The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Kentish Town Forum, London Tuesday October 23rd

The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog

I realised that I hadn't seen The Brian Jonestown Massacre play live since 2006, I think by that time I’d just had enough of attending some pretty fractious gigs where there was vitriol in the air and the atmosphere was getting unpleasant. It seemed that the success of the documentary "Dig!" was turning out to be something of a double-edged sword. Sure, there was no doubting that the film raised their profile considerably but by concentrating on the violence surrounding the band, gigs started turning into a bit of a freakshow as people were turning up seemingly more intent on goading Anton than appreciating the music. However, I think hearing the brilliant “Aufheben" on its release in 2012 piqued my interest in the band once again and I started to keep a look out for their new releases. I remembered what I originally loved about the BJM and each consecutive release seemed to get better and better, culminating in this year’s stunning album “Something Else”. I suddenly got the urge to catch them play live again so here I am at a sold out packed-to-the-rafters Kentish Town Forum waiting impatiently for my first BJM gig in 12 years to start. Thankfully, as I was to discover through the course of tonight’s gig, the audience has grown with the band, there was zero heckling during the show and now it’s all about the music and nothing but the music.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog

For me, the enduring impression that I got from “Dig!” was that no matter what physical or mental state Anton was in throughout the movie, he always seemed to be consumed by the urge to make music. You could feel it coursing through his veins, bursting to get out. He also reminded me of some other uncompromising maverick favourites of mine working outside the usual corporate music business and all rooted in 60’s Psychedelia such as Julian Cope, Michael Head of Shack and Ebbot Lundberg of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. No matter what extremes these Artists go through, they cannot avoid writing beautiful melodic and moving music. In fact, as an aside, in a recent interview I did with Ebbot, I asked if there was anyone that he wanted to collaborate with and his answer was succinct - “Anton Newcombe”. At our recent Retro Man Blog Night for Ebbot’s return to London with his new band The Indigo Children, we played the BJM’s “Panic In Babylon” as his intro music and it sounded amazing. Anyway, back to the gig and I could feel a buzz of excitement as the band takes the stage, Anton is on the right side facing more towards his band mates than the crowd and I notice there has been a significant change in the line-up that I was once familiar with. I only recognise tambourine maestro Joel Gion (surely a cultural icon...!) and guitarist Ricky Maymi but it’s soon clear that all the new (to me at least) members fit in seamlessly. There is a somewhat low-key opening as they kick off proceedings with a sultry new song "We Never Had a Chance".

The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog

This is followed by the hypnotic “What Happened to Them" which might be more familiar under its Swedish title (not something you'll hear said very often...) "Vad Hände Med Dem?” the opening track on "Revelation". There are only two songs from the excellent new album “Something Else” and these were "Hold That Thought" and the brilliant "Who Dreams of Cats?" which is as catchy as hell. However, Anton’s already moving on and it is testament to his prolific nature that there were more new as yet unreleased songs as there were from the current album. The new single “Forgotten Graves” was absolutely stunning and "Drained" was a revelation, riding in on an acoustic groove and a great guitar riff; it has immediately been transported up there among all my old BJM favourites. Talking of old favourites, the set is peppered with a selection of classics from throughout the band’s career. "Sailor" was sublime, and sums up the very reason why I want to experience live music in the first place, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. During “Anemone”, the crowd lifts their arms into the air in unison as Anton sings "You should be picking me up" and from my vantage point on the balcony it looked pretty damn impressive. The Brian Jonestown Massacre know how to play with your emotions and the stripped back Gospel-Blues of "The Devil May Care" and its heart-breaking opening line "say goodbye to mum and dad, the two best friends I never had", brings a lump to the throat. Things get a bit more lively with "That Girl Suicide", a breath-taking "Nevertheless" and the Garage Rock singalong nugget "Who?" The familiar riffing of "When Jokers Attack" and a shimmering, almost transcendental "Pish" are both real highlights tonight.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog

