This past summer, X—the four-piece who first made a name for itself as a forerunner of the Los Angeles punk scene—announced that their latest album, Smoke & Fiction, would be their last, and subsequently, the band would be retiring from touring at a yet to be determined date. As such, the chance to see them for what might be a final time was something not to be missed.

This show at San Diego’s Observatory North Park was the last date on a short December jaunt around their southern California stomping grounds and their last show of the year. Following a perfunctory opening set by Dead Rock West that included X drummer DJ Bonebrake lending a hand, X took the stage and quickly laid waste to any questions about their vitality as they launched into “Your Phone’s Off the Hook” from their explosive 1980 debut, Los Angeles. Aside from the lines in their faces and guitarist Billy Zoom’s preference to sit while playing, you wouldn’t know that this was a band set to retire, especially as they rolled into “In This House That I Call Home” from seminal sophomore album, Wild Gift, and “Because I Do” from also amazing album number three, Under the Big Black Sun, while barely coming up for air in between.

Indeed, throughout the night, the band took very little time between the 20-plus songs to pause for sentimentality or to take in the adoration of the crowd, instead delivering a blistering set that left one in awe and a little dazed. They mostly stuck to the classics from their first four albums, including their rollicking take on Otis Blackwell’s “Breathless” from More Fun in the New World. Singer Exene Cervenka did explain at one point that they had put out an album in 2024, but then took a left turn and announced, “But here’s another old one.” However, the band didn’t neglect the new record, playing more than a few cuts from the album. That the back-to-back appearance of “Flipside” and the title track didn’t represent a lull in the set speaks to the quality of that record. The same went for “Free” and “Water & Wine” from 2020’s Alphabetland, with the vocals of Cervenka and bassist John Doe intertwining much in the same serpentine way they did on the classic material.

Still, it’s hard to match the visceral impact of that debut album, and the trio of “Los Angeles,” “Nausea,” and “Johny Hit and Run Paulene” was the high point amongst the many highs of the night. “Motel Room in My Bed” and “Soul Kitchen” followed before the band exited the stage, but fittingly it wasn’t long before Doe and Cervenka returned to play the surprise of the night: an acoustic rendition of “Burning House of Love” from 1985’s Ain’t Love Grand, the band’s most strident attempt at commercial success and the last album they made with Zoom until Alphabetland. Bonebreak and Zoom returned to the stage for “Come Back to Me,” only now with Bonebreak on xylophone and Craig Packham taking over drums. For this one, Zoom took turns on his sax, as he did for the closer, “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts.” This required him to get to his feet, so as it was all four members were standing when they wrapped up this portion of their last lap. While there are still more dates to go, if the rest are like this one, then X is exiting with strength and dignity.