THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN + COLD CAVE – TAVASTIA, HELSINKI – 10/10/2017

por Emil Gil Bretón · 18/10/2017

Blues from a gun

The JESUS AND MARY CHAIN‘s European tour (hereinafter referred to as JAMC) was passing by Helsinki to present us their most recent album «Damage and Joy», their first studio album in 19 years. The Scottish band was accompanied by an opening band which is the American darkwave group COLD CAVE. Here is what happened that night at the concert venue Tavastia:

COLD CAVE

COLD CAVE, the project led by Wesley Eisold, had the hard and difficult task of opening the evening. Nevertheless, the Americans were very professional and correct, and they gave the audience an efficient sample of their catchy darkwave. Under a totally dark stage and with faint bursts of white light, the quartet unloaded all its arsenal of monochromatic electro, digital post-punk and sinister electronica. They alternated between danceable songs and industrial gothic rock hymns while the audience -a crowd of unconditional fans of JAMC and thirsty teenagers looking for new dark sounds- witnessed with joy this superfluous performance.

Eisold played with a live band (Amy Lee on keyboards, Nils Bue on guitar and keyboards, and Ryan McMahon on drums) to emulate its distinctive, crude and dark synthpop. The set of almost forty minutes was composed by eight songs: «Love Comes Close», «Youth and Lust», «People are Poison», «Glory», «Oceans With no End», «Nothing is True but You» , «The Great Pan is Dead», and «Villains of the Moon». COLD CAVE continues to make a name of its own, after making the great leap from the underground to the more commercial field thanks to tours like this one -opening for JAMC– and the tour they did two years ago with NINE INCH NAILS.

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN

The JAMC returned once again to Finland and this time to present their new and most recent album «Damage and Joy”. Before this visit their last time in Helsinki was for the Sideways Festival two years ago during their «Psychocandy» anniversary tour. I have to confess that I have never been a true fan of the band, although I consider their albums «Psycocandy» and «Darklands» are both true pieces of art in the field of alternative rock music. However, in recent months their new album has hooked me up with a striking mix of noise pop and indie rock. And as expected the group played in their set at Tavastia a couple of songs from this new album: «Amputation», «Always Sad» (with Bernadette Denning in the backup vocals), «Black and Blues», «Mood Rider», «All Things Pass» and «War on Peace». These songs sounded full of life and one can say the sound was better live than in the album.

The band, led by the Reid brothers (Jim on vocals and William on guitar) featured Scott Von Ryper on the second guitar, Brian Young on drums and Mark Crozer on bass. Like on the COLD CAVE set, during JAMC performance the stage remained dark and distant with fleeting flashes of light. The decor was mostly minimalist Jim being in the front leading the group and the whole band standing in the middle part of the stage surrounded by amplifiers and effects. The concert on Tuesday night was accompanied with an autumn weather with dark sky, gray clouds and heavy rain – which was all reflected in Scots music as they played a series of dark melodic songs seasoned with slow post-punk and psychedelic shoegaze: «Happy When It Rains», «April Skies», «Darklands», to mention a few. Although not everything was sadness since the fans of the band enjoyed each of the songs in their own way: jumping, singing at full throttle, waving their hands in the air or simply hugging the next partner. One could say this type of music genre is reflective and melancholic intended for an emotive audience who still have a high desire to live.

The Scots closed their dazzling performance with two encores in which they gave us the best of their arsenal: their ultra-known hit «Just Like Honey» which was sublime and loud at the same time, «In a Hole» with strident feedback, the rhythmic and interactive «Cracking Up», «Sidewalking» with intense guitars and repetitive drumbeat, and «I Hate Rock ‘n’ Roll» with its extreme rock noise. With a set of twenty-two songs and about an hour and a half gig JAMC was able to prove that despite all the years that have passed their music is still relevant in the alternative rock world. Forget the nostalgia, the JAMC is alive and more current than ever!

Setlist:

1- Amputation

2- Happy When it Rains

3- Head On

4- Always Sad

5- Black and Blues

6- Mood Rider

7- April Skies

8- Between Planets

9- Snakedriver

10- Teenage Lust

11- Cherry Came Too