Yowza! The Jesus Lizard return to Seattle tonight!

I just couldn't bring myself to buy a ticket to the Capitol Hill Block Party to see The Jesus Lizard this Summer. I hate rock'n'roll outside, the sound is always bad, there is usually a higher stage and more distance between the band and the crowd, and outdoor live performances never have the same energy as that inside a dark, stuffy club packed with people and booze flowing. And let's face it, The Jesus Lizard are meant to be playing a packed club of fans, not some big festival that's equally represented with the bridge and tunnel crowd trying to get their rock on and hipster kids that don't know who the fuck David Yow is. Plus, by the time the Block Party was coming up, the rumor was already floating around the music scene that a full tour in clubs would come in October.

So the rumors were true and October has brought a nationwide Jesus Lizard tour. And tonight, Seattle, one of the most fun, heavy, fucked up bands of the '90s will once again play your town, in as close to a setting as they played the last time I saw them, maybe a dozen years ago--at Neumo's. Bring it Mr. Yow, I expect the show of the month from you, I know people flying in from LA just to see this show, you better not disappoint tonight!

The Jesus Lizard brings their balls to the Block Party!

Hi, my name is David Yow. You may just know my band's name because we did a split single with Nirvana if you're a clueless asshole, but we were actually considered to be one of the best live bands of the 1990s. I was known to get a little wild live. Sure, there were some occasional fisticuffs and I was banned from playing Seattle for repeatedly stage diving into the audience despite the Fire Marshall warning me not to, but what a lot of people remember most about my live performance is my almost primal stage presence. Oh, and my balls. You see, during our song "Tight and Shiny," I liked to pull out my balls on stage. Back in the day it was quite a hit with the kids.

Recently my band reunited, and guess what Seattle, we're coming back to your town, the town that dared to ban me from live performances in the past. We will be playing The Capitol Hill Block Party, anyone heard of this shit? They are paying us quite well, so we're stoked. I hope it's not packed with a bunch of douchebags and hipster jerks. Wait a minute, now that I think about it, I actually I hope it is! Because I don't give a fuck about you and will teabag your whole city! We may be twice as old as many of you, but The Jesus Lizard will still blow away most the bands at yer little Seattle music festival. So get up front and watch us go balls out at our show July 24... I dare you.

For the full details on The Capitol Hill Block Party and getting cheaper advanced tickets, go to: capitolhillblockparty.com

The Jesus Lizard return!

Check out this 1994 live footage of The Jesus Lizard, around 45 seconds in David Yow gets knocked out when a bottle is thrown at him. Eventually he gets back up, they clean the glass off the state, the band starts up again, and a now pissed off Yow belts out the rest of the song. Both lame (the bottle throw) and awesome (his recovery and willingness to continue).



For fans of Yow and The Jesus Lizard, this performance isn't very surprising. For a full decade from 1989 to 1999, David Yow would bring it 110% live fronting The Jesus Lizard. And the good news is we all might get to hear it and see it again! From Touch and Go Records:

The Jesus Lizard to reunite, seminal albums remastered and reissued!

In what has to rank as one of the most unlikely developments in rock, the awe-inspiring primal force of the Jesus Lizard will return, briefly, in 2009. The original lineup of David Yow, Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims and Mac McNeilly will reform for a very limited series of live dates in 2009, starting with the All Tomorrow’s Parties event dubbed The Fans Strike Back in Minehead, UK on May 9 and 10 and ending with a final appearance in Chicago in late November. These shows will be the Jesus Lizard’s first since disbanding in 1999 and the first in twelve years to feature the original storied quartet. As anyone who has experienced the Jesus Lizard live can attest, they are one of the most intense and visceral musical assemblies to ever stalk a stage. This fleeting reunion offers an incredible opportunity to either be blown away all over again or to immerse yourself in the sweaty power and driving mayhem for the very first time.

In celebration of this event, Touch and Go Records will reissue four full-length releases and one EP from the Jesus Lizard in May 2009. Remastered recordings of Head (still to include the remastered Pure EP on CD), Goat, Liar, and Down will be available on both LP and CD - plus a remaster of their 5-song EP Pure on vinyl, all with expanded packaging and liner notes. Bob Weston is heading up the remastering process with Steve Albini, the original session engineer, sitting in.