Concert Review: The Jesus Lizard (Cleveland, OH; 12.08.24)

It got a bit rowdy Sunday (December 08, 2024) night at the Agora Theater, as The Jesus Lizard brought their own blend of rock, enigmatic chaos, and in-your-face stage presence to the venue. 

Cleveland’s own Disengage opened the night. They’re a five-piece whose sound sits somewhere between hardcore and punk. The first noticeable thing about Disengage is that the entire band is charismatic, each member playing to the crowd at the front of the stage several times throughout the set, the pounding drums carrying the songs along. The crowd was eating it up. But the band wasn’t all business. At one point, they messed up the opening of a song, and then they just reset and rolled with it. Not much out of the ordinary there, but after the song was over, lead singer Jason Byers quipped that the song was actually written about the band being jinxed, giving the crowd a good laugh.

Later, Byers started a song by saying, “Here’s one you might know,” and he was proven right, because he threw the mic into the crowd and they gleefully sang a verse. And then he did it again for another verse.

The Jesus lizard came out, and man what a show! They opened with the song “Seasick” from their 1991 album ‘Goat.‘ Lead singer David Yow immediately jumped off the stage and crowd surfed, screaming the lyrics “I can swim. I can’t swim,” over and over. Yow is not a physically big person, but his personality eclipsed the stage right from the get-go. Throughout the night, he climbed off the stage and into the audience, sometimes embracing them by pulling their face into his chest and just staying there for a long time. Other times, he would join the mosh pit, thrashing with people 20 to 40 years his junior. Yeah, he’s 64, but in moments like these, it didn’t seem like it at all. It wasn’t just once or twice, either. He was down there a lot, from the beginning to the end. I’ll admit there were moments when I was a little afraid for him when he was down in the thick of it. But he’s been doing this a long time, and the band is known for its wild live shows.  

The Jesus Lizard has been around for over 30 years, releasing their first two albums in the early 90s with the legendary engineer Steve Albini, which have since been deemed some of the most influential in the noise rock movement (even if they don’t claim that genre themselves). As influential and well-respected as they are, they never really found commercial success. Part of that is because they disbanded several times for long stretches over the years. And yet they still have the original lineup to this day, not something many bands that old can say. 

Just like their sound, it’s hard to classify the band’s performance. The vibe was, at moments, really fun and then, at times, a little scary. CHAOS! There. That is a good word for it! Why? Because you never know what’s going to happen. For every time Yow would silently stare at the crowd for just a bit longer than felt comfortable or jump down to push around someone in the audience, drummer Mac McNeilly would have a huge, genuine smile on his face as he ripped through the songs, looking like he was really happy to be there. Or Yow would stand at the front of the stage and clap for an extended period of time between songs. He’d just stand there and clap.

The band just seemed to vibe well together. Bassist David Wm. Sims and guitarist Duane Denison were very tight, and each had moments to shine throughout the night. All these ingredients combined meshed to a powerful performance. That’s the band’s appeal, of course, their live show. Like many bands that really stand out over a long period of time, the performances are their own thing, and it’s only possible by this select group of individuals. Personally, I’ve always found it hard to connect with their studio albums, which might be part of the reason they never found huge success like so many of their 90s counterparts, but after seeing them live, everything just clicked into place. I really got it. 

What makes you “get it” is the blend of Yow’s character on stage and the incredible talent of the musicians. For instance, In addition to the weird chaos, Yow would also make a joke every once in a while. He said they put out a new record last year (their first in 26 years!), and that the song they were about to play is sweeping the nation. “It’s like Taylor Swift and us. It’s weird,” he said. Sometimes he would sort of do this dance across that stage that was like a hula trance. He made a joke about how you don’t say Cleveland Steamer in Cleveland. You just say steamer. And so on. 

Then, in the middle of the set, he brought out a chair, sat down, and delivered the part-monologue part-song “What If.” 

That’s how the song starts. Those are the lyrics, which are indicative of the band’s enigmatic aesthetic. Yow even mixed them up a bit and made it more free-flowing. It was an interesting portion of the show, but what really stood out is that he made it clear he isn’t afraid of making the crowd feel a little uncomfortable, leaving long pauses while he stares at the crowd. What was even more interesting is that it wasn’t off-putting. In fact, it was really engaging. You really wanted to keep watching, even when Yow was just sitting on a chair and speaking, or not speaking. 

The band left, one by one, after the song “7 vs. 8,” and then came back out for an encore. Yow thanked the audience for playing along with the charade. “It’s like faking an orgasm,” he said. And then, after a brief pause, joked, “Which I do nearly every time.” They played five more songs, which spanned their career, including 1990’s “If You Had Lips” and 2024’s “Armistice Day.” They then left a second time and returned for a second encore of three more songs. 

For anyone who hasn’t seen The Jesus Lizard live, you really should. It’s something to behold. It’s a real experience. Maybe even get down front and risk getting bopped on the head with a water bottle by Yow. It’s important to stress that it wasn’t just about the antics. The band was really in sync and deserves to be heard in their current state. Come for the antics, stay for the craft.