"Neil Young You're My Hero" - Megan Bawden

Stumbled across this on Facebook today - just after having caught Neil and band in sizzling form at Sydney's leg of the Big Day Out. Megan Bawden is a singer-guitarist from Melbourne and that's Cathy Green (X) on bass (with Cormick Green helping out on drums and pian'er.)

Neil Young You're My Hero

X (still) marks the spot

Whatever misgivings you might still have about a Rilen-less X treading the boards, consider putting them aside and having a gander at the re-formed band when they strut their stuff in Melbourne and Sydney. The occasion will be the re-launch of "At Home With You", shortly to be re-packaged (with bonus live disc) by Aztec Music.

May 3 at Ding Dong (Melbourne) and May 17 and 19 (the Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills, Sydney) are the dates. Most of what you need to know is on the poster above (click on i t to read it), except for the fact that Sydney punters can buy their tix from the Excelsior this week (probably from Wednesday.) Do not wait. The two nights will sell out fast.

The other thing you need to know if there's a distinct possibility that this line-up (Steve Lucas-Cathy Green-Kim Volkman) will be in a studio soon, recording a host of old previously unrecorded X gems.

The return of X

Last night I was lucky enough to be sitting in the right place at the right time, and so to be invited to watch X rehearse for their upcoming dates.
In a stinky pub back room, that usually holds about 200 people, there were five of us- Steve Lucas, Kim Volkman, John Hall (drummer for these dates) a sound guy called Wal & me.
You can quibble all you like about whether this is the "real" X, but don't ignore the music. For my money, this sounded like the real deal- an opinion confirmed by (long term fan & friend of the band) Fred Negro when he stuck his head in for a minute. Really, though, they needed nothing from me, or Fred, so I just sat and enjoyed it,
"But what did they play?" I hear you ask. What I saw went like this:
"TV Glue"- spiky ringing guitar to the forefront, Steve taking the spoken vocal.
"Degenerate Boy"- again, that guitar sound, wrung out of a new Epiphone.
"Moving On"- some trouble with the final few bars' speed metal assault, quickly ironed out.
"Dipstick"- played faster than I've ever seen it done before.
And more- "Oxford Street Nick" "I Like You And You Like Me" ("Oh, I light up so easily-ah...") "Halfway Round The World" (all slashing old style punk chords) "I Don't Wanna Go Out" (I was grinning like a schoolboy for the duration of THAT) and a very sharp take on Del Shannon's "Runaway"...
Questions?
Yes, Rilen is absent, but yes, I think Kim is a great fit as his replacement. Yes, Steve can still be a bit tetchy at times, but yes, these are his songs and he still enjoys- loves- playing them. Worth noting this is not the only project he has on the go, either. Cathy's absence from the stool was explained to me but it's not something I want to go into here.
You would be a fool to miss your chance here.
Dates, links etc- well, here's the band , here's Steve, here's Kim and here's Cathy .
And this is probably a good place to note that the Aztec Music reissue of "At Home With You" with bonus tracks, is now scheduled for May.