They are arisen

Arguably the greatest rock band of the
’90s, the Jesus Lizard, return to the stage
a decade after calling it quits

HARD TO HANDLE: The Jesus Lizard

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The Jesus Lizard are the greatest band I have ever seen on stage—ever!—and trust me, I’ve seen ’em all, by gummy. Having witnessed their bombastic attack numerous times, including before tens of thousands at the 1994 Reading Festival and as one of 20 people at the now-defunct Jailhouse Rock Café on Mont-Royal, I can attest that the Jesus Lizard consistently prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is simply no band that can follow them. Hell, while I’m laying it on extra-thick, I’ll dance even further out on the limb and say they were the greatest rock band the ’90s produced (take that, Nirvana!). Not only could they absolutely mesmerize in the live context, they also were able to truly advance rock music on record, and even though a decade has breezed by since they folded, they have yet to be eclipsed.

The band originally hung it up in the spring of 1999 but have reunited this year to support the recent reissues culled from their Touch & Go discography, and are once again reclaiming their iron-clad title of rock’s fiercest live band ever. Just before their final tour comes to a close for good in the next couple of weeks, the Mirror spoke with drummer Mac McNeilly, who left the band in 1997 but has rejoined for this tour, over the phone.

Mirror: What was it like at the first rehearsal after not playing together for over 12 years?

Mac McNeilly: It was pretty amazing, seeing each other again after so long, and it was just hugs all around. We clocked a lot hours together and always got along really well, so it was just like seeing your long-lost brothers. I guess we were worried if we were, musically, going to be able to do it, but all of that just flew out the window once we saw each other.

M: Did the level of musicianship come back right away?

MM: Well, it was kind of rusty at first, by our standards, but none of us wanted to do it if we were just going to sound like a bunch of old guys climbing up on stage. We didn’t want people to think we were nice guys who couldn’t play anymore, so we put a lot of effort into it. We didn’t want to pretend it was the ’90s again, and didn’t want to do this kind of Las Vegas revue type of thing, but so far, people have been telling us it’s like no time has passed at all since we stopped playing together.

Yow power

M: You and David [Yow, singer] have always been pretty tight. He could be called a colourful character, to say the least. Any particular David Yow stories you’d care to share?

MM: (laughs) There are so many, I don’t really know where to start, but I will say this—he is an amazing person and being able to be in a band with him is incredible. A lot of people see him onstage and can be a bit put off by him, but he’s not like that at all offstage. Having said that, when he’s onstage, that isn’t an act either. He just completely loses himself in the music. He’s very honest on stage in that sense and sometimes that can be hard for some people to handle, because there is a whole lot of stuff coming out of one person.

M: What is the make-up of the current Jesus Lizard audience?

MM: It’s kind of a mix of people seeing us for nostalgia purposes and younger people that had never seen us but somehow heard about us. It’s kind of funny because we’re more popular now than we were when we were around. We never had anybody really trying to sing along with David back in the day, and that’s been happening at all of the shows now.

M: Do you think the Jesus Lizard is finally getting the respect you deserve?

MM: I knew we had made some sort of mark in small circles. I don’t think, in the big book of rock, we’ll get a chapter, but we got to do everything our own way and our fans were really loyal and intense, so I would deem that success. If we had any sort of legacy, I would like to be remembered as a band that had their own sound that wasn’t about high art but entertainment and humour. We really just wanted to make rock music that other bands weren’t playing.

WITH GRAND TRINE AT LE NATIONAL
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