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The Jesus and Mary Chain are one of those bands that I missed out on first time around thanks to my age (they were massive in the ’80s) that I absolutely love now.

Loud, dark, drenched in feedback and at times complete bastards, their legacy was not just for their music, but also their live shows - tales of near-riots, playing with their backs to the audience, on-stage fights between members of the band and even walking off half-way through a set all contribute to a fearsome reputation.

I’d already seen them once before at last year’s Meltdown festival which was curated by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp (this year it’s Massive Attack at the helm, but the line-up seems a bit shit) and as good as it was, the Royal Festival Hall wasn’t the ideal venue. It was basically like a theatre, with high ceilings and all-seated, so I was pleased when we turned up to the Roundhouse with it’s stripped-back an more authentic feeling space.

Something I didn’t pick up on at the Meltdown gig but which was more noticeable in this smaller venue was that William (Reid, guitarist and brother of singer Jim) was being helped out by another guitarist. It didn’t take anything away from it, but I must admit I was surprised he needed it, as he sounded as good as ever to me.

Opening with Never Understand and The Hardest Walk from Psychocandy, the ringing feedback which is their hallmark makes a welcome and sustained appearance, the atmosphere is great, I think most of the crowd lull into nostalgia and believe it’s 1987 or thereabouts and so begins a great gig.

I don’t have a complete setlist but Some Candy Talking, Taste of Cindy, Just Like Honey, Sidewalking, Far Gone and Out and the once-banned Reverence were all played, with only Far Gone and Out sticking in my mind as sounding a bit rough around the edges.

A cover of Pink Floyd’s Vegetable Man made a rare appearance, along with a mumbled comment from Jim about it killing Syd Barret if he hadn’t already been dead. That’s what the Mary Chain consider humour.

More importantly though two new songs, All Things Must Pass and Dead End Kids, sound surprisingly good for a band who’ve been apart for so long. Let’s just hope it’s a sign the long-rumoured new Mary Chain album will actually happen.

This was a good, highly enjoyable, gig. Sure, some of those who were there first time around may not agree, and who knows, had I been there then I might have thought that too. As it stands, I’m loving their gigs and hope they’re around for years to come.

Long live the Mary Chain!

I can’t remember another gig that’s changed my impression of a band as much as this one. To me, the Texan post–rockers Explosions in the Sky have always been firmly associated with their mellower contemporaries such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Mogwai at their introspective best. It’s a delusion no doubt caused by The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, the album of theirs I’ve listened to the most, being short on the heavier moments which so impressed me live.

The support for the night was Eluvium, an ambient post–rock solo act (never thought I’d use those words together) that I’d heard promising things about. After arriving slightly late, there was a comedy realisation after five minutes that what I’d dismissed as backing music between acts was in fact the support! In my defense, he was off to the side of the stage, crouched with a guitar behind a laptop and was playing with a fairly long delay, so I assumed he was a guitar tech. After that inauspicious start, things got better as he continued with his set while I was actually paying attention and in the end did more than enough to convince me to check out his music in more depth.

Explosions themselves were simply outstanding, effortlessly managing to be leap between the intimate and the gratuitously loud and frantic. Accompanied by an great lighting performance that made the band look as epic as their music, they seemed to thrive playing in front of a crowd, and the way they brought their music to life was incredible — comparisons with Mono wouldn’t be unjustified.

I’m not familiar enough with the songs to be able to name a set–list from memory, but I’m pretty sure Greet Death, The Moon Is Down and A Poor Man’s Memory were all played.

After overhearing someone mention it at the gig, and confirming it from a news article on their official website, it seems the band are planning on taking an extended, possibly permanent, break after their current tour (“After June 2008 we plan on dropping off the face of the earth for awhile so these will probably be our last shows for quite some time. We hope some of you can make it out.”).

Should you have the chance to see them before they do, I couldn’t recommend it enough.