs to the audience!) but the disinterest they seemed to have in their own performance was just plain embarrassing. Times have changed. Sometimes you just can't go back...even if the songs are still great. I left the club thinking that a dedicated cover band would have been more fun!
nothing ground-breaking, but that's not why I see my old favorites. I want to hear the songs the way I remember them in my head. Good selection, good sound. I like the band, and I like the Paradise, so it's an easy sell.
