Jesus and Mary Chain do not break up at warm-up show

[Correspondent Chris Barton reports from Pomona, which rhymes with Corona:]

Reunions are a dicey thing. Sure, it's a thrill to welcome back old friends, but you can't help wondering -- what sort of reunion will this be? Will Coachella '07 find the Jesus and Mary Chain emulating the cathartic returns of Kraftwerk and Gang of Four, who showed a new generation they still had plenty in the tank? Or will this be akin to Cure's performance in '04- -- an influential band so trapped by its early identity that their set is best remembered as, well, a chubby guy in runny pancake makeup.

Brothers Jim and William Reid tuned up for their Coachella comeback at the Glass House in Pomona on Thursday night, and although the sold-out crowd didn't quite witness the riotous, feedback-detonating performances characterizing their early career, they also didn’t get the kind of volatile acrimony that killed the band in 1998 after a disastrous show some 40 miles away at the House of Blues.

Instead the packed house of twenty- to fortysomethings got their favorites delivered by a band that’s aged well, given their past. Jim Reid’s hair has gone gray, but he’s still lean, angular, and surprisingly more congenial with the crowd. Brother William, a bit more paunchy and withdrawn under a tangled Scottish 'fro, can still coax the occasional blast of unholy racket from his guitar.

Now a five-piece, JAMC hit their stride with “Between Planets” and “Blues From a Gun” from 1989’s “Automatic,” and even invited a reverent Annie Hardy (from L.A.'s Giant Drag, which opened) to provide backing vocals on “Just Like Honey.”

Scarlett Johansson is reportedly taking Hardy’s spot during Coachella, surreal and disconcerting even if you've never seen "Lost in Translation" (and if you haven't, why are you even reading this?). Yes, the desert landscape in Indio could be turned into one big Sofia Coppola movie once and for all. Reunions, after all, are a dicey thing.