“So this one time I went to London to get filmed for Channel 4, you know when they have no other news to report on. They interviewed me to discuss me being a drug addict, alcoholic and rockstar” says Anton Newcombe satirically. A Brian Jonestown Massacre gig that does not feature the serpent tongue of Newcombe somewhere within it is no real Jonestown gig at all. This time Newcombe turns his attention to the Channel 4 presenter Krishna Guru-Murthy. There is something about seeing The Brian Jonestown Massacre live that just completely captures a specific atmosphere. It’s a myriad of notions surrounding the expecting of the unexpected – it gives a very human feel to the set. You never quite feel comfortable as the group onstage react impulsively to one another’s jokes, insults and sharp-witted comments.

Opening with a vertiginous version of ‘Never/Ever’, the set began with a drunken drift through their early collection of material going all the way back to Spacegirl And Other Favourites. The crowd are completely and utterly enclosed within the palm of Newcombe and co from the moment they embark upon their lengthy two hour journey. Their percussionist and overall eye-catcher for the group, Joel Gion, flaunts around the stage as if he is the American answer to Bez as he loosely tosses his tambourine in the air at any given moment, lapping up the excitement from the crowd.

Besides the occasional comment, tonight marks an unusually calm set for the group, all the theatrics dictated within the infamous documentary Dig! are turned down to a minimum as Newcombe only once sinks his teeth into the crowd telling them to ‘shut up’. Newcombe’s recent release of demos via YouTube suggest he is an artist that is finding his run of form once more after a drop since 2014’s Revelation. This newer material takes shape in the form of ‘Government Beard’ tonight, a loose jangle in a similar fashion to the material circa-Bravery, Repetition and Noise.

Whilst reverting back to a vast selection of material spanning across their entire 15 album history, the group occasionally fall upon deaf ears this evening. The lack of energy that sometimes swamps the stage does nothing to prevent the crowd from occasionally drifting into boredom during the heady lullaby of ‘Days, Weeks and Moths’ or ‘Leave It Alone’. It is a two hour set though and to keep engagement for such a length of time is ambitious for any group. Regular intervals for conversation between the members onstage lead for a distraction from the playing too, something that eventually seemed to grind on Anton somewhat as he hurled menacing scowls across the stage whilst trying to pull together the group’s concentration.

As with any Brian Jonestown Massacre gig though, when they are good they are fantastically good. A splendid rendition of ‘When Jokers Attack’ saw an extended outro that firmly put crowd members into a state of frenzy, as did the likes of ‘Who?’ and the stuttered chime of ‘Vad Hände Med Dem?’ Each song embellished the intense heat that flourished in the crowd. The temperature became overbearing but it eventually grew to be an essential part of the atmosphere as the closing rendition of ‘Yeah Yeah’ found the band reaching tipping point. The extended version was raucous in the way it gushed from the amplifier and Gion was given the freedom to prance around the stage at his will.

As Newcombe refused to leave the stage still blubbering away on his guitar, it became a reassuring sight that there is still somebody in the industry who is willing to dismantle the status quo somewhat, giving the crowd everything they paid for and more. The set had its peaks and troughs but the group are still wanting to keep music evil 26 years on.
Tom Churchill

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