Comments on: Jesus Lizard’s ‘Nub’, Live in 1994: I Miss Scary Music

By: JohnPokrandt

JohnPokrandt — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:28:10 +0000

I’m 3 years late to the party but I just found this post. That poor guy really got the worst end of that. I saw the Lizard a handful of times and was never ever disappointed. I was pretty in to the Touch and Go and Wax Trax bands living in Milwaukee at the time. Of all the weirdness that was Ministry and Helmet and such the Jesus Lizard is the one band that really blew eveyone away. A Jesus Lizard show was more an experience than a concert. I really miss live shows like this, it seems like even most of the club venues are gone. Coupled with the demise of both of those great Chicago labels there is no scene in the midwest these days. Most of the kids today are into that shoe gazer shit and would not be able to understand the appeal of a band like Jesus Lizard.

By: JeffSimmermon

JeffSimmermon — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:51:48 +0000

Reid — Thanks for dropping by. And yeah, meeting Ian Mackaye was pretty special, but what made it more special is that it was a total non-event. Like Richard mentioned earlier, if you hang around DC long enough you’re gonna meet the Fugazi guys. And as long as you don’t completely act a fool, they’re gonna be nice to you.

By: Reid

Reid — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:23:50 +0000

I drive around with Head/Pure in my car. When I hear bad club music coming from another car in my hood, I crank that son’bitch. Those first bass lines of One Evening pummel and overcome what my friend calls “boom boom music”. But then I get to SDBJ and I’m scared David Yow is going to peel through the speakers like Freddy Kruger through Johnny Depp’s bed and strangle me with a mic chord. Jeff, I can’t believe you met Ian McKaye. Fugazi is hands down the best band that existed in my lifetime.

By: rothko

rothko — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:26:58 +0000

“They were just so magnetic and powerful that you had to go, just to see what was going to happen.”
There were two bands that did that for me back in the early nineties growing up in Houston. (Funny that the JL YouTube clip was filmed there.) They were: Sprawl (who was from Houston) and Billygoat (who I think was from Dallas). Texas had a pretty great music scene back then. I’m sure it still does, but when I’ve gone back to Austin to see shows I kind of feel similar to what you’ve described. I think I’m just too old to appreciate it anymore. In another 10 years, I’m going to be one of those grumpy 40-somethings that tell kids how music was so great in my day, back in the 90′s, and now it’s all crap. And I’ll know it’s not true, but it’ll be fun to say anyway.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:45:57 +0000

Man I know what you mean. I think it depends on where you live. But a look at Pitchfork et al seems to confirm that scary heavy music with creepy singers is not really popping right now.

I love that your post confirms, as always, that if you hang around DC enough you will run into Ian and be able to ask him a question like this and he will actually think about it and give you an answer.

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:23:12 +0000

Thanks for this. The first time I saw them, I woke up with bruises on my hipbones the next day from being pushed into the stage so hard. It was scary and vital and visceral in all of those ways that are harder to attain now. And it’s not age that makes it harder to find that again, it’s experience — nothing lives up to the first time or even twentieth time, whereas if you didn’t see your first scary rock show until you were 30, it would have a bigger impact. What captivates kids now usually reminds me of something I’ve seen before.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:36:51 +0000

I’m too old for scary music. In fact, these days, about as scary as I get is Mr. Wayne Newton.

Yes. the icy hand of death is upon me. It’s just giving me a little Shiatzu before closing the deal.

By: cornhoser

cornhoser — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 05:25:23 +0000

ian’s right…just go to any small or college town in the US and you will be inspired. there’s tons of amazing shit going on all the time. i promise.

By: jimk

jimk — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:53:23 +0000

Back in the day, I remember seeing the Jesus Lizard with Steve Albini running the sound board. It was by far the loudest show that I’ve ever attended. I swear that the combo of Seve being deaf as a doorknob and the Jesus Lizard liking to play loud was pretty dangerous. Pretty decent show though.

By: JeffSimmermon

JeffSimmermon — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:12:59 +0000

An old friend of mine used to date him, and apparently there’s PLENTY scary about that guy.