X unveils holiday tour, acoustic format

Venerable L.A. punk band X will undertake another round of holiday shows in a handful of cities throughout the West, but the big news may be the group’s announcement that it is switching full time to the largely acoustic lineup it used in a series of shows during the summer.

“What started as an experiment, ‘X Acoustic,’ will be our new format, the new way we’re gonna play, in the near future,” singer, bassist and songwriter John Doe said in a statement. “That means that DJ [Bonebrake, drummer] gets to play vibes, Billy [Zoom, lead guitarist] breaks out his saxophone and you can hear the lyrics loud and clear. It’s not an upside-down X but it’s X like you’ve never seen or heard it before ... well, unless you came to one of the handful of West Coast shows in July.”

The holiday shows will be a shared bill with roots-rock group the Blasters, starting Dec. 5 in Tucson and running through Dec. 27 in San Francisco, with Southern California shows slated for Dec. 11 in San Diego, Dec. 12 at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and Dec. 13 at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills.

“This new format gives us more flexibility,” Doe’s statement continues. “It means that we can play different songs and reimagine others. There’s a sneaky, funky and smoky quality to the new versions of songs like ‘Beyond & Back,’ ‘The Unheard Music’ & ‘Hungry Wolf.’ It allows us to play songs we never had in the live set, like ‘Come Back to Me,’ ‘Drunk in My Past,’ ‘Dancing With Tears in My Eyes,’ or ‘I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts.’ Look for one or more live versions posted soon.

“It also makes it easier for us to move to venues that are not your typical black-box-rock-club. Places where people can actually sit down, share a drink or two & have a somewhat civilized evening of solid entertainment. WHAT A CONCEPT!!”

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