Live Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain, Troxy, London, 24th November 2014

Never have I heard feedback being used to such an extent where it became so loud I could not here the drums. Simply put, perfection.

The support act were an up and coming band who have had a lot of attention recently, The Amazing Snakeheads. Championed by Arctic Monkeys and NME, they are a cool mix of punk, country and frontman, Dale Barclay's, intimidating stage presence. There were definitely noticeable nods to The Jesus and Mary Chain, which makes them an understandable choice for support. Despite enjoying them myself, the audience seemed hesitant towards the band, which was a shame, but nevertheless a nice support.

This was what we had been waiting for The Jesus and Mary Chain playing their seminal album, Psychocandy in full, start to finish. The band came out and announced they would play a few tunes before going of stage and returning to play Psychocandy, to which the audience responded with a great deal of enthusiasm, and from this the band launched into April Skies for their second album, Darklands. This pre-set followed with fan favourites, like Head On, Some Candy Talking and Upside Down and lesser know songs such as Up Too High. Each track they played was far more intense on record and far far far more loud, it was incredible, like a jet engine powering into your face. Upside Down finished the pre-set with a strong mosh pit and the band went off stage for a few minutes.

They returned to a back screen of the Psychocandy artwork, and the banging drums that indicated the beginning of Just Like Honey. The Living End sped things up and launched the next of many mosh pits of adults, teenagers and punks alike. The Psychocandy set was flawless, one track after the other, no talk from the band, but straight down to business, no nonsense work. Taste Like Cindy was a chugging anthem on stage and Never Understand, In A Hole and It's So Hard were furious, feedback filled affairs compared to their recorded counterparts.

This was truly and special night.

Highlights from the set included Head On, Reverence, Upside Down, Just Like Honey, The Living End, In a Hole, Taste Like Cindy and Never Understand. However, it has to be mentioned that the whole of Psychocandy was perfect back to back.

Overall Rating: 9/10