X and Juliana Hatfield

at 9:30 club, 12/5/2005

Juliana Hatfield is touring following the release of "Made in China" - her best work yet (I think). Her set was solid. I've heard her twice before, once with the Blake Babies and once with the Juliana Hatfield Three following her second solo album. This trio was much better than that one, and I think her material is much stronger now. The accompaniment to most of her songs (meaning the bass/drums) is generally very straight forward - her songs are straight forward 4/4 rock songs, and these guys played them simply and effectively. Often I think the greatest musician is the one who can play simple music just as it should be played. I think that covers the rhythm section. That being said, the show was really all about her. Her voice is crystal clear - same as it ever was, and her guitar playing is totally solid. Seems like she's always played in trios? She can certainly hold her own as the sole guitarist in the band... but if she ever wants to form a quartet, tell her I'm available, ok? I was a little disappointed that she didn't play "Send Money" (my favorite track on the new album), but no complaints. Her performance was mostly business. Not much banter or screwing around between songs - just rockin'. And as a special bonus, John Doe came out during her set and sang the last three songs with her... nice.

X sounded fabulous. I've heard them twice now, this was the first show I've heard with Billy Zoom back in the band. I don't think I want to open the can of worms that is comparing Zoom and Tony Gilkyson, so let's skip it. Also, that wouldn't be fair to Mr. Zoom, since I absolutely love Tony Gilkyson's playing and I think he's one of the most underrated musicians in the entire world.

The show did present some questions, though. They don't have any new material, and this tour is basically a "reunion" style show and they're selling it as such... simply the old favorites by the original members. I couldn't help feeling like it's somewhat "disney-fied" -- like this was a sort of theme park version of what used to be revolutionary music... Billy Zoom took every opportunity to mug for the camera when fans near the stage took pictures, and John Doe leaned into the crowd often to encourage particularly enthusiastic fans on his side of the stage. Sort of felt like the fans were on vacation from their middle-aged-ness, and excited to see Mickey and Goofy? I suppose the band is peddling nostalgia and giving the people what they want... but I have mixed feelings about it. I suppose this is made worse since I'm one of the minority (I'm assuming) of X fans that actually like the more recent material (from the Gilkyson years) so I missed hearing songs from "See How We Are" as they were mining the back catalog.

On the other hand, the performance was excellent. It sure didn't seem like they were phoning it in or anything - I felt like they were playing these old songs like they still mean it. And since those early records are recorded so poorly (even if some of them were produced by Ray Manzarek, they still sound pretty crappy), hearing them live was pretty special. Hard to read a song like "We're Desperate" quite the same way now, though. Exene and John Doe are singing "We're desperate, get used to it" and it sounds a little tired. Maybe I'm just hoping they're not quite so desperate now that they've achieved status as punk rock legends?

Picking up on the thread of "rock star signifiers" from the other night, there was lots to take in here... before the show, stagehands taped down a piece of marley in front of Billy Zoom's amp, but his performance style is calm, cool, and collected - grinning ear to ear and simply walking around the stage - and occasionally striking a pose for the camera. What's the marley for, exactly? Doe, in contrast, was all over the place, working up a sweat. And then there's the image of Exene Cervenka, one biker boot firmly planted on top of a monitor speaker - assuming her rightful place as the first-lady of west-coast punk. Too bad there weren't any young'uns in the audience to take in this particular history lesson.

They pretty much burned through all the old songs as you might expect, and it was good. One funny change, though: during "The New World" they changed the lyrics slightly. What used to be "Mrs. Reagan, you got a quarter? Gee, well I couldn't spare it" became "Have you got a place to live?" to which Exene chirped, "Vote for Pedro." Strange. Were they de-politicizing a song about the futility of politics ("It was better before they voted for what's his name") - or were they being even more nihilistic? Maybe just cracking a joke.