Beer anyone?

When our friend Scott of Burnt Hickory Brewery asked us if he could make an X beer... SURE - if you bring us some when we hit the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta on October 1st!

So Scott made an X IPA, a video and he's sharing his receipe for We're Desperate with everyone - (click here). 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZPpU3kJthI&w=480&h=360] -----------------

X IS ON TOUR NOW with Blondie:  9/30 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville TN  - 10/1  Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta, GA -   10/3 Keewick Theatre, Glenside, PA  - 10/4  Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY  -  10/5  HOB, Boston, MA (X only)

Announcing X-mas 2013 with The Blasters!

The holidays are around the corner and so are we!

Being on the road with long-time friends Blondie is so great, we thought we'd do the same for this year's X-mas.

The Blasters are like family and we can't wait to again share the stage with them.

Mark your calendars & we'll see you soon! ~X~

----A FAMILY X-MAS.... Tickets on Sale 9/27.

DATE		LOCATION	CLUB	TICKETS
29-Nov	Fri	Phoenix, AZ	Crescent Ballroom	On Sale
30-Nov	Sat	Tucson, AZ	Rialto Theatre	On Sale
5-Dec	Thur	Ventura, CA	Ventura Theatre	On Sale
6-Dec	Fri	Santa Ana, CA	The Observatory	On Sale
7-Dec	Sat	Santa Ana, CA	The Observatory	On Sale
8-Dec	Sun	Solana Beach, CA	Belly Up Tavern	On Sale
12-Dec	Thur	San Luis Obispo, CA	SLO Brewing	On Sale
13-Dec	Fri	San Francisco, CA	The Fillmore	On Sale
14-Dec	Sat	Fresno, CA	Strummer’s	On Sale
15-Dec	Sun	Petaluma, CA	Mystic Theatre	On Sale
19-Dec	Thur	Portland, OR	Roseland Theater	On Sale
20-Dec	Fri	Seattle, WA	El Corazon	On Sale
21-Dec	Sat	Seattle, WA	El Corazon	On Sale
*31-Dec	Tue	Dallas, TX	Gas Monkey Bar N Grill	On Sale

On the Road Again: We're out with Blondie

Thanks to Brian Mansfield & USA Today for writing about X today. First time with Blondie starts in a few hours in NH. Highlights from the article for you. For the full story, click here.

The No Principals Tour unites two very different flavors of 1980s new wave.

Back during punk's first generation, X and Blondie may have shared some fans, but the two groups never toured together. For one thing, they came from different scenes: Blondie from CBGB-dominated New York and X from the hardcore-oriented Los Angeles. Now, though, the groups are setting out on a month-long tour together, beginning Thursday in Hampton Beach, N.H., and ending Oct. 4 at New York's Roseland Ballroom. "I think there's a lot of respect" between the group's members, says X bassist John Doe. "We are kind of the last bands standing, and X is still all the original members. We're all healthy. Maybe Blondie was a little more pop, a little more listener-friendly, weren't quite as scary."

They're having much more fun. At the group's commercial peak, when videos for Hungry Wolf and The New World got play on MTV, X toured on a bus, followed by a semi truck carrying lighting and sound equipment. Today's tours are "simpler, smarter, less hijinks, less substance abuse," says Doe, with just a couple vans. Over the years, the group's four original members — Doe, ex-wife Exene Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake — have "settled all their stuff, all their inter-political band business. There's very little friction, and it's good. There's something to be said for the craziness of hard living and hard drinking. You get some kind of off-balance and crazy performance. We put in solid performances, with moments of craziness."

The house they called home. The group played its first gig in 1977, at the Los Angeles house were Doe and Cervenka lived. "It was an old house that got torn down that was too beautiful and was in the way of a parking lot," Cervenka says. "We played on the floor in the living room. Everybody was drunk and wild and we had a great time. I remember feeling relieved it was over, because I'd never sung to anybody before except at a practice."

The Ritz is a mess. Zoom recalls, but claims no responsibility for, an '80s show at New York rock club The Ritz where members of the group and crew got a little out of hand afterwards. "I think our lighting director and Exene got in a food fight in the back room at the Ritz," says the guitarist. "The large Italian man in the suit, with the gun, made them clean it up. And made Exene get down on her hands and knees and pick up the macaroni salad up off the floor. But I wasn't involved in that. I was somewhere else.... "

"This week, Rhino Entertainment released The X Collection: 1980-1987, a digital set compiling X's first six albums. Those albums, plus the 1988 set Live at the Whisky A Go Go, are now available digitally for the first time. A new limited-edition vinyl set of the first four albums — Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun and More Fun in the New World — also includes a booklet written by the late Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who co-produced the albums...."

