JESSE MALIN’S RETURN TO THE STAGE IS AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH

LIVE REVIEW | JESSE MALIN | ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL 2nd May 2025 by Morris Shamah

New York punk rocker turned singer-songwriter Jesse Malin performed his first shows in England last week since suffering a life-altering spinal stroke, nearly two years to the day since Jesse has been unable to feel his legs. He’s been undergoing experimental stem cell procedures in Argentina alongside rigorous and diligent physical therapy, but his prognosis for walking again remains uncertain. Jesse has now performed a handful of headlining shows and appeared at a couple of benefit shows in New York City, but these were his first shows outside of the United States since his stroke.

The show started as any other Jesse show might – that’s to say, with an unannounced, unknown singer-guitarist performing a surprise opening song. Herpreet Kaur Grewal, writer, poet, and journalist, told the crowd that she asked Jesse if he’d come along to an open mic night where she was planning to play her first original song – to which he responded by asking her to instead open his shows. Her ode to Joe Strummer was certainly a perfect fit for the Jesse Malin crowd – Joe Strummer being a shared idol for everyone in the building, on stage and in the crowd.

Following Herpreet’s performance, billed opener Bason took the stage for a short set of acoustic songs and dry humour. Talented, in a messy way, Bason took his set seriously, weaving a throughline of where he’s from and where he’s lived to each of his songs. They didn’t quite land on the audience, but the crowd was here with purpose, and that is to see Jesse Malin, not take in new music.

Just before 8.30pm, the stage curtains closed. Summer Wind began to play as the lights went down, and when the curtains opened again, Jesse and his band were all on stage, all seated, and they went straight into I Would Do it For You, the first of seven songs from his 2015 album, New York Before The War. Jesse and his band played the first several songs of the night fully seated, but with all the same ferocity and immediacy that Jesse is known for. Downliner, from Jesse’s debut album The Fine Art Of Self Destruction, is a particular treat, and Room 13, from the Lucinda Williams produced Sunset Kids record, is introduced by Jesse explaining how Lucinda helped him find the heart of the song lyrically by infusing it with her trademark bleakness. Jesse explains that Room 13 is really about having time off from “the gadgets and.. the bullshit” and time to focus on yourself and what you really feel – “I didn’t realize I’d have two years of that shit!”

It’s seven songs before Jesse pulls out his magic trick – he swings his sitting mic out of the way, while his doctor, who is standing sidestage the entire set – comes out to place a full standing mic in front of him. Jesse grabs the stand first, and then the microphone itself, and seemingly through sheer force of will swings himself upright. He stamps the mic stand stand on the ground once or twice, as if to anchor it, and grins  – “I sat in my living room in a chair with a mic stand for six months practicing that move” he says, to thunderous applause.

Jesse can’t dance or prowl, he can’t climb into the audience or jump up on the rear bar like he used to. But he can stand, and he can sing, and he can still emote better than half the artists on stage today. “When you get over the shyness, this is gonna be the best night of the two” Jesse tells the front row. Jesse may not be able to feel his legs, but he still carries the audience in the palm of his hand. His voice remains a force of nature, alternating between shouting and crooning. His band is the tightest it’s been, and the sound mix is immaculate – each instrument is clearly defined and audible, the band conjuring up a soundscape from their seated positions that makes the classic guitarist power-stance just seem silly. Stripped of the usual antics, Jesse and his band prove that it’s the music and the intention that really matters.

The set is two solid hours, and chock full of fan favourites, mostly from the middle of Jesse’s career. One highlight is Jesse’s cover of Sway by The Rolling Stones. It’s on his covers album, On Your Sleeve, but here it’s reimagined as a mix between that electropop version and a post-punk rocker – the bassline drives it forward in a way The Stones never really did, and the lyrics hit a bit harder coming from Jesse these days. “Did you ever wake up to find / A day that broke up your mind / Destroyed your notion of circular time. It’s just that demon life has got you in its sway.” It’s Jesse’s one moment of reflection on the difficulty of his situation. For the rest of the show, Jesse is all “PMA” – or Positive Mental Attitude, as he’s long preached.

There’s no encore break, of course – Jesse can’t really leave his spot. But the main set, such that it is, ends after twenty songs with Meet Me At The End Of The World Again. What follows is 5 songs of special guests – the first night’s opener, Aaron Lee Tasjan, takes lead vocals on Jesse’s Shining Down, as he does on the tribute album, Silver Patron Saints. Billy Bragg comes out for Jesse’s single Ameri’ka and a cover of The Clash’s Rudie Can’t Fail, which has been a staple of Jesse’s set for as long as anyone can remember. Peter Perrett and Jamie Perrett come out to join for Jamie’s Another Girl, Another Planet, which sends the crowd into overdrive. The “encore” – and the evening – ends with the usual, You Know It’s Dark When Atheists Start To Pray. Jesse’s doctor then brings out his walker, and Jesse walks off stage, assisted, but having proven without a doubt that he doesn’t need those legs to blow our bloody socks off.

Setlist

1. I Would Do It For You 
2. Oh Sheena
3. Addicted 
4. Downliner
5. If I Should Fall From Grace With God (The Pogues cover)
6. Room 13
7. Turn Up The Mains
8. The Way We Used To Roll
9. She Don’t Love Me Now
10. Death Star
11. Free Money (Patti Smith cover)
12. Brooklyn
13. The Archer 
14. State Of The Art
15. Black Haired Girl
16. All The Way From Moscow 
17. She’s So Dangerous 
18. Sway
19. Wendy
20. Meet Me At The End Of The World Again
21. Shining Down with Aaron Lee Tasjan
22. Ameri’ka with Billy Bragg
23. Rudie Can’t Fail (The Clash cover) with Billy Bragg
24. Another Girl, Another Planet (The Only Ones Cover) with Peter Perrett and Jamie Perrett
25. You Know It’s Dark When Atheists Start To Pray

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