Amplified: The Jesus Lizard

Wild reminiscences with David and Mac from the 80's/90's noise rock band. More at ABCNews.com/Amp...
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[@jackschleffner]

I live in LA, and of all the celebrities that I've spotted, nothing will compare with seeing David Yow on the treadmill at the Hollywood Y.

[@nyokoSalome]

;0 compared with my old friend in north chicago saying she was sitting in a corner coffeebar and saw yow waiting for a taxi to bring him drugs.... ;0 YOWW!! ;0 at least i saw them play once live full-tilt... it was like watching a cartoon-version of a punk-band play live! WILD!! ;0

[@rahpathy9410]

@@nyokoSalome Was that a Jet story? I think i remember that too

[@glenbellefonte9620]

@nyokoSalome how would they know he was buying drugs. Did he say, "Hey! I am waiting on drugs!"

[@housewares]

I'm picturing some low-level Disney tech having to go through a few dozen archive boxes of video cassettes to edit together several seconds of Yow wearing clothes

[@danielg.w5733]

Lol

[@dathorndike4908]

I used to live in New York City and I always saw The Jesus Lizard when they came through town. I think I saw them like 5 or 6 times. Every show was stellar.

[@dylancoffman1327]

Best band. Ever.

[@retrofixaus]

Yes.

[@words911]

Give or take. Mac is one beast of a drummer.

[@xxcrysad3000xx]

Please ABCNews, continue this awesome series, nobody documents or pays any mind to the great bands of the 80's and 90's that laid the ground floor for most of the "alt/indie" music that exists today.

[@ThinkerOnTheBus]

+xxcrysad3000xx Most of the music today (or even six years ago) which bears a label of classification as being "alt/indie" is neither!

[@trishastampone574]

I will name my first born child Dudley. Please go on tour again. 💖

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

This woman's crazy! She's the mistress of a man who's crazy, too.

[@willpowerbroken]

They're releasing new music now, hope you still named your kid Dudley

[@Chesterton7]

Superb interview.

[@Rockunstank]

Mac is one of the greats...I have played drums for 30 yrs..he's the closest I've heard to a Bonham..even more the grohl.

[@jaygilbert4546]

Rockunstank - The ferocity with which he plays had me from the first listen. He hits so hard, I don't want to "air drum"- it makes me wanna pick up breakable objects & throw them as hard as I can across the room whilst screaming at the top of my lungs! Mac ROCKS!!!

[@MysticalHydra]

Dan Harris is actually pretty cool. You can tell he really digs all these bands. And rightly so.

[@dylanput]

Before you die, see these guys live

[@headinjurymedia]

One of the ALL TIME best

[@setadriftonfishandchips]

This is awesome! I seen The Jesus Lizard in Toronto last year it was amazing! Its cool that ABC covered this band.

[@socketofdavis]

"I watched a video, just now, of you, in 1994 get hit in the head by a bottle....bottle breaks, you go down, and then i counted within 3 minutes..fewer than 3 minutes..the song had started again and you were singing again." -"Unbelievable!" hahahahahaha OWNED

[@Koettnylle]

Every fucking band is nirvanas favorite band according to music journalists

[@EdFredHernandez]

It's like how every great guitar player was "Jimmy Hendrix's favorite guitarist"

[@DrOz-007]

Thought King Crimson was Cobain's favourite band! 😂 Seriously though, you can hear pre echoes of grunge in their album Red from 1974.

[@bryanstout3893]

I still hate I missed this tour. Did catch a show in 93

[@tylerperkinson1677]

I was 10 or 11 in 93. I'm enraged that i missed all my favorite bands at their peak.

[@mantislake4141]

I saw them twice on their tour for "Blue", after Mac left, and while they were great, they were flat-out fantastic when he rejoined the band on the tour they're referencing.

[@skaface32]

Great interview!!!,thanks for posting CHEERS!!

[@consciously73]

Yow is what Lou Reed meant by a Rock-'n'-roll animal

[@vinyldiary6664]

ahaha for real

[@jrkchannel37]

The best live band in the world. When i saw em reunited i was i Lizard heaven

[@Jacksmusicshack]

I really doubt they'll record anything more..but i will gladly buy all the albums.

