By: Pat O'Brien
I had never been to a show quite like the Brian Jonestown Massacre show at the Women's Club. It was sponsored by Schell's beer, and the only way to get tickets was to win them at two different "Schell's nights" at two bars in town. While at first it seemed elitist, it somehow worked without seeming too crass; maybe because Schell's is local and it seemed less like a faceless corporation trying to cash in on hipsterism.
Tapes 'N Tapes started things off with a set just as scorching and tight as the one I saw at the 7th Street Entry on Friday (I felt a little like a Deadhead this week, though I traveled less than five miles total to attend both shows). After a very, very long break (nearly an hour) The Brian Jonestown Massacre hit the stage in their usual nearly-in-shambles form. I hadn't seen them live before but I had heard story after story about the volatile, unpredictable nature of their live shows (fighting with each other, fighting with crowd, aimlessly jamming for an extended period mid-set, etc.) and I was eager to see what was in store for the crowd this evening.
They didn't disappoint early on when they were confronted by a heckler. "Play something that's worth a shit!" the heckler shouted as an audible gasp traveled through the crowd. Lead singer Anton Newcombe sharply shot back, "Why don't you play something that's worth a shit? Here's my guitar, c'mon. No? Ok, then listen and be inspired to start a band or something." It was obvious the heckler was trying to push Newcombe's buttons, but he was only going to be pushed so far this evening. The were rolling along as well as BJM can and the acoustics in The Women's Club lent themselves wonderfully to the Massacre's Yo-La-Tengo-meets-The-Rolling-Stones-in-a-dark-alley sound. They dug out songs from all over their catalog, from their first single "Evergreen" to newer stuff from last year's We Are The Radio: Mini-Album. With six of them onstage it seemed like there would be quite a bit going on, but BJM has a no-frills approach and I was struck by the thought that they would have fit in nicely at the original Woodstock (I can certainly imagine them beating Country Joe and The Fish to "Gimme an 'F'!").
For a good portion of the night they took an extended break between each song, which made the crowd a little restless (the band seemed to be operating without a set list and Newcombe once stepped off stage to smoke), but they always managed to suck the crowd back in with whatever they played next - and they played and played and played. I left before the very end but they had already been onstage for at least two hours. I was happily surprised that the music never took a back seat to the spectacle and lore of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I didn't know what to expect at the beginning, and sometimes that's the best way to experience a band.
Location Info:
Women's Club Theatre
Artist Info: Tapes 'n Tapes, The Brian Jonestown Massacre
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