The prospect of a band celebrating 31 years of making music,
though impressive, is not entirely uncommon. However, when the band in question
still tours with all four of its original members, it begins to separate itself
from the herd. Since releasing their first single in 1977, punk outfit X has
not only been the captain of the celebrated L.A. punk scene but one of the
greatest American bands of all time.

Hailed for their unique spin on punk, which consists of
equal parts Chuck Berry to the Ramones, X enlisted The Doors? Ray Manzarek as
the producer of their masterpiece debut album, Los Angeles.
Subsequently, Manzarek produced the next three X albums and, grouped with Los
Angeles, they make up one of the greatest series of albums any band has
ever made. Since X?s first four albums are widely considered the band?s golden
era, Friday night?s reunion performance at the Barrymore Theatre presented
material exclusive to those tried and true albums which left the crowd
breathless but satisfied.

The cold, wintery March night heated up the moment X hit the
stage, as the band launched into the first song off Los Angeles, ?Your
Phone?s Off The Hook, But You?re Not.? Although the band members are all past
the 50-year mark, they roared through songs with an intensity not often seen
today in musicians half the age of these punk pioneers.

X next rattled off three tracks from their sophomore record Wild
Gift, including the song ?We?re Desperate,? which first appeared as the
B-side of their original 1977 debut single. The band?s next song was the
haunting ?Riding With Mary,? which invoked the spirit of Easter with the lyric
?Her sister?s getting married today/ And the saints of Easter smile.?

Although a sizeable portion of the audience consisted of
people in a similar age group as the band, the modestly aged crowd still
managed to explode into a frenzy as X played the opening riffs of one of their
finest songs, the title-track from Los Angeles. From there, X continued
with a smattering of songs included the politically charged tune ?The New
World,? where singer/bassist John Doe gave a nod to Wisconsin?s weather by
changing the lyric ?Hey buddy, do you got a quarter?? to ?Hey buddy, do you got
a snow plow??

Since X benefit from playing their whole set for nearly 30
years, guitar whiz Billy Zoom cheerily stared off into space as he tackled some
impressive riffs and solos on songs like ?Beyond and Back? and ?Johny Hit and
Run Paulene? without missing a single lick.

As the night wore on and the crowd?s energy continued to
rise, X still managed to up the ante as John Doe simply called off songs from
the stage to the rest of the band. The result was X blasting through fast-paced
numbers like ?Motel Room In My Bed? before ending the first set with their
frantic cover of The Doors? ?Soul Kitchen.?

Opting to do not one, but two encores, the crowd was treated
to the likes of ?Blue Spark? and ?Because I Do,? both from record No. 3, Under
The Big Black Sun, during the first encore. But X impressed once again when
they returned to the stage with all cylinders firing for encore No. 2 as they
ended the evening with three of their best songs. First up was their portrait
of a living paradox, the song ?White Girl? from Wild Gift, but following
that was the last track off Los Angeles, ?The World?s a Mess, It?s in My
Kiss.? Although the song was written three decades ago, it still reverberates
with as much pertinence in 2008 as it did in 1980. To put a cap on the evening,
X selected the track ?Devil Doll? from 1983’s More Fun In The New World.
Fueled by Billy Zoom?s turbo-charged guitar riffs, ?Devil Doll? provided the
audience one last opportunity to expel what was left of their energy, and the
crowd obliged with abandon.

As the band exited the stage and the crowd slowly dispersed,
both were covered in buckets of sweat as X proved that, though older and wiser,
they certainly have not lost the energy that made them one of the standout
bands of ?80s punk. Singers John Doe and Exene Cervenka, who on albums
harmonize better than almost anyone, ebbed and flowed together even more
perfectly in a live setting. On a night that saw the band perform every song
off but one, not one soul left the Barrymore dissatisfied, and X once again proved that very few can match the intensity and focus of their music.