X and Skating Polly at First Avenue, Minneapolis (13 Sep 2017)
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X Setlist
Skating Polly Setlist
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Original Los Angeles punk rock band X is celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band with this current 2017 full North American tour. There’s a lot to be said for a band to stay together for so long with all the original members: singer Exene Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake.
Before and in-between sets, DJ Jake Rudh (of Transmission) to play music videos to the audience. The videos were less-British heavy, obviously playing to the crowd, but some UK bands like the Clash made it on the playlist.
On tour for this special 40th Anniversary Tour is riot grrrl/punk band Skating Polly from Tacoma (by the way of Oklahoma City). The band is actually a sibling band, featuring multi-instrumentalist step-siblings Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse… and recently added their brother Kurtis Mayo as drummer to the lineup.
We caught the trio in May 2017 and wrote that the show felt like it was sold out, thanks to their growing fanbase and support from local artists. In fact, members of local bands like Babes in Toyland (Skating Polly support Babes in a 2015 European tour), Tony Peachka, and Kitten Forever, could be seen in attendance.
‘Hail Mary’ was dedicated to Babes and “a kiss for Lori.” (Lori Barbero).
Kelli and Peyton often traded lead vocals for songs, but the rare instrumental trading shuffle was saved for their set finale, ‘Alabama Movies’, which had Kelli and Kurtis switch place.
The trio’s latest New Trick EP (El Camino) was a collaboration with Nina Gordon and Louise Post from Veruca Salt, so it has a very 90s girl rock sound.
By the time X took the stage, the dancefloor was completely packed with older fans. It’s obvious that the aging fans were also previously at the Mill City Nights show in August 2015.
We were also lucky enough to caught Exene and John at Mystic Lake with Blondie & Garbage earlier in July 2017.
What can we say about this iconic punk band? Since forming in 1977, the band was one of the first wave of truly unique American punk. Their simple “X” name was a cause for many confusing stories. Talking to David Letterman in 1983, in a weird, awkward interview, they said that their name were sometime misspelled as S or K or ✝ (cross).
After seven studio albums, the band officially broke up in the early 90s. Years away from the music scene, the band reformed in the early 2000s, and only recently appeared in Minneapolis: 2008 and 2015.
There was a scare with the 2015 shows, as we previously mentioned, that their original guitarist Billy Zoom had bladder cancer and was undergoing treatment. He had to miss out on the 2015 fun, and after announcing that he’s cancer-free, you can see him enjoying his time on the road for this 40th Anniversary Tour.
In typical X-fashion, the band’s set changes from night to night, so if there were truly hardcore fans following them night after night, it was a treat to see what songs made it on their set. A couple of covers were played, Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘Breathless’ and The Doors’ ‘Soul Kitchen’. ‘Soul Kitchen’ was a special song that appeared on their debut album Los Angeles, and it closed out their set.
The three-song encore started with ‘The New World’, followed by ‘Nausea’ and ‘Devil Doll’.
X’s 40th Anniversary Tour dates:
Before and in-between sets, DJ Jake Rudh (of Transmission) to play music videos to the audience. The videos were less-British heavy, obviously playing to the crowd, but some UK bands like the Clash made it on the playlist.
On tour for this special 40th Anniversary Tour is riot grrrl/punk band Skating Polly from Tacoma (by the way of Oklahoma City). The band is actually a sibling band, featuring multi-instrumentalist step-siblings Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse… and recently added their brother Kurtis Mayo as drummer to the lineup.
We caught the trio in May 2017 and wrote that the show felt like it was sold out, thanks to their growing fanbase and support from local artists. In fact, members of local bands like Babes in Toyland (Skating Polly support Babes in a 2015 European tour), Tony Peachka, and Kitten Forever, could be seen in attendance.
‘Hail Mary’ was dedicated to Babes and “a kiss for Lori.” (Lori Barbero).
Kelli and Peyton often traded lead vocals for songs, but the rare instrumental trading shuffle was saved for their set finale, ‘Alabama Movies’, which had Kelli and Kurtis switch place.
The trio’s latest New Trick EP (El Camino) was a collaboration with Nina Gordon and Louise Post from Veruca Salt, so it has a very 90s girl rock sound.
By the time X took the stage, the dancefloor was completely packed with older fans. It’s obvious that the aging fans were also previously at the Mill City Nights show in August 2015.
We were also lucky enough to caught Exene and John at Mystic Lake with Blondie & Garbage earlier in July 2017.
What can we say about this iconic punk band? Since forming in 1977, the band was one of the first wave of truly unique American punk. Their simple “X” name was a cause for many confusing stories. Talking to David Letterman in 1983, in a weird, awkward interview, they said that their name were sometime misspelled as S or K or ✝ (cross).
After seven studio albums, the band officially broke up in the early 90s. Years away from the music scene, the band reformed in the early 2000s, and only recently appeared in Minneapolis: 2008 and 2015.
There was a scare with the 2015 shows, as we previously mentioned, that their original guitarist Billy Zoom had bladder cancer and was undergoing treatment. He had to miss out on the 2015 fun, and after announcing that he’s cancer-free, you can see him enjoying his time on the road for this 40th Anniversary Tour.
In typical X-fashion, the band’s set changes from night to night, so if there were truly hardcore fans following them night after night, it was a treat to see what songs made it on their set. A couple of covers were played, Jerry Lee Lewis’ ‘Breathless’ and The Doors’ ‘Soul Kitchen’. ‘Soul Kitchen’ was a special song that appeared on their debut album Los Angeles, and it closed out their set.
The three-song encore started with ‘The New World’, followed by ‘Nausea’ and ‘Devil Doll’.
X’s 40th Anniversary Tour dates:
09/16/17 @ El Club in Detroit, MI
09/17/17 @ Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY
09/19/17 @ Port City Music Hall in Portland, ME
09/20/17 @ Brighton Music Hall in Boston, MA
09/21/17@ Stage48 in New York, NY
09/22/17@ Underground Arts in Philadelphia, PA
09/23/17 @ State Theater in Falls Church, VA
09/25/17 @ Rex Theater in Pittsburgh, PA
09/26/17 @ Kent Stage in Kent, OH
09/27/17 @ Skully’s Music Diner in Columbus, OH
09/17/17 @ Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY
09/19/17 @ Port City Music Hall in Portland, ME
09/20/17 @ Brighton Music Hall in Boston, MA
09/21/17@ Stage48 in New York, NY
09/22/17@ Underground Arts in Philadelphia, PA
09/23/17 @ State Theater in Falls Church, VA
09/25/17 @ Rex Theater in Pittsburgh, PA
09/26/17 @ Kent Stage in Kent, OH
09/27/17 @ Skully’s Music Diner in Columbus, OH
All dates with Skating Polly
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Skating Polly |
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Skating Polly (Kurtis Mayo) |
Skating Polly (Peyton Bighorse) |
Skating Polly (Kelli Mayo) |
X (John Doe) |
X (Exene Cervenka) |
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X at First Avenue, Minneapolis (13 September 2017) |