The Jesus Lizard – Manchester Academy 2 8/1/2025

Now here’s the thing you see- when you have just started the second week in January it may be a very bold statement to say that I may have seen my favourite gig of 2025 already- the year has started on a quite ludicrous high. The Jesus Lizard had not brought out an album since releasing Blue back in 1998 and although there had been some reunion shows over that time, I had never really expected to hear from them again and my only chance of seeing them live consisted of watching footage on YouTube etc. However a press release then appeared in my Inbox from Ipecac Records informing this middle aged rotund Ulsterman that The Jesus Lizard would be releasing a new album, Rack later in the year!!! Such news made me feel positively giddy and the anticipation of the said release only increased as the Autumn came and it did not disappoint, becoming my No. 1 Album Of 2024 in the countdown on my show at Christmas.

The Jesus Lizard are a band not like any other. Yes, the live shows are suitably insane but it is the four distinct band members that create something so original and adrenaline rousing when together that I just find so divine. David Yow as a front man has no equal, a man who seems to have spent a good part of his career crowd surfing than singing on the stage (Yow is in his mid 60’s and how he is able to do this type of performance each night is beyond belief!). Riffs from guitarist Duane Denison just keep coming and I think it is on this new record that he really shows his depth in style. In many ways though it is the rhythm section of David Wm. Sims (bass) and Mac Mc Neilly (drums) that are their secret weapon. Yes, it is David Yow that will captivate the audience’s attention but it is the instrumentation that gives The Jesus Lizard their backbone and keeps them going ape shit and they won’t stop under that gaze from Sims daring you not to go absolutely insane!

They stroke the opening chords of Gladiator and that is it. The start of the set sees me transported to those early days of the 1990’s when touring with Therapy? On tour buses around the world, I would quite often impersonate Yow by drinking too much Jagermeister and thinking it would be a good idea to crowd surf around the bus’ lounge as Goat or Liar albums were cranked up to the max! With Boilermaker, Seasick and Mouth Breather all coming in quick succession, this 52 year old rocker is reliving those days when music became his main focus and it is as much as he can do to not rip the microphone from Yow’s hands and complete the gig himself! The shout out to Steve Albini, their fallen comrade who passed away last May and was so important in helping The Jesus Lizard become the band they are, is truly touching. But Yow is not going to let this audience rest on their laurels. He insists that rapturous applause be engaged with after every song and does not stop until at least 10 minutes after the band have left the stage and this Mancunian crowd duly obliges!

Now I have been lucky enough to see The Jesus Lizard many times so I think one of the things that I was looking forward to most was hearing songs from the Rack album. Grind, Hide & Seek and Alexis Feels Sick are relentless and just like they sound on the Paul Allen (and the band themselves) produced record. They make me feel that this more mature and in many ways focused Jesus Lizard really could have a wonderful future ahead of them. In a surprise move Yow takes a stool from the wings of the stage as the band launch into a venomous What If? from the new record and as the song ends it is not Yow who crowd surfs but the stool being passed along the crowd like a triumphant football team after a cup win…. Yes tonight is something special. With a combination of Gladiator and Then Comes Dudley, the band leave the stage with Yow describing this performance as something special in the similar way to legends who have taken to this very stage in the past such as The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix have experienced. But Daltrey, Townsend and his luminaries…well Yow says we must say boo to The Who!

The band receive not just one but two very deserved encores during which they play eight more songs. What I find most interesting is that with most bands who receive an encore, this would be the time in the set where you will bring out the big guns, play the hits so that the crowd go home with a spring in their step and a well known song on their lips. But The Jesus Lizard are no ordinary band and we are treated to a further five songs from the Rank album including Armistice Day, Lord Godiva, Falling Down and a magnificent Moto(r) as well as old favourites Thumper, Fly On The Wall and Monkey Trick. Yes, I had high expectations for the return of The Jesus Lizard but I never thought they would be THIS good. Roll on May when this great and totally unpredictable force of nature will be back delighting audiences in Europe again!!