Steve Hochman on December 4th, 2015

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“Welcome to the 45th annual X Christmas show,” quipped John Doe a couple of songs into the band’s first of a four-night stand at the Roxy Theatre on Thursday.

“Not true,” his cohort Exene Cervenka quickly retorted.

Well, yeah. Not true. But opener Mike Watt was on target when in his set he thanked X for having him on the bill there — 33 years ago with his old band the Minutemen. Thirty-three? Forty-five? Other than inadvertently evoking musical vinyl fetishes, the exact number doesn’t matter. X and Watt are the keepers of the flame — or whatever cliché you prefer of a spirit that made the Los Angeles indie music scene so vibrant, so dynamic, so many years ago. But it wasn’t nostalgia that ruled Thursday. Neither act — the intact original X lineup and Watt with his band of recent times, the Secondmen — seemed the least bit anachronistic or out of time. This was a vital night in every way.

Doe went on to note that this was “the holiday show in which you will hear absolutely no Christmas songs.” But on this First Night of X-Mas, this great band gave to us a wonderful present: Billy Zoom.

As fans know, the guitarist had been undergoing treatment for bladder cancer and veteran Texas musician Jessie Dayton filled in for him on the band’s string of summer shows. But he’s doing okay now and, at least for these holiday shows, back in the fold, if playing much of the time seated on a stool.

Fittingly, the first sounds of the set were his blues-a-billy opening lick of the thematically fitting “Beyond and Back,” a high-charged treasure from the band’s second album, 1981’s “Wild Gift.” No fuss was made about the beyond to which he’s been, nor even that he’s back. But much of the set served to showcase his potent combo of straightforward energy and musically sophisticated dexterity.

The years have only brought more richness and depth to his playing, the mix of Chuck Berry riffing, Link Wray twang and a bit of boppin’ Charlie Christian swing enlivening the poetry and barbed power at the heart of the band. When he soloed Thursday on “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes,” the 1930 Al Dubin/Joe Burke song that added emotion to the heartbroken 1982 album “Under the Big Black Sun,” he could have been on a bandstand any time between the song’s original then and right-in-the-moment now.

Whether it was Zoom’s return or whatever, the band was inspired and frisky, constructing a set of cherished favorites and, as Doe noted, a few “deep cuts,” the latter in part possible for the supplemental presence of Craig Packham, playing acoustic guitar on a few tracks and drums on several for which D.J. Bonebrake shifted over to vibes.

“The holiday show in which you will hear absolutely no Christmas songs.” — John Doe

They covered all their bases, from pure-rush poetry (“In This House That I Call Home,” “Year 1,” “Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not”) to soul-searching sentiment (“Come Back to Me”) to sharply pointed (“The New World,” “We’re Having Much More Fun” — both no less relevant than when released in the Reagan years). “Motel Room In My Bed,” a fast one to start with, was played at what seemed double-tempo. “White Girl” and “Adult Books,” the latter kicking off the three-song encore, seemed as rich in their scene observations, and in the vocal jousting/teaming of Doe and Cervenka, as on first hearing you-know-when. “Los Angeles,” of course, was a mid-song high-point with the fans singing and jumping along. Ditto for “The Hungry Wolf,” with its portrait of fierce loyalty seeming extra-poignant — “together for life.”

Watt, too, kept the ties to his roots strong, but with the Secondmen — Hammond organist Pete Mazich and drummer Jerry Trebotic, both San Pedro longshoremen by day — he goes places even the seemingly boundless Minutemen and successor Firehose couldn’t. Tuesday he and his mates stood at the intersection of punk, prog, jazz and metal, playing at breakneck speed, though able to shift gears in an instant, with Mazich (who shares lead vocal duties) playing with equal measures of Keith Emerson flourish, Jimmy Smith soul-groove and Jon Lord/Deep Purple majesty. Breathtaking.

Tying it all together, in X’s set Doe affectionately, admiringly dedicated 1980’s “Sugarlight” to Watt. He also later dedicated “The Unheard Music,” of the same vintage, to the memory of the Doors’ Ray Manzarek, who produced X’s first four albums. But in the version this night some extra dimensions were, uh, heard. The song’s somber rumination unfolded into a Bonebrake vibes solo, the percussionist deftly peeling off runs of jazzy chimes. And that, in turn, yielded to Zoom, switching to tenor sax for — well, hesitant to call it spiritual, or prayerful, or even meditative. Let’s just say he sounded thankful.

A rowdy, perfectly ragged “Devil Doll” closed the night out,  and as the song ended, we were left with the same lone instrument with which X began, but this time just a little bit of guitar feedback. Cervenka stood center-stage for a moment, then turned to her left to look at the musician making that sound and said, simply, “Billy Zoom.” She sounded thankful too. As are we.

||| Live: X plays the Roxy tonight, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets remain for the shows tonight and Sunday.