All Things Must Pass - The Jesus And Mary Chain

So how great were the Jesus And Mary Chain last night, huh? Seeing them play sober was definitely a trip. By that I mean that the band was sober, not me! LOL They seemed happy, with nary a bit of drama or violence to be seen between the lot of them; just a bunch of blokes from Scotland who were enjoying playing their songs to an audience that was overly receptive to everything they were doing. Fuck, they were pretty sick, opening up with Snakedriver, off the Sound Of Speed album, and they were off and running, just doling out huge piles of feedback fueled noise that just grated and shrieked and had you tapping your fingers and shaking your head around while getting lost in the music, bobbing around to a beat that was slow, hypnotic and sexy. Fucking brilliant. The next song they played was Head On and that's when I just stopped paying attention to things and just got lost in it all, moving around in my little area and watching the band play. They came across pretty good, with vocalist Jim Reid sporting a look that was a bit like a European suave debonair distinguished gentleman, sort of Morrissey like, and his brother William on guitar looked like Buzz from the Melvins Dad. He played all the riffs, hit all the notes, and made all the sounds perfectly, with just the minimalist of equipment possible. Always cool to watch guitarists do that. I had no idea of who the other members of the Jesus And Mary Chain were, because the band has gone through so many members that it's not funny, but they all did their parts well, but it's really all about the Reid brothers. They are the Jesus And Mary Chain. Some of the better songs they played were Happy When It Rains, Sidewalking, Blues From A Gun, All Things Must Pass, Never Understand and, of course, Just Like Honey. They didn't play April Skies but I bought that shirt from the concession stand anyways. ;-) Yeah, there was no hint of any of the violence or drunken, drugged out debauchery of the early gigs, but instead just a fantastic set of some pretty chaotic pop songs played loud and furiously. Jesus And Mary Chain. Very cool stuff indeed. :-)