X the Band






August 19, 2018
The Observatory ~ San Diego, Ca.


I recently read that the musical memories we have acquired are instantly retrieved when we hear music that we feel strongly about. 

On this night in the Observatory, the crowd was really feeling the music and dancing like it was 1977, the year that the band X was formed. The four original members of X took the stage around 9pm and played a relentless nonstop 22 song set to an enthusiastic crowd. They barely paused between songs from their seminal albums Los Angeles (1980) and Wild Gift (1981) to allow the audience to show their appreciation but that is the nature of Punk Rock.

Billy Zoom would key in the next song on his guitar and the band blasted off and the crowd went along for the ride. After 41 years you might imagine that the band made up of Exene Cervenka on vocals, John Doe on bass and vocals, Billy Zoom on lead guitar/saxophone and D.J. Bonebrake on drums/vibes would have lost some of its original power but that wasn’t the case. Exene and John still have a unique harmony to their vocals that pulls one into their lyrics and add to that the synergistic driving sonic force of the guitars and drums and X still has the same raw power to emotionally connect to its audience. In fact, the crowd got so worked up that a mosh pit formed and swirled,  pulsed and banged its way through the center of the crowd! On some songs we were treated to an expanded version of X as Craig Packham (The Palominos) played the guitar when Billy Zoom played the saxophone and was on the drums when D.J. Bonebrake played the vibes.

 If you were already a fan of Punk Rock then this night was a revival of your favorite music from the 70’s and 80’s. But judging from the different ages I saw in the crowd, I think that many new fans were created by the timeless music of X! 
Article and photographs by Steve Anderson

 ***Currently on tour. Check the website for the next show

 http://www.xtheband.com/
All photographs are copyrighted images.  Steve Anderson Photography
Exene Cervenka






Billy Zoom
John Doe

D.J. Bonebrake








Email Post

Comments

Post a Comment