Having announced that they're playing the Coachella Festival in the States, it feels to me that after a long period of estrangement, things are finally improving for Jim and William Reid, otherwise known as the Jesus and Mary Chain. Their going away has finally made people realize what they lost when the band split up in 1998 - a band as seminal, and utterly genius, as the Ramones.
In 1984, with the song Upside Down, they kick-started a whole new movement of rock 'n' roll with feedback, attitude and tunes. They changed the landscape and you can hear their influence in the Stone Roses, Oasis and The Libertines, whether those bands realise it or not. As with the Pixies reformation, every music fan in the world with a leftfield sense of pop music will want to go and see them live this summer. Finally, it's their time. Their presence, if the brothers can keep it together, will make the festivals magnificent.
If Coachella goes well (and let's pray that it does), I believe a reformed Mary Chain, like the Pixies, could be twice as big as they were the first time round. More than any other band in the world, they deserve the respect - and money - that was always their due. A world tour could be absolutely massive. In today's live market, the Mary Chain are a 20,000 people a night band in major cities. They could sell out four Brixton Academies, no problem. In a world of Robbie Williams and Coldplay, we need the Mary Chain like we need oxygen. Let's hope they can get past the arguments of yesteryear, because they're good for our musical health. The Mary Chain mean so much to so many people because they make you feel glad to be alive. They're soul music - a national treasure.
