Entertainment

Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain let the music do the talking

Brothers Jim and William Reid, better known as Scottish rock outfit The Jesus and Mary Chain
Brothers Jim and William Reid, better known as Scottish rock outfit The Jesus and Mary Chain Brothers Jim and William Reid, better known as Scottish rock outfit The Jesus and Mary Chain

The Jesus and Mary Chain at The Limelight in Belfast

ROCK and Roll siblings traditionally spend a lot of time burying the hatchet between each other's shoulder blades, and Jim and William Reid are no exception. Early Jesus and Mary Chain gigs were often stormy and short-lived, 20 minutes of pure noise ending in a mini-riot, with everyone back home in time for Brookside.

Having glowered their way through the 80s and 90s to considerable effect, an extended sabbatical was surely inevitable. Comeback Album Damage and Joy, a mix of new songs and reworked solo efforts, has propelled them back into the top 20 and ensured a packed Limelight Bar.

Opener Amputation, from that recently released LP, was an effortless riff-driven declaration of intent, just like they' d never been away. The following April Skies was an early dip into their Specteresque tunefulness.

And therein lies their essential uniqueness. Beneath the white noise lies a blue heart. It was emphasised by a wash of suitably velvet lighting from which they never truly emerged.

The odd technical glitch aside (including two goes at new track Always Sad), this was mostly a surprisingly slick presentation of low down and dirty rock n roll.

Riffs were duly plundered, notably T Rex on Blues From A Gun', though A Ziggyish The Hardest Walk full of glam descends and woo-woo harmonies, could have benefited visually from Mick Ronson in a silver lamé suit.

The Jesus and Mary Chain let the music do the talking, on Saturday night most effectively on All Things Pass and sometimes, like on Some Candy Talking, with a 20-second guitar break that was almost unearthly beautiful, and virtually justified the evening in itself.

The aural psychedelic assault that was Reverence closed the set before they returned for a slew of crowd-pleasing encores.