LIVE
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN MANCHESTER ACADEMY, MANCHESTER
25/3/17
The thing that I love most about Mary Chain is the energy that radiates throughout the room when they play live. This is just one of the few things that makes them one of the greatest live bands I have ever seen. Despite the fact that their Show at the Academy came with a string of technical difficulties. The Jesus and Mary Chain embrace feedback – but this wasn’t the good kind.
As always, Mary Chain’s live shows still resonate with the jaded nostalgia of the ‘Psychocandy’ era – but perhaps turned down a notch nowadays. This was nothing compared to their usual live performances. It seemed flat, almost lifeless due to the fact that William Reid guitar had faded into a sea of unwelcome distortion and feedback.
The Reid brothers ploughed through a lengthy set packed with everything you could ask of them – from ‘Teenage Lust’ to their latest single “Amputation” from the new album “Damage and Joy”.
Jim Reid never has a lot to say – I mean, he’s not the most enigmatic of frontmen. But somehow, he still manages to have such a forceful almost intimidating stage presence. He looms over the monitors, teetering back and forth whilst tightly clutching the mic stand to his chest as he groans about being a “rock ‘n’ roll amputation”.
MUSIC
words: Abbi Parcell