For the full story, click here. 

X available digitally for the first time

Thanks to our friends at Rhino - The X catalog is now available digitally for the first time!

The complete studio albums are on iTunes for the first time – everything from LOS ANGELES to HEY ZEUS!  at  http://smarturl.it/XiTunes

Deluxe versions of the classic albums Los Angeles, Under The Big Black Sun, and Wild Gift will also be available digitally for the first time.  All were released on CD in the early 2000s but have never hit the digital domain. Standard and deluxe versions of their albums More Fun In The Real World and Ain’t Love Grand will also be making their digital debut as well as their classic Live At The Whisky A Go-Go and the 1995 album from The John Doe Thing Kissingsohard. A full list of all titles released  digitally on September 3 is below.

Rhino has also released a NEW digital boxed set titled The X Collection: 1980-1987, which compiles the first six studio albums.

Get it here:  http://bit.ly/176lRsQ

Hope to see you soon on tour  ~X~

COMPLETE LISTING OF X DIGITAL RELEASES

 - The X Collection: 1980-1987

-Los Angeles – Deluxe Edition -Under The Big Black Sun – Deluxe Edition -Wild Gift – Deluxe Edition -More Fun In The New World – Original Album and Deluxe Edition            -Ain’t Love Grand – Original Album and Deluxe Edition   -See How We Are – Standard Edition       -Live At The Whisky A Go-Go -The John Doe Project Kissingsohard

X at Pershing Square

We are now heading East for the No Principals Tour with Blondie. Thanks Los Angeles for a great and memorable send off.   ~X~

(The release...by MadInk.  photoS by Brandise)

 X – TOOK OVER L.A.’s DOWNTOWN STREETS ON SATURDAY 8/17 PLAYED TO RECORD CROWD – OVER 7,500 ATTENDED FREE CONCERT AT PERSHING SQUARE

“Looking out over the crowds, with the downtown skyscrapers as a backdrop behind us, in our own hometown, was a pretty awesome experience for us,”  - John Doe.   

From Louise Capone: "The downtown stage audience was great and for X to give back to the Los Angeles community was fantastic. The dept of Recreation and Parks was proud to be a part of it."

Next Up:  X will join their east coast comrades, BLONDIE, as a Special Guest on their fall U.S. “No Principals Tour”.   Set to kick off September 5^th, the bands will hit U.S cities including Atlantic City, Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta and Philadelphia before wrapping October 4^th in New York City at Roseland Ballroom.  

X U.S. FALL TOUR To Join Blondie’s “No Principals Tour”

We have been waiting a long time for this one! How great is this bill? New York and Los Angeles together, coast to coast. Blondie has invited us to some cities we haven’t been to in a while or ever! Can’t wait to play these shows! We kick off September 5^th on the East Coast and will hit some great cities including Atlantic City, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta and Philadelphia before wrapping October 4^th in New York City at Roseland Ballroom.  Also, every ticket purchased for the tour will include five exclusive new Blondie tracks from their upcoming album.

X on Tour with Blondie - U.S. Fall 2013 Tour Dates:

Sept. 5        Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom

Sept. 6        Niagara Falls, NY @ The Rapids Theatre

Sept. 7        Atlantic City, NJ @ Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino – The Grand

Sept. 9         Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club

Sept. 11       Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center

Sept. 12        Royal Oak, MI @Royal Oak Music Theatre

Sept. 14        Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest

Sept. 17        Redmond, WA @ King County's Marymoor Park

Sept. 19        San Francisco, CA @ Nob Hill Masonic Center

Sept. 20        Saratoga, CA @ Montalvo Arts Center

Sept. 23        Santa Fe, NM @ The Santa Fe Opera House

Sept. 26         Austin, TX @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater

Sept. 27         Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live - Ballroom

Sept. 28         Dallas, TX @ State Fair of TX - Silverado Main Stage

Sept. 30         Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium

Oct. 1             Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre

Oct. 3            Glenside, PA @ The Keswick Theatre

Oct. 4            New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom

Don’t forget we’re playing this Summer at:

July 18           Costa Mesa, CA @ Pacific Amphitheatre w/B-52s

August 17      Los Angeles, CA @ Pershing Square

And our regular X Mas shows in December! See you soon! ~X~

R.I.P. Ray Manzarek

It is with sad and heavy hearts that we pay tribute to our friend and mentor, Ray Manzarek. -X- - Ray Manzarek is an integral part of X’s history. The band’s debut album, Los Angeles was released on April 26, 1980 and produced by Ray. The album includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen" and was the bands most successful release. It ranked # 16 for the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Subsequently in 1989, it was ranked number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 best albums of the 80s and Pitchfork ranked it 91st on their top 100 albums of the 1980s. The title track is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and again in 2003, the album was ranked number 286 on the Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Ray went on to produce the next three studio albums for the band, Wild Gift in 1981 (also on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 greatest albums of all time at #334), Under the Big Black Sun in 1982 and 1983’s More Fun in the New World.