There’s not much interaction between band and audience tonight, just a few words from Anton, mainly about his radio show, but he looks relaxed and in good spirits. Joel is his usual laconic self although he does blow his cool once by failing to catch his tambourine after hurling it into the air and it crashes into the photographer’s pit. He redeems himself by trying again and falling to the ground as he successfully catches the next attempt, it’s a classic slapstick moment that injects a bit of warmth and humour into the show. Towards the end of the set Joel produces the biggest tambourine I have ever seen, it’s of Spinal Tap 'one louder' proportions. The band end the show with another new number "A Word" and a couple of roadies with guitars join them. I haven’t seen so many guitarists on stage since the last time I saw The Blue Aeroplanes run through their customary free-for-all encore of Tom Verlaine’s "Breakin' In My Heart". It’s a powerful way to end the set and as the song collapses into squalls of feedback with Ricky playing with his effects pedals, Anton gets behind the drums and suddenly everything turns into a Psychedelic Krautrock rave-up until the house lights go up and I file out of the venue, thoroughly satisfied after such a great show.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog

I must just mention one incident though. Sometime during the set, a fan at the front of the stage gave Anton a cool knitted lookalike doll and the delighted singer props it up next to his amp. I later hear that the doll, who the band had named Tony, was stolen by some backstage chancer; it’s unbelievable that someone could be so dumb and thoughtless. So if anyone has any information please do contact the band. The Brian Jonestown Massacre have a new single “Forgotten Graves” out soon on 'a' Recordings and Anton has collaborated once again with Tess Parks on a fantastic new album "Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe". Tess will be playing a Bad Vibrations show in London at the Dome in Tufnell Park on December 13th, we have our tickets booked and will definitely report on that show for the Blog. Anton has also been working with the brilliant French band The Limiñanas and they are definitely well worth checking out. Finally, as regulars to our Blog and Podcast will know, we are also big fans of Joel Gion’s solo work and I would really recommend his latest self-titled album, you can hear a track in Retrosonic Podcast Episode 29 here. 

 

More photos of the show can be found at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and there are some videos at our YouTube channel too, here's a taster...

The Brian Jonestown Massacre live at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire Saturday July 07th

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Photo by Steve Worrall

I must admit to losing touch with The Brian Jonestown Massacre over the past few years, I hadn't seen the band since 2006 and didn’t really enjoy the last two albums "My Bloody Underground" and "Who Killed Sgt. Pepper". Those albums saw the band's main songwriter and creative force, Anton Newcombe, moving away from a traditional band format and working more on trance-like, electronic based compositions. They seemed very much influenced by his travels and very evocative of two countries in particular. Firstly, there were the glacial surroundings of Iceland, a country that Anton seemed to be heavily smitten with, and then the Krautrock beats and atmosphere of his new base, Berlin. However, after getting the brand new album “Aufheben” (A Records), which is a mighty return to their best, I was really keen to catch the band live again.

Photo by Steve Worrall

The Shepherds Bush Empire is a complete sell-out, it's unusual to see all the balcony levels opened up and filled to bursting point. There is a real air of expectancy, and an excited buzz all around the packed out venue. The band appears and takes up their positions; Anton stands so far over on the left that he’s almost hidden behind the curtains. I’m a bit surprised to see all the familiar faces from the last time I saw the band live way back in 2006. There’s Frankie Teardrop and Rick Maymi on guitars, Collin Hegna on the bass, Drummer Daniel Allaire and Rob Campanella on keyboards and guitar - it must be the most stable line-up in the band’s somewhat volatile history. We are also treated to the return of Matt Hollywood, who left the band, amidst some acrimony in the late 90’s, to concentrate on his band The Out Crowd. I always loved the way that Anton and Matt’s song-writing complimented each other so well on some of those classic Brian Jonestown Massacre albums and it’s great to see them back together.

Joel Gion by Steve Worrall

Then of course there is Joel Gion, who has taken playing the tambourine to another level of cool. Joel has become a bit of a cult figure amongst fans and, although now shorn of his iconic sideburns, he still exudes that charismatic nonchalance and gets the biggest cheer of all as he takes his usual position centre stage. They kick off with “Stairway To The Best Party” from the new album and then into the wonderful “Vacuum Boots”, one of my all time favourite BJM songs, Anton rocks backwards and forwards in that familiar pose as the classic riff spirals out into the venue. Another great track from the new album follows, “I Want To Hold Your Other Hand” which is destined to go down as a future crowd favourite I’m sure. Not since the heady days of The Blue Aeroplanes have I seen so many guitarists on one stage, at certain points during the show five guitarists are all playing simultaneously. This, along with the slightly disconcerting sight of the two roadies/guitar techs visibly tuning up instruments right behind the band, gives the appearance of some kind of psychedelic guitar orchestra.

