Legendary punk band X is going on a farewell tour this fall, including two Upstate New York concerts. But it may be your last chance to see the group live.
X, featuring dual lead singers John Doe and Exene Cervenka, released its first album, “Los Angeles,” in 1980 and helped define the L.A. punk scene. More than four decades later, they released their ninth album, “Smoke & Fiction,” in August and announced “The End is Near” tour dates.
“I hope people will come see us play, because — not to be weird — we may never play your town again. But that’s true every night, right?” Cervenka told Billboard in a new interview. “Just a reminder: Life is short, but it’s up to people to listen to the record or come see us if they want. Or not. We’re really happy with this record. And that’s its own reward, no matter what happens.”
X is scheduled to perform Sept. 25 at Empire Live in Albany and Sept. 26 at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester. Tickets for Albany are $38.50 through Ticketmaster, while Rochester tickets are $49.36 via TicketWeb; fans can also look for tickets on VividSeats and StubHub.
X is considered one of the most influential American punk rock bands. Their first two albums were ranked among the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone, and X songs have been featured in movies like “The Kids Are Alright,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “G.I. Jane,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”
Cervenka, who was married to Doe from 1980 to 1985 and actor Viggo Mortensen from 1987 to 1997, confirmed that this would be a final tour but said X may continue performing after that.
“Are we going to travel around America, endlessly, getting in and out of a van, in and out of the motel, back and forth to a club at this age? Up and down the stairs to the dressing room and lug our equipment and our suitcases around? No, no, we’re not going to keep doing that,” she told Billboard. “We’re going to do it to the end of the year, and then we’ll reassess. We have festival dreams for next year and Little Stevie’s garage rock cruise in May. I would be happy if we could do a couple of festivals and that, but we’ll see what happens.”
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