In late 2010, X celebrated the 30^th Anniversary of Los Angeles by playing the entire album, start to finish. Ray joined the band during their two shows in San Francisco, just after Christmas. In August of 2012, Ray again joined the band for the entire show at the famed Roxy Theatre during the Sunset Strip Music Festival, playing Los Angeles in its entirety. In 2013, Rhino released The Doors/X Side by Side: Soul Kitchen, a split white vinyl 7".

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"Ray led by example, from The Doors to Carmine Burana and beyond. He is and will always be a spirit being, adept at expanding perception. And once those doors of perception are opened, they never close. He taught me that we are the keys, that we can unlock all doors, everywhere, to create magic, to transform ourselves and power the world, through joy and love and imagination and art and, above all through music." - Exene

"Ray was a mentor to X in our early days and a something of a father figure to Exene & me. He was brilliant & soulful. If Bob Dylan brought poetry & folk to popular music; Ray & the Doors brought the blues & poetry to rock music. The Doors are rock royalty. It has been a privilege & honor to call Ray a friend and share the stage w/ him. " - John Doe

"Ray always believed in us. We’ll miss him. My heart goes out to Dorothy and Pablo." - Billy Zoom

"I am so sorry to hear about Ray’s passing. Not only was he an integral part of X’s history, he was a smart, funny, and kind friend. I will miss him." - DJ Bonebrake

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i19TYrxTS2A&w=480&h=360]

A Night for our brother Phil...

This show is long over, but not the music! We can not thank you enough for making this one very special night. The love and joy in that room was overwhelming.

The bands were ALL on their game this night. Each one enjoying the other and all playing like their lives depended on it.

Below are a few of our favorite images courtesy of our good friend Brandise Danesewich.[click an image for slide show]

Thanks again for helping us give back to you and our brother Phil Alvin.

[2013 is shaping up and we'll keep updating the show page and over on Facebook to.]

More X-mas & poster fun NOW

THE VAN IS LOADED AND WE'RE HEADING NORTH... Bakersfield - Sacramento - SF are you ready?

& here is the latest art from the X-35 poster series featuring some of our favorite artists. The posters are ususally sold out by the end of each X show, but they are also available from the artists directly and your support of their art is appreciated. - Cheers!  [click here for links to ALL X artists]

UPDATE X-MAS '12 SHOWS:  12/26 Crystal Palace, Bakersfield  -  12/27 Ace of Spades, Sacramento  -  12/28 & 29 Slims, San Francisco

east coast is go!

We are back on the East Coast and happy to be here!   Thanks to everyone who came out to Irving Plaza last night 11/30. (If you missed out - come on out New York there are tickets still available for tonight...click here)

As is tradition...here come the East Coast X posters by some of our favorite X-35 Series Artists.  To see the entire X-35 Series - click here.

San Diego 12/23 just added to X-mas Tour!

Hey San Diego - The Casbah has invited us to bring X-mas to San Diego on Dec. 23rd!  We'll be there, will you? ~X~

Casbah tickets here

TOUR Notes: X will be touring the East Coast 11/30-12/8 with the Reverend Horton Heat. (NYC, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Philly, Asbury Park)   X-mas 2012 on the West Coast runs 12/15-12/29 (Phoenix, Hollywood, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Bako, Sacramento, & SF)  Click here for schedule

2013 Calendar Ready!

Our friend Michael Hyatt has just finished his 2013 art calendar featuring never before published photos of X and friends. You can check it out by clicking here.

"2013 Gallery 1331 Calendar of Photographs & Dates of Interest

The 2013 Gallery 1331 X Calendar of Photographs & Dates of Interest features sixteen shots of X and one of The Knitters. Dates of musical, historical and humorous importance grace every day of the year. Want to know the birthdates of John, Exene, Billy and D.J. plus that of Top Jimmy and Ray Manzarek, look no further that this 2013 calendar. Several hundred more birthdates are included by rock, blues, jazz, folk, Americana and roots country artists as well as recording dates by Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, etc. The credits page features a complete discography of X albums and all the solo projects by each band member." - from Micheal's website

thinking of Starland Ballroom and those on the East Coast

Hey gang listen up. Our friends at the Starland Ballroom got hit hard with Sandy and as many of you know they are closed for a little while. If you can help out the people of the east coast- please do...this entire area is still  impacted and can use your attention.