[@EMDGP38]

Ipecac will release Rack on September 13, 2024.

[@Jacksmusicshack]

​@@EMDGP38I HEARD!! IM BEYOND EXITED!!

[@YTPartyTonight]

Mac McNeilly is the coolest, sweetest, most generous and genuine person I've ever met.

[@MysticalHydra]

Not to mention probably the most underrated drummer in history.

[@vinyldiary6664]

@@MysticalHydra probably the most underrated drummer in history is Dale Crover.

[@words911]

We. Snuck up to the green room after a show at the whiskey go go and we didn't know anyone but Mac gave us some beers and shook my hand. His hands were like rocks.

[@GreenDayDookieDemos]

Seeing these guys this weekend, so excited

[@mattbockbrader2140]

Saw 'em in Detroit this summer, they never sounded better!

[@user-uo1qr6vn1q]

Legends ❤

[@armofinfant]

thanks for Upping it.

[@d.a.thorndike8772]

Amazing how all these years have passed and they look like they have hardly aged at all

[@sammyscotch9945]

They were born lookin old

[@FrankTownsend]

Jesus Lizard were quite simply the greatest band of the 90's - and yes that fuckin' includes Nirvana. Please don't compare Cobain with Yow or Jesus Lizard with any other band, I mean My Bloody Valentine?????? I met the band backstage in Newcastle circa 1991 and Yow told me to fuck off when I asked him a fuckin' stupid question; the man is a twisted genius and the Lizard expanded the boundaries of punk rock at a time when the genre was stale.

[@Luciffrit]

They were considered one of the better noise rock bands. Look up the term and history of it. Bands like them and Sonic Youth came out in a time choked with punk and punk influenced bands.

[@ko9655]

4:10 bottle chuck

[@jackburton3540]

Young Mac mcneilly looks strikingly like young herny Rollins

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

Kurt's favourite band was Winger.

[@housewares]

The GMA weekend guy interviewing David & Mac--with explanatory file footage... Now I've really seen everything

[@YTPartyTonight]

LOL... I'm from Chicago and I lived LA for about 10 years. I ran into Yow after a Guided by Voices show at the Wiltern Theater. Yow didn't remember me although that wasn't too surprising considering I was better acquainted with Sims and Dennison. I saw many many Jesus Lizard shows over the years and we all had mutual friends. The funniest thing I ever heard them do was a live show on WNUR. Yow had fallen off the wagon and was swearing and going on about "sporting giant erections".

[@angelocalvete1086]

Funny, the part of stage diving to the ground in switzerland. Funny because a friend of mine went there to see Mudhoney and stage dived and it happened the same the thing. He went to the hospital.

[@hayzeephantayzee]

We swiss don't catch 'em because we're neutral! Actually I was there. Or not. We were late and when we got there the gig was already over because of that.

[@ThinkerOnTheBus]

+Angelo Calvete Your friend dove off the stage and landed in the hospital??!!! I don't know about funny, but it definitely would be surreal!

[@Ramblebar]

I wouldn't say they were the loudest band,My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr,would claim that title,but The Jesus Lizard were just manic and chaotic,and their live shows were revelations,I saw them Lollapalooza at the Fiddlers Green Ampitheatre(now Comfort Dental Ampitheatre) in Englewood,Colorado,I believe it was '95 and they blew everyone else on the bill away,but most of the people there at the show could of cared less or were absolutely horrified,it was fucking great!!!

[@brianmeeth1512]

Andrew Mills mbv and dinosaur jr aint loud

[@ThinkerOnTheBus]

+Brian Meeth Eh? Huh? Say again.

[@WilliamBarker]

Loudest I worked with were Type O negative, most Electric frontman Cathal Coughlan Fatima Mansions, but these guys are the best! IMHO. Thanks for posting.

[@PersonMan92]

WTF yo. I love these guys.

[@waltloggins8578]

They sure jumped at the chance to do a split LP with a soon to be dead person.

[@shellac23]

At least get a guy to interview them that’s heard of them before. Geez.

[@JimJWalker]

The show where no one caught him and he was knocked unconscious was in Orlando Florida. Maybe it happened more than once?

