20 June 2016 (gig)
26 June 2016
The Brian Jonestown Massacre have been around over 25 years now. Led by the hugely prolific Anton Newcombe, these guys have a massive back catalogue to choose from and generally try to squeeze as much as they possibly can into a gig. Support bands are surplus to requirements tonight as the band takes the stage shortly after 8pm intending to play for 3 hours flat.
No fewer than seven band members are on the stage tonight, they've played with more, but seven is enough to create the beautiful wall of sound that we have been so looking forward to coming to Falmouth.
They kick off with early track Never Ever, and immediately the power and brilliance of this band kick in. Like much of BJM's material the slow brooding guitars of this song keep threatening to kick into the next gear but don't. That's not a criticism, plenty of them build and build seeemingly endlessly into a hypnotising crescendo of noise. I don't have all of BJM's 15 or so albums so I don't know all the songs. Watching some bands that's a big negative, but not for these guys, it's almost more exciting when they play one I don't know just wondering where they're going to take it and where it's going to take me.
Each song they play tonight pulls you in to become a part of it. Anton Newcombe doesn't just write songs he creates mini works of art to immerse yourself in, and this really is a band that you need to witness live to really get the full experience.
We get a full cross section of material tonight. From the shoegazey brilliance of That Girl Suicide to the spaced out psychedelia of Here Comes Waiting For The Sun, the crowd are drawn in and mesmerised by it all.
The Broody melancholy in Newcombe's voice in Open Heart Surgery is painfully endearing and Nevertheless is simply brilliant.
Along with the bassist there are 3 guitarists playing tonight, 4 when the guy on keys take a break and the wall of sound created is at times mesmerising. This is partly due to the fact that Anton has his musicians more finely tuned than the instruments they are playing.
These guys are note perfect, Newcombe is a notorious perfectionist, and loose cannon! After a good hour of good behaviour we witness him lose his cool a few times when his band (according to his extremely high standards ) make mistakes. Newcombe brings Telegram to an abrupt halt and shouts a tirade of abuse at the drummer who he accuses of being behind in keeping the beat "like the fat kid in gym class", sounded perfectly fine to me! He stopped another song to have a go at a guitarist. Nobody says a word back to him as he dictates with an iron fist from stage right.
Anton's targets don't stop there, a guitar tech gets a complete bollocking for not handing him a guitar in time and another for not having one tuned to c sharp. And just a little tip, if you go and see The Brian Jonestown Massacre live, don't shout requests. One audience member gets a poisoned mouthful after shouting a song name out. Anton explains that they do not play 3 hour long sets to have orders barked at them, rants about today's instant society and streaming sites before carrying on as if nothing happened.
We the audience look shocked and amused in equal quantities, but the main thing that becomes apparent from these lapses in composure is how much he cares that his performances are perfect and his band are giving us, the fans, the best possible experience for our hard earned money. Little does he realise this experience is even more enhanced by witnessing the rantings of this genius first hand.
Anton's slightly erratic behaviour is in stark contrast to the confidently calming presence of legendary percussionist (tambourine and maracas) and occasional backing vocalist Joel Gion. Joel takes centre stage all night and does so with such style that we're left wondering why more bands don't have a full time tambourine man as a permanent fixture.
As the band leaves the stage and we shout for the encore we know they won't do, we all wonder where the last 3 hours went and want to re-live it all over again.
SW1 Productions began with the aim of bringing top live music to a region that was otherwise being left off of many bands touring schedule. To check out more gigs coming up in the South West head over to their website...
http://www.sw1productions.co.uk/