The folks over at the Wonder Bar 5th and Ocean, Asbury Park, NJ 732-502-8886 have graciously lent us a hand in giving us a place to play on Dec.7th. Help us help New Jersey ($5 from every ticket will be donated to the Monmouth County Food Bank.) We're also working on Starland tickets being accepted at either the Wonder Bar or the philly TLA show...stay tuned and please check with the venues. (UPDATE 11/20: -  the Starland will be issuing ticket refunds - so please contact the Wonder Bar & TLA directly to go to those shows- thanks.)

Sometimes we all need a little help...there are a lot of people still reeling from the storms and could use a little help.  thanks ~X~

from the Starland via @aysialuna5

PS- Starland when you re-open - we'd love to play your 10 year anniversary.

Heading home from Texas...

The van is packed and we are heading home from Austin & Dallas. Texas was KICK-ASS! If you missed it - you lose, but the consolation prizeS... these show posters

AND 2 reviews from our night at the Granada courtesy of the Dallas News - thanks Robert for coming out! Click here to read..  

and.. Jam Magazine Online - Thanks David! Click here to read...

Be sure not to miss the shows coming up  with Dallas' own Reverand Horton Heat on the east coast & the Annual X-mas run on the west coast.

(To see the full X-35 Poster Series - click here.)

PS- To everyone on the East Coast, take care of each other and we'll see you next month. ~X~

X-35 Part 2'ish

In just over 3 months - our 35th year comes to a close and a great year it's been. We've been up the west coast, over to Europe, played with Ray Manzarek again and made a quick trip out to Philly. Thank you to everyone who came out and everyone who has invited us to visit their town. We wish we could do it all, but with just 3 months left, hectic schedules and traveling in a van...well some tough choices had to be made. FIRST- over to Austin for Fun, Fun, Fun Fest (11/2) where we will be playing the Los Angeles album in it's entirety and a lot more. This one has been on the books since last year and we're happy to get back to Texas! So much so - we're also going to stop by Granada Theater in Dallas (11/3). Next we're doing something new!

HEY EAST COAST - Are you Ready? (11/30-12/7)

Back to the East Coast for the first annual Guitar Slingers Ball! We are sharing the bill with the amazing "Reverend Horton Heat"! and special guest from Austin, the rock duo "Not in the Face"!

You have never seen a couple of Gretsch slingers on the same bill like this! Bring a fire extinguisher this is gonna be hot!

11/30-12/1 Irving Plaza, NY- 12/2 Paradise Club, Boston - 12/4 9:30 Club, DC  12/5 Soundstage, Baltimore -12/6 TLA, Philly - 12/7 Starland, Sayreville NJ

LAST BUT NEVER LEAST!...Our 4th Annual X-mas Tour (12/15 - 12/29)

This will be the 4th time we've celebrated the holidays with some of our favorite people in some of our favorite places.

Please come and help us say goodbye to another year and ring in the new year with your favorite X songs and closest friends!

12/15 Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix - 12/21 The Fonda, Hollywood - 12/22 The Coach House, OC, 12/26 Crystal Palace, Bako -12/27 Ace of Spades, Sacramento - 12/28-12/29 Slims, SF.

See you soon ~X~

More X Poster Fun...for this weekend 9/7-8

It's been too long since we had a new poster for our X-35 shows and we heard that people have been missing them. Hell, we've been missing them! So... here are 2 more by our new friend Xray to tied you over until we hit Texas in November. Thanks Xray for taking on 2 shows... See you at the Observatory tomorrow and Saturday! ~X~

To check out the full X-35 Tour Poster Series - click here.

In November we have some great artists lined up.Some new and some old friends. Back on board are both Billy Perkins from the Los Angeles Tour Poster Series for Fun,Fun,Fun Fest and Lil' Tuffy from the Los Angeles Tour Poster Series and the Xmas 2011 Poster Series.

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X at the Observatory Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8 - Tickets are still available - Come out!

The Observatory 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, CA. 714.957.0600

X-35 new shows announced

We're home and more  X-35 fun kicks off! We have some really special stuff here so pay attention.

Headlining a night at Indie Fest West in Ventura 7/29

and

8/17 at the Roxy -  X will take the stage with Ray Manzerak to play their album Los Angeles. This  has happened once before in Los Angeles 1980 and twice during our annual Xmas nights in SF in 2010. [Careful this one will sell out FAST!]  

