X Plot 'Los Angeles' Album-Celebration Show
will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their landmark debut LP, Los Angeles, with a special show this spring in, of course, the City of Angels. The concert, which features support from Cracker, will take place at the Wiltern on April 25th.
The group will also be joining the for a co-headlining tour that kicks off on May 28th. The dates focus on the Midwest and the East Coast.
The members of X reflected on their history in an in-depth Rolling Stone article in 2017. Regarding the song “Los Angeles,” vocalist-bassist John Doe said he based the track’s edgy lyrics on the life of a friend of his who had moved to London and had a nervous breakdown. He just changed the locale to X’s hometown.
“She’d just gotten fed up with it,” he said. “She had lived there for a couple of years and she became more and more racist and stereotyping people. And to be honest, there was a lot of shock value intended in the lyrics. I wanted to show the dark side or underbelly of Los Angeles. People like Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Nathaniel West did — the Doors did it — so it was time for an update.”
Late last year, X released their first new video in years, for “Delta 88 Nightmare,” a bonus track that came out on the 2001 reissue of Los Angeles. The clip was directed by singer Exene Cervenka’s son, Henry Mortensen, and starred both Mortensen and Cervenka’s niece, Carolyn Allen. The song was reissued last year on a seven-inch backed with “Cyrano de Burger’s Back.”
X Tour Dates With Violent Femmes
April 25 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *
May 28 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Palace
May 29 — Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside
May 30 — Chicago, IL @ Radius
May 31 — Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak
June 2 — Toronto @ Danforth Music Hall
June 4 — Boston, MA @ House of Blues
June 5 — North Adams, MA @ MassMoCA/Hunter Theater
June 6 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Stony Pony Summer Stage
June 7 — Washington, DC @ Anthem
June 9 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
June 10 — New York, NY @ Pier 17
* Los Angeles celebratory show with Cracker
