I said I'd write a blog about going to see The Jesus and Mary Chain, it's a bit late as I spent the following weekend slightly worn out.
The Jesus and Mary Chain have been around a long time, they were one of the most prominent acts in the C86 phenomenon. For those not in the know, C86 was a free cassette put out by the New Musical Express in 1986 featuring what they believed to be the most promising (mainly indie guitar) acts emerging. The J&MC were known at the time for their short, chaotic gigs, sometimes only lasting 15 minutes and usually deliberately drenched in feedback. I remember reading about The J&MC in NME in around 1987 when as a 16 year old I tried to advance beyond Smash Hits but I found it to be pathetically anti-Tory in a Rik from the Young Ones kind of way which put me off. I was far from a devout Tory but even to my 15 year old eyes it seemed very childish. (I later ended up as a devoted reader of their rival, Melody Maker).
I'd not really been aware of the first J&MC album, Psychocandy, it wasn't hugely commercially successful at the time so didn't feature in the Sunday chart show. My favourite artists at this time were U2, Simple Minds, Depeche Mode and Siouxsie and the Banshees, mainly as a result of stuff I heard that was in the charts. Their second album, Darklands, was more accessible (generally) and I heard and admired the single April Skies. Then a while later a compilation of b-sides and curios was released called Barbed Wire Kisses, I read a review of it in Smash Hits (in those days not quite as blinkered to anything beyond chart pop as now) and had also liked the supporting single, Sidewalkin', so this became my first J&MC purchase (on cassette!). I can only imagine what I thought when the first track, Kill Surf City, roared out at me. Sixteen tracks and just over an hour of distortion, feedback, growling or mumbled vocals buried deep in the mix... I'm fairly sure I can't have liked it much at the time but it grew on me and soon I loved it. Not long after I got in to The Cure, mainly to impress a girl, but I'm sure that it was this album that really flipped my music tastes to the less mainstream.
The albums that followed Darklands were more technically and musically accomplished and J&MC became a pretty right rock'n'roll band but I never followed them that closely. The first two albums and BWK were what I loved. In the mid nineties they fizzled out as an entity and having not seen them play I assumed it was one of those things I'd missed out on.
Then early this year I saw a post on Faecesbook or Twatter that said they were playing shows that featured Psychocandy in full and one of them was in Brighton. I quickly snapped up two tickets, knowing my pal Chaz would eagerly come along too, The idea of bands playing entire albums has been popular in recent years, I suspect The Cure started it with their trilogy gigs, but most have not appealed to me. The idea of a Psychocandy gig did.
Fast forward to February and I had the day booked off, a hotel booked, tickets in my grubby little mits and a more than slightly unofficial Psychocandy tee-shirt.
The trip to Brighton was delayed by Chaz having to find out some important news which meant him having to drop in to work. I had a pint or two while we waited. When we got to Brighton it was so bitterly cold that we stopped off in a pub halfway to the hotel. When we got to the hotel we booked Chaz in but my booking didn't show. It appeared someone had accidentally booked me in the day before, which was weird but ok... we got our room keys and off we went to our rooms, oddly on different floors. When I finally found my room (The Queen's Hotel, Brighton, is not well laid out) I thankfully paused before I swiped in. The TV was on. Then I heard voices. Female and male. There was a couple in my room. Thank goodness I hadn't just barged in, who knows what state of dress or undress they could have been in. Off I toddled back to reception.
20 minutes and a lonely pint in the bar later they worked out what had happened (someone with the same surname but on a different day... really?) and I got a room. With three beds. Bloody hell. Between us we now had five beds. To be honest my experience of booking this hotel through Booking.com was not great and I may leave a review to say that.
The gig was great. I didn't realise that our seated tickets were up in the nosebleeds but it was a good view. Jim Reid has grown up and looked sharp in a natty two piece suit over a plain tee-shirt. William Reid looked as shambolic as ever but now in middle age, bubble haired and paunchy. But hey, I'm sure he isn't in it to be a Smash-Hits centrefold (if they still do that or even exist). The sound was incredible... every sound from Psychocandy and also from the non album set they started with was spot on. I'm glad I was sitting down as I'd had far too many pints by now but I was mesmerized, I just sat and watched. I don't have a great memory for set lists. The following link will take you to a site where you can see exactly what they played.
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-jesus-and-mary-chain/2015/brighton-dome-brighton-england-53ca4b65.html
That they started with April Skies, the first song I'd ever heard by them, was a happy accident. Upside Down was a highlight, it really is a fan song, there are few more mumbly and feedback driven songs than that one but it is one of my favourites and they got it bang on.
I doubt I'll get to see them again so very glad I took the opportunity. Last year I went to see Throwing Muses, another of my favourite bands I'd not seen live, and was disappointed with the set but I was more than happy with the J&MC set, performance and experience. In April I will be going to see Simple Minds, who are nowadays a little more respectful of their pre-stadium back catalogue than they were for a long time so that will be another one off the list. Now, if only I could get Wayne Hussey to rejoin Sisters of Mercy and get them to play live in Pompey...
