X at the House of Blues Last Night

Lainna Fader

X: Guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer D.J. Bonebrake, vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe

​X
December 15, 2010
House of Blues

Last night seminal L.A. punk band X celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut Los Angeles at the House of Blues by playing the album in its entirety, along with "X: The Unheard Music," the 1986 documentary about the band. Thirty years after their first album dropped, they still draw a massive crowd of all ages and put on a mean show -- with huge smiles on their faces.

Surprisingly enough, this was my most pleasant House of Blues show yet. I've started to get used to the creepy pat-downs and obscenely slow lines, but I was in in under five minutes this time with a smile on my face after the bouncer thanked me sincerely for having my ID before he asked and called my photo lovely.

X: The Unheard Music dir. W. T. Morgan

​The HOB was approaching full when I got in, even though I arrived 45 minutes before the show was set to start. At 9PM on the dot, W.T. Morgan's "X: The Unheard Music" began, projected onto a huge screen covering the stage. This is probably the greatest punk movie ever made about "people looking to play music that wasn't bullshit." Sorry, fans of The Decline of Western Civilization -- when it comes to punk docs, The Unheard Music tops all. It's a brilliant collage of interviews with the band and those who knew them in the early days, performances and rehearsals, and found footage of a band that turned out to be the best punk band in L.A. Watching a ninety minute film while standing at a punk rock show was awkward and uncomfortable (I heard complains all around, it's not just me!), but after every live performance clip the crowd was screaming and clapping.

Lainna Fader

Billy Zoom

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After what seemed like an excruciatingly long break, the screen rolled up, and X made their way on stage. They had quite the rocky start. Almost immediately, all kinds of shit were flung at the stage -- beer cans, water bottles, strange articles of clothing. First words out of Billy Zoom's mouth were "It's extremely uncool to throw beer at a guitar. It just makes you look like an asshole." Indeed. Not sure why anyone would pay $30 to see a legacy act that they're presumably a fan of and throw garbage at them. Unfortunately, this continued all night.

Lainna Fader

Billy Zoom and Exene Cervenka

​They plowed straight through Los Angeles, not even pausing once to chat or take a breath. They are fascinating to watch. Exene is ridiculously adorable in her polkadot dress and cowboy boots, dancing and swaying awkwardly. Billy Zoom had such suppressed energy and a huge smile on his face the entire night, only taking a quick break every ten minutes or so to wink at all the pretty ladies in the audience vying for his attention. John Doe is a total wild man, complimenting D.J. Bonebrake's furious drumming.