The set list is well paced and features a superb selection of tracks although some of the old favourites don't make the cut such as "Nevertheless", "Hide & Seek" and "Who", but with such a back catalogue of strong material and a new album to promote it's hardly surprising that some songs will have to be missed out. We are treated to around 1 hour 45 minutes of prime BJM material with a healthy and well-received choice of songs from the new album, which fit in seamlessly alongside their classics such as “Open Heart Surgery” and “Prozac vs. Heroin”.

Photo by Steve Worrall

Rocking versions of “Not If You Were The Last Dandy” and “Got My Eye on You” spark crowd-surfing and crazed dancing at the front of the stage. In fact one difference I notice in the long time since I saw the band live, is in the audience. Whereas before, you’d always get a bunch of people seemingly only there with the intention of goading Anton into reacting and losing the plot, to witness that media-stirred Brian Jonestown Massacre freak-show. But tonight the packed out crowd is there for the music, there's no heckling or knucklehead behaviour and the band respond with an unbelievably blissed out performance.

However, there is one moment though where there's an audible gasp from the crowd as Anton delays the start of one song to seemingly berate the sound-man "Hey Mr Soundman, I'm the lead guitarist and I expect...nah, I'm just kidding you, you're doing a great job". It's good to see him making a joke at his own expense, he seems in good spirits, a genial "cheers" follows a rapturous reception to one track and he also gives a nod to the support act. There’s more self-deprecating humour, "I bought 10 tickets myself to give to all my Star friends but it seems I don't have any Star friends anymore so I sold the tickets outside". There is just one false start at the beginning of “David Bowie”, where he tries to get the song started with the correct tempo but other than that, it's a pretty intense and seamless performance with the band locked in perfectly together.

Brian Jonestown Massacre - by Steve Worrall

The guitars intertwine and on "Super-Sonic", with Matt getting out a tabla style drum to propel the Eastern rhythm, I almost experience a transcendental moment, the heavy air of spliff smoke might have contributed to that though! The band bring things to a close with a rousing run through of Matt Hollywood’s “Oh Lord” and end it all with “Straight Up & Down”, now the theme tune to the gangster TV drama “Boardwalk Empire”. This runs out into a coda of “Sympathy To The Devil” and they leave to a squall of feedback that, despite the ear-splitting noise, does nothing to drown out the massive roar of appreciation from the crowd.

Here's a video of "Oh Lord" - for more of my videos of the gig please visit the brand new Retro Man YouTube Channel.

With many thanks to Joel Gion, without whom...You can check out an earlier Blog feature on Joel's excellent new solo E.P. HERE. Also, visit the great Committee To Keep Music Evil site where you will find more Brian Jonestown Massacre information, merchandise, a fan's forum and news on other releases.

Joel Gion "Extended Play" - New solo record out now!

Joel Gion, the iconic percussionist and vocalist with The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dilettantes, has a new solo record "Extended Play" out now, it's available as a download from itunes and Limited edition vinyl (with alternate tracks) from www.joelgion.com or The Committee To Keep Music Evil at www.ctkme.com

Joel must be Rock's only virtuoso tambourine player, elevating the instrument to a cool must-have item - taking it centre stage at most of the Brian Jonestown Massacre's gigs, where he was often the main focal point. In fact seeing the BJM without Joel, as I did a couple of times, just didn't seem right! His calm nature and relationship with the fans could sometimes defuse the sporadic violence at their shows where the sad ritual of audience versus Anton occasionally reared it's ugly head. I mean "Dig!" was a fantastic Rock'n'Roll movie but it did inspire a lot of knuckleheads to go to BJM gigs with the sole intention of provoking Anton into losing the plot. Joel just seemed to radiate this coolness and charisma that somehow had a calming effect.

Joel formed The Dilettantes during a break from the BJM and they released a fantastic album called "101 Tambourines", which was superb, extremely underated but certainly worth getting hold of. It is a really strong record with some sublime chiming guitar work and great, catchy songs - not forgetting some top notch tambourine playing of course!

And now Joel has his own solo record released "Extended Play" and I'd thoroughly recommend it. There are individual videos to each of the tracks which you can see on You Tube or on his web-site, here's a taster...

Here is a great interview with the man himself - where he takes us through his collection of vintage tambourines - including, amazingly enough, an electric tambourine! Check it out...

Photos Courtesy of Joel Gion