Kevin Bronson on April 20th, 2009

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[Contributor Ali MacLean looks in on some old friends:]

Before X’s sunset show even began Sunday at Coachella, the crowd stuffed into the Mojave tent knew they were in for an all-pro show. Billy Zoom and John Doe deftly set up their instruments and sound-checked themselves and before you could say “Punk’s not dead,” the band hit the stage … five minutes early.

However, this was not to be a routine set. As X launched into the first three chords, the field below them exploded into a fervor rarely seen at the polo fields. Led by the coolest ex-couple to ever front a band from California (Sorry, Buckingham-Nicks), Exene Cervenka and John Doe played with each other onstage and worked the crowd. Billy Zoom, grinned from ear to ear, like a rocking Leland Palmer, and made sure to make eye contact and wink at every person in the front three rows, as Doe rocked out with DJ Bonebrake toward the back and put more oomph into a riff than Eddie Cochran.

The electricity in the tent prompted tandem crowd-surfing, body-rocking and mind-losing as X launched into their classics “White Girl,” “Los Angeles,” … hell, they’re all classics. These veteran seniors were schooling the Coachella underclassmen. With 20 minutes left and having the time of their lives, Doe and Cervenka discussed which songs to continue with, making the set list up as they went along, which belied the smooth and high-octane performance that emerged with every punk rock cold start.

Each song, each note, they played obviously gave them such joy to give and the crowd bellowed back its approval – a full affirmation for a legendary band who is still playing together for all the right reasons. As they launched into “Johny Hit and Run Paulene,” only one question came to mind: Why hasn’t the Hall Of Fame called yet?

Photos by Ali MacLean