Why this gig?
If you know anything about my musical taste then you will realise that this was a no-brainer. The Jesus and Mary Chain were an important part of my 1980s and the chance to see them play their classic album Psychocandy live is not to be missed.
Support
A band called Amazing Snakeheads. Very loud. Very pointless.
Headline
These “play the album” shows can take various formats, but bands generally start with the album in question and play some other stuff afterwards. The Jesus and Mary Chain don’t agree with that approach. They want Psychocandy to be the the last thing you hear so they start with “the encore” (as Jim Reid puts it) which is half a dozen or so songs that aren’t on that album. This set starts with “April Skies” and includes “Head On”, “Some Candy Talking” and “Psychocandy” (the song of that title isn’t on the album).
And then they leave the stage and we’re treated to the start of an old documentary about East Kilbride before they return and play the album right through.
It’s professional. Perhaps too professional. The performance seems to lack some of the excitement that you might expect from hearing such a legendary album.
It’s also over quickly. The album is about forty minutes long and it really doesn’t take much more than that for them to play it tonight. And suddenly, it’s over. As “It’s So Hard” finishes the band wave and leave the stage. And, true to their word, that’s it. They don’t come back.
I’m glad I saw the show. But it wasn’t quite all that I was expecting.
The setlist is on Setlist.fm.
Reviews
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