Los Angeles punk legends X play Lowe Mill

None of it ever made any sense.

I started seeing occasional mentions of an event called “X at Lowe Mill” on Facebook, and let it fall through my filter a few times before I realized it was a concert.

Wait a minute. X the late ’70s/early ’80s punk band? Los Angeles X?

Check.

I never much cared for punk. For one thing, I was a little young to be particularly angsty when it came around. For another, most of it sounded like noise. I thought (and think, probably) that the Sex Pistols were/are the second biggest case of the emperor’s new clothes in the history of popular music.

But X was different. Really, guitar was no more prominent than in other punk bands, but it seemed much more a rock guitar in X. Melody was essential. And genre lines got blurry in a hurry. Rockabilly? Country? Maybe a splash of heavy metal once in a while?

I was 11 years old when I first heard (and saw) “The Hungry Wolf” on MTV in my dad’s den. I didn’t like it, exactly, but I definitely found it compelling. I’d never heard a song put together like that before. I’d never seen anyone as sexy and strange as Exene Cervenka.

I began watching for it—and digging it, though I’m not sure I admitted that to myself at the time. But I never got it on my VHS collection. The time of this video’s heavy rotation significantly predated my days of sitting with the VCR remote on pause. It mostly faded into childhood memories for me until I bought Under the Big Black Sun maybe ten years ago. Everyone I’ve played it for says something like “wow, if more punk sounded like this…” Yeah. I get it. It’s a masterpiece, and I don’t throw that word around.

I probably wouldn’t have had a chance to build X fanhood organically, as the band happened in real time. I was never a particularly cool young person, and X was definitely a cool people’s band. Joey Ramone loved X. Ray Manzarek played on several of their tracks. You following me here? Plus, most fatally, catching them would have meant being part of the punk crowd, which I wouldn’t see happening even had I grown up in Los Angeles.

So in late July, I realized that it was indeed this X coming to a Venue Near Me, and that the band was intact—not the third lead singer fronting three former roadies or somesuch. Only 500 tickets would be sold, and they were $30 each.

Yes. In. I picked up a pair.

I wasn’t sure what to expect on logistics, but I’ll brag on Under the Moon Productions. They did a fine job handling the event. The comfort and acoustics of the room—that big empty space with the scale in it, if you’ve been to Lowe Mill—were both fine. My fellow concertgoers looked mostly like me, with some occasional flamboyance.

And X kicked ass.

Following openers Property and The Go-Go Killers, X took the stage about 10:25. Now I never saw X “in the day,” of course, but it’s hard for me to believe they ever hit much harder than they did Friday night. With good humor and excellent chops, they delivered a powerful 85-minute set that included not only my favorites “The Hungry Wolf” and “Nausea,” but also the poignant “Come Back to Me” and “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes” from Sun (both about the fatal car crash of Exene’s older sister). It’s not the kind of show I can give you a complete set list for, but I recognized a couple of others, and enjoyed what was new to me.

Best of all, there were no retarded tempos or dropped keys. Everything was performed as written, with only an occasional alternate melody vocal to compensate for age. I love it when bands don’t have to compromise to pull their younger selves off live.

It would have been a memorable evening for me even had I gone by myself, but at the last minute I was joined by an old friend.

Lee is one of the first friends I made at Bob Jones in 1986, and though we’ve enjoyed keeping in touch on Facebook, this was the first time I’d seen him in person in 31 years. He even fessed up to me on the way to the show that he’d almost backed out, but decided to go for an adventure instead. I’m glad he did.

Immediately, this is one of my favorite live music experiences. What an unexpectedly and truly wonderful moment to add to my mosaic in 2018!

Los Angeles punk legends X play Lowe Mill

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