The Brian Jonestown Massacre
By Emily Trinks
Friday. Sep 30, 12:05 AM
live at The Metro (Chicago, IL) Sept. 14th, 2005.

“This will be my 13th time.”

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“Nope. Do you think I’m making it up or that I’ve lost count?”

“Neither, I guess. But really? Are you serious? 13?”

“Do you think I would joke about The Brian Jonestown Massacre? I would never joke about The Brian Jonestown Massacre.”

Thus began my 13th night (in three years) of seeing Anton Newcombe et al. For most bands, that is definitely leaning toward excessive. However, The Brian Jonestown Massacre is certainly not most bands. There are two things about the band that have made this possible: 1) they tour a lot (obviously) and 2) their shows are always exciting.

People who only know The Brian Jonestown Massacre as the band from 2004’s Dig!, the award-winning documentary that followed the band for about three years and friends/ rivals The Dandy Warhols for seven, might assume that “exciting” only refers to frontman Anton Newcombe’s now-notorious antics. And yes, while he can be anywhere from funny to mildly inappropriate to clever to insane to downright offensive, that really isn’t the point. Long after you forget whatever Anton was waxing on about – and on this night: his new tattoo, (justified) anger about our government and predictions of civil war and race riots, unicorns (made even better by an awesome cocaine-snorting-unicorn gang sign thrown by bassist Collin Hegna), annoyance with guitarist Frankie Teardrop, and more drink orders – the 20+ minute version of sitar-drenched, set-closing “Swallowtail” is what will stay with you.

And, of course, exciting can be good or bad. On this Wednesday night, it was definitely, definitely good. 11:15 until 1:45am, well past the staff at The Metro wanted to turn on the lights. Two and a half hours. Eight songs. Simple arithmetic will tell you that there were lots of long songs and extended jams. Even though a blistering 20 minute feedback-heavy set-closing jam has long been (at least as long as I’ve known them) a TBJM staple, the band is moving toward more mid-set extended jams. Although I’m hesitant to complain about a breathtaking 15-minute “Hide and Seek,” this format of fewer, longer songs magnifies the space between songs (the so-called rants, the long tuning sessions) and makes the momentum more stop-start rather than a continuous flow. At the same time, I don’t want to see machine-like drummer Dan Allaire’s arms fall off because he’s the band’s secret weapon, so I’m content with the breathers between songs.

In addition to the aforementioned “Swallowtail,” and “Hide and Seek,” the eight-song set was weighted towards Bravery Repetition and Noise-era and older material with “Let Me Stand Next to Your Flower,” “Servo,” “When Jokers Attack,” “Nevertheless,” “Nailing Honey to the Bee,” and an incredibly groovy “If Love is the Drug (Then I Want to O.D.).” No one could have asked for a better set list. Not because these are the best eight songs the band has ever recorded, but because over 15 years, a dozen or so albums and countless more singles, b-sides, and assorted musical flotsam, The Brian Jonestown Massacre have built a huge catalogue of songs from which to pick. “Servo,” “Jokers” and “Let Me Stand” have been popping up more frequently, but “If Love is the Drug…” was a delightful surprise; most of the set was different from what they played at Lollapalooza (both the Saturday afternoon set and the Sunday night afterparty show at The Darkroom) in July.

If that’s not exciting, I don’t know what is, and I’m already eagerly awaiting lucky number 14. Time is honey, people, (so cut the shit)… and see this band the next time they’re in your town.

Montreal-based psych-rockers The High Dials opened and they were pretty fantastic. They bust out the sitar non-ironically (yes, the sitar that made “Swallowtail” so amazing was played by The High Dials’ Rishi Dhir and not Anton Newcombe) and closed their set with a noisy, dance-y rave-up version of “Our Time is Coming Soon,” off of their 2005 release War of the Wakening Phantoms. They’ll be touring in the U.S. again later this fall and are definitely worth seeing.
www.brianjonestownmassacre.com

Emily Trinks

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