Post by Fuggle on Mar 23, 2007 11:30:51 GMT -5
Reborn: The Jesus And Mary Chain will play Connect
By Barry Didcock
Reformed band set to headline Argyll festival
AFTER AN acrimonious split and almost a decade apart, cult Scottish rock group The Jesus And Mary Chain have re-formed and will headline this summer's inaugural Connect festival in Argyll. In what will be their only UK show, the band will perform in front of a 20,000-strong crowd at Inveraray Castle on August 31.
"For their first appearance in Scotland since they split to be at Connect is a real coup," said promoter Geoff Ellis of DF Concerts. "I'm delighted. They're a band with bags of credibility."
Famous for a sound that drenched Phil Spector-inspired pop songs in waves of feedback, The Jesus And Mary Chain were formed in East Kilbride in the early 1980s by brothers Jim and William Reid. On drums was Bobby Gillespie, who would later front Primal Scream, and the band was managed for a time by Creation Records founder Alan McGee.
Their attitude matched the music. They wore black, had bird's-nest hair and played screeching 20-minute sets with their backs to the audience. While they never rivalled the likes of Wham! commercially, their incendiary live performances and song titles such as Jesus Suck brought them instant attention.
In 1985, they were banned from appearing in a string of British cities and the crowd at a concert at North London Polytechnic rioted. Unsurprisingly, the tabloids branded the band the new Sex Pistols.
The tag was apt, down to their eventual demise in 1998. Like the Pistols 20 years earlier, The Jesus And Mary Chain imploded on the Californian leg of an American tour, after a show at which the Reid brothers came to blows on stage. The split was made official in 1999. The band's influence was profound, however, and continues to be felt today.
After the split, the brothers pursued solo projects with varying success. Then, in 2005, Jim Reid contributed a song to Sister Vanilla, a group comprised of William and the brothers' sister Linda. The rapprochement had begun.
"Sometimes when bands return after being away for a long time they're appreciated more," said Ellis. "As new generations of bands have referenced them they've become more noted, to the point where they're almost bigger now than they were before."
The rest of the line-up for the Connect festival will be announced on Tuesday and tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday. The Inveraray concert is the only confirmed UK appearance for The Jesus And Mary Chain. However, the band will appear at next month's Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and they have announced dates for Madrid and Barcelona in July.
A Sister Vanilla album is released on Glasgow's Chemikal Underground label next month. As for a new Jesus And Mary Chain album, only time will tell. Nothing is ever simple where the Reid brothers are concerned.
By Barry Didcock
Reformed band set to headline Argyll festival
AFTER AN acrimonious split and almost a decade apart, cult Scottish rock group The Jesus And Mary Chain have re-formed and will headline this summer's inaugural Connect festival in Argyll. In what will be their only UK show, the band will perform in front of a 20,000-strong crowd at Inveraray Castle on August 31.
"For their first appearance in Scotland since they split to be at Connect is a real coup," said promoter Geoff Ellis of DF Concerts. "I'm delighted. They're a band with bags of credibility."
Famous for a sound that drenched Phil Spector-inspired pop songs in waves of feedback, The Jesus And Mary Chain were formed in East Kilbride in the early 1980s by brothers Jim and William Reid. On drums was Bobby Gillespie, who would later front Primal Scream, and the band was managed for a time by Creation Records founder Alan McGee.
Their attitude matched the music. They wore black, had bird's-nest hair and played screeching 20-minute sets with their backs to the audience. While they never rivalled the likes of Wham! commercially, their incendiary live performances and song titles such as Jesus Suck brought them instant attention.
In 1985, they were banned from appearing in a string of British cities and the crowd at a concert at North London Polytechnic rioted. Unsurprisingly, the tabloids branded the band the new Sex Pistols.
The tag was apt, down to their eventual demise in 1998. Like the Pistols 20 years earlier, The Jesus And Mary Chain imploded on the Californian leg of an American tour, after a show at which the Reid brothers came to blows on stage. The split was made official in 1999. The band's influence was profound, however, and continues to be felt today.
After the split, the brothers pursued solo projects with varying success. Then, in 2005, Jim Reid contributed a song to Sister Vanilla, a group comprised of William and the brothers' sister Linda. The rapprochement had begun.
"Sometimes when bands return after being away for a long time they're appreciated more," said Ellis. "As new generations of bands have referenced them they've become more noted, to the point where they're almost bigger now than they were before."
The rest of the line-up for the Connect festival will be announced on Tuesday and tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday. The Inveraray concert is the only confirmed UK appearance for The Jesus And Mary Chain. However, the band will appear at next month's Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and they have announced dates for Madrid and Barcelona in July.
A Sister Vanilla album is released on Glasgow's Chemikal Underground label next month. As for a new Jesus And Mary Chain album, only time will tell. Nothing is ever simple where the Reid brothers are concerned.