A quick trip out to Philadelphia to play Jay-Z's Made in America Fest with Pearl Jam 9/02 and then back to Orange County for two shows at the Observatory 9/07 and 08-(quickly becoming the go-to venue for great shows)

TEXAS! Finally playing Austin 11/02 and Dallas 11/03...so for all you Texans let's see you! We don't want anyone saying they missed it. Can't make one of these? Don't worry more X-35 is on the way for the East & West Coasts!

X-35 TOUR  -  NEW SHOWS  (links & details -click here)

29-Jul   Ventura, CA-Indie West Fest

17-Aug  Los Angeles, CA -The Roxy/Sunset Strip Music Festival

2-Sep   Philadelphia, PA-Made in America Fest

7-Sep  Orange County, CA-Observatory

8-Sep  Orange County, CA-Observatory

2-Nov  Austin, TX-Fun, Fun, Fun Fest

3-Nov  Dallas, TX-Granada Theater

DECEMBER- East & West Coast-XMAS tba

---a few more shows still to be announced

So...over in Europe -

All is well over here. Home soon! ~X~ PS- We have a lot  of tour pics over on Facebook: Here & Here

John Doe ...on X @ 35

HOLY SHIT ! ! Thirty-five years of punk rock is shocking ! ! It’s not like that’s all we’ve done but there have only been a few short breaks in the rough & tumble action that started back in nineteen and seventy-seven. People everywhere want to know what is was like in Los Angeles in 1977 but honestly there is no way to re-create that feeling or time. All of LA was in a state of decay & disrepair. The second ‘O’ on the HOLLYWOOD sign had fallen down. Venice was filled w/ burned out Viet Nam vets & hippie drug casualties, the canals were fetid swamps but along side all that were the greatest thrift stores imaginable. Farrah Fawcett was the poster girl. There was still a restaurant in the shape of a brown derby hat.  Hollywood Blvd. hosted all the rest of the rejects, drug addicts & people on the make, (at least that has remained the same).

The pieces of the punk rock chronicles that I’ve read play fast & loose w/ the facts & only sensationalize events that we all thought were cool & meaningful. It definitely was a time where the possibilities seemed endless, everyone involved made a contribution & in retrospect was a beautifully naïve era. Few of us thought it would last more than a couple of years & in a way we were right.

By the time Black Flag recorded Wasted in 1978 things had already started to change. “Hardcore” was rearing it’s ugly head. The violence became more real, people developed real addictions, became junkies & died rather than the teenage/mid-twenty angst that it all began w/. Everyone who has survived should take just a small measure of pride in being part of a scene that still carries influence. Maybe we should make a t-shirt that reads; “I survived the LA punk rock scene”.

One thing I know is that we, in the band X, are incredibly grateful that we’re still here, able to play loud & fast, make a living at something we love & still do well, get to tour the world in support of Pearl Jam, play the Hollywood Park Race Track, put our hands in cement on Sunset Blvd., maybe even have our t-shirt worn by the villain of a big time movie, and the list will, hopefully, go on & on & on.

THANKS FOR YOUR VIGILANT SUPPORT

yours,

JD (I hope the rest of the band agrees)

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Note: X is currently touring Europe with friends Pearl Jam. Amsterdam today and then on to Rock Wertcher 2012 and... More shows are being added throughout Fall 2012. details coming soon on shows page.

This whole thing started again with an In-Store.....

Actually we don't have the exact date of that infamous Tower Records Sunset signing in "Winter 1997", but we do know when our next in-store is - May 11 in Portland! Our friends at Jackpot Records in Portland Oregon asked if we'd stop by before our show at Crystal Ballroom and say hello, - maybe sign a few things...

"Sure, thanks for asking us and CONGRATULATIONS on your 15 Year Anniversary! "

"It was in 1997 that Isaac Slusarenko decided to take his love of music to the people by opening the original Jackpot Records location in Southeast Portland."  We are not sure if it was "Winter 1997", but we like to think maybe it was.

With the music industry struggling to survive, both Jackpot Records (& friend Jackpot ! Recording)  are still thriving. They have both become cornerstones of the Portland music community and have helped spread the gospel of great sounds the world over.

We look forward to supporting Jackpot Records in-person and meeting some new people.  ~X~

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X In-Store When:  6:30 pm - Friday May 11, 2012

Where: Jackpot Records Downtown location.   203 SW 9th Avenue - Portland, OR 97214  -  (503) 222-0990