Alternative rockers The Jesus and Mary Chain [ tickets ] will play their first live shows in more than nine years later this year when they tackle a handful of outdoor festival appearances.

The "reunion" will begin in earnest when brothers (and founding members) William and Jim Reid take the stage April 28 in Indio, CA, for the Coachella music festival; rounding out the lineup will be bassist Phil King, drummer Loz Colbert and backup guitarist Mark Crozer, none of whom played with the group's earlier lineup.

The band will follow up on its California appearance a few months later in Spain, with a pair of performances on consecutive days during the multi-city Summercase Festival.

"There are many reasons really," Jim Reid said in a press release issued by the band, in answer to questions about why the band would choose to reunite at this time. "Firstly, it's taken this long for me and William to get to a point where it would be realistic to do it, and to some degree each of us assumed the other wouldn't be interested, and it was only after we talked about it that we realised this. Also, Coachella were very persistent."

The band's last show came in 1998, following the release of the group's final album, "Munki."

"The last Mary Chain gig was in 1998 and was such a bloody awful mess, too much drink, too many drugs, nobody seeing eye to eye on anything and the band just blew up," Reid said in the Q&A statement, "and I suppose you could say this is another good reason for our reformation, cause that was no way for the Mary Chain to end."

Reid added in the statement that both he and his brother are currently working on solo albums, and that, although they would like to continue the comeback beyond the currently scheduled shows, no plans have been made at this time for further appearances.