X: Smoke & Fiction Tour
with special guest Jimbo MathusSaturday, October 19th, 20248PM | Doors open 7PM
Charline McCombs Empire TheatreX
Formed in 1977, X quickly established themselves as one of the best bands in the first wave of
LA's flourishing punk scene; becoming legendary leaders of a punk generation. Featuring
vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist/bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer DJ
Bonebrake, their debut 45 was released on the seminal Dangerhouse label in 1978, followed
by seven studio albums released from 1980-1993. Over the years, the band has released
several critically acclaimed albums, topped the musical charts with regularity and performed
their iconic hits on top television shows such as Letterman and American Bandstand. X’s first
two studio albums, Los Angeles and Wild Gift are ranked by Rolling Stone among the top 500
greatest albums of all time. The band continues to tour with the original line-up fully intact. In
2017, the band celebrated their 40th year anniversary in music with a Grammy Museum exhibit
opening, a Proclamation from the City of Los Angeles and being honored at a Los Angeles
Dodgers game where Exene threw out the first pitch and John Doe sang the National Anthem.
In 2020, X celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Los Angeles.
In 2019 X reissued and remastered their first four classic albums via their collaboration with
Fat Possum Records. Los Angeles (1980), Wild Gift (1981), Under The Big Black Sun (1982) and
More Fun In The New World (1983). In addition, the band recently re-entered the recording
studio for the first time since 1984.
A collection of original songs, Alphabetland, were recorded with producer Rob Schnapf in two
sessions. In Nov 2018 the band joined together to record fresh material for the first time since
1985’s Ain’t Love Grand. Five songs were recorded over the course of two days with producer
Rob Schnapf. The first of these new songs is the recorded version of an older X song, "Delta 88
Nightmare," which previously was only included as a bonus track on the 2001 reissue of "Los
Angeles" in demo form - never as a fully recorded and mixed track. The song was released as a
7" with the flip side being the newly recorded "Cyrano de Berger's Back,” one of the earliest
songs John wrote for the band that became X. This past January 2020 the band re-entered the
studio to finish recording the album, again with Rob Schnapf and seven more original tracks
were laid down, 11 of the songs appear on this album. It was released via Bandcamp on April
22nd and landed on streaming platforms as of May 1, 2020. Physical release plans are
tentatively scheduled for August, 2020.
The band continues to tour with the original line-up: Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom
and DJ Bonebrake.
