On Monday, August 29, the great band X–with original members Billy Zoom, Exene, D. J. Bonebrake, and the band’s babe factor, John Doe–returns to the Mystic Theater in Petaluma. Tickets are $39 and doors open at 7:30 p.m. Opening band Mike Watt & the Secondmen kick things off at about 8:30. With luck, X will take the stage by 10 p.m.

Snag your tix here. Mary Callahan recently interviewed Doe and you can check out her story here.

John Doe is an actor as well as a musician not just with X but also with a solo project, The John Doe Thing and collaborations with a number of other artists. He, Exene, D.J. Bonebreak and Dave Alvin have played together as The Knitters, an edgy country band. Doe’s book Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk (Da Capo Press, $27), with chapters by other members of X, was recently released and should be available at local bookstores. His most recent album, credited simply to John Doe, is The Westerner.

If you plan to attend Monday night’s show, here’s a suggestion: The further back you are, the better the sound. At their last show at the Mystic, a couple of years ago, I was at the front of the stage, which is typically where I want to be. It was great to watch Billy Zoom, who had just returned to the band, up close, and it’s always great to be as close to Doe as possible, but a lot of the music was unintelligible. Go early and snag a balcony seat if you can.

One of my favorite memories of X and its music was a road trip from Dallas, Texas, to Ashland, Ohio, with my daughter Nicolle and her kitty Jarvis. We spent one night night playing “True Love Pt. 2” (on “More Fun in the New World”) over and over until we understood every word. Turns out we got two words wrong but we like our version better and actually think that Exene is saying “cat box” and not “cash box” as lyric sheets claim. And even though we must have listened to the song at least a couple of dozen times and likely more, I still can’t get enough of it.