[@DIYDSP]

he didn't go unconscious at Babyhead in Providence, but several times there weren't enough people to break his fall - - - actually no one wanted to touch him because he was gross and slimy!

[@d_walsh]

2024 announce new album and new tour - !!!

[@joesuburb]

No thanks for using my footage without permission.

[@GreenHippee]

joesuburb you should sue dude

[@sammyscotch9945]

O man bad deal

[@rippedtorn2310]

You stole the footage off me dude so let's not go there .

[@willshogren1987]

I love stealing footage.

[@johnturner6141]

@@willshogren1987 you love munching scat as well, what's your point?

[@ian_occultist]

Lol

[@InterfaceFuuls]

dont get me wrong the jesus lizard is great, but the interviewer really milks it. i mean, "the craziest frontman of all time," "the greatest live band of all time" "nirvana's favorite band period" "the loudest rock band ever to be heard" i think hes really going out of his way to kiss their ass.

[@ThinkerOnTheBus]

+overrated556 Fucking-A! Anyone that knows shit about music, knows that Disaster Area is the loudest!!!

[@freetalkproduction]

Поздравляю 🤪😇😉

[@Luciffrit]

Last point. I guess if you want to take it that far and need to discern it from others of a similar sound. Progressive, so it changes tempo, structure etc throughout the song. Neo-psychadelic, so it deals with surreal sounds not covered in the traditional psychedelic movement. Grindcore, so it is a melding of death metal and crust punk with overly distorted vocals with progressive elements. Wave, that covers pop rock from the late 70's to 80s with punk ties. Folk, revival of pre 20th century.

[@maximebimar8447]

Nirvana favourite isn't Chokebore ?

[@briansmith9455]

Or Flipper? Or The Raincoats? Or REM? OR....(you get the idea...)

[@tonysoprano6706]

He wasn't Kurt's level (David Yow) but he is an exceptional talent. Jesus Lizard as a band were more gifted than Nirvana though. Amazing these artists used to exist.. I missed it all by an almost decade 😂 There's great alt rock bands my age atm but there's something missing. I think time has moved on tbh. The next Cobain will be in a different medium away from music 🤔

[@Luciffrit]

Well this is actually the last point but anywho. You just mashed a heap of terms together to try and make me go "oh hey too specific". What you just described seems to have too many elements all mashed together. It would end up sounding like a medley rather than a coherent piece of music. But like I said before I would only go that far if a situation arose where I needed to make such a label. I could imagine if used "rock" as the all defining category you would quickly become disappointed.

[@Luciffrit]

I don't like the term Popcorn but I'm not about to say anymore on that topic. If you are going to challenge a label then have something more to offer than an opinion. It would be like me saying to you that a black metal band and britney spears should not be differentiated as they are both music.

[@austenslost]

popcorn? what are you talking about? id call black metal rock, and britanny spears as pop. what? you need more than that? okay how about progressive neo-psychadellic grindcore wave folk, is that specific enough?

[@ThinkerOnTheBus]

+austenslost Popcorn?? Is that the label for the genre of all those similar sounding breakthrough bands which emerged from Iowa during the 90's?? Although I have numerous roots planted in Iowa, personally, I much prefer Near-Death Metal.

[@Alabama8]

Inner peace, mfkrs ✌️🤙👍🖕

[@redcommando1]

@tcdude001 I don't really get mbv either but tedious shoe-gazing is harsh lol.

[@austenslost]

your wikipedia skills impress me. i was making an exaggeration of the measures people make to label music, which is bullshit and a waste of time.

[@Luciffrit]

You just said "I hate the term" and proceeded not give any reason for me not to categorize something for ease of reference. Yes a tool which humans have been using for thousands of years. But obviously you understand and are dodging the statement. Now onto the next part. Black Metal being rock... well isn't that specific. In other words you want to be the all defining overlord and if it is too specific by your measure you jump up and down but if its too vague you do the same.

[@austenslost]

noise rock band.... really?

[@austenslost]

also who gives a shit if they were nirvanas favorite band?

[@LadySpace_888]

Because like it or not that's how a lot of people found out about them. JL didn't "play the game" which is why they're unknown to so many, which is a shame b/c they're 1 of the greatest bands of all time.