Brian Jonestown Massacre, TheLovetones, Dappled Cities Fly@ Gaelic Club, 22/05/04

Sun 23rd May, 2004 in Gig Reviews

As the night would have it, the impressive performances by both The Lovetones and Dappled Cities Fly, would be completely overshadowed by the train wreck that is the Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman, Anton Newcombe.

One of Sydney’s finest, Dappled Cities Fly, play to their strengths of lucid vocals and delicate harmonies. Undulating, and tangled guitars make for an intriguing sound, ensuring onlookers remain engaged for the sets entirety. Oblique lyrical arrangements give more than a subtle nod to Indie legends, Pavement, arguably, never a bad thing indeed.

The Lovetones perform a set of impeccably crafted pop tunes, big on spacious melody that perfectly complements singer, Matthew Tow’s gentle, airy vocals. Garnered with subtle, eastern-influenced guitar twangs, The Lovetones have a clear admiration for The Beatles and all things psychedelic; that, undoubtedly include The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Like many fans, I had been aware of Anton’s whimsical behaviour that often rears its head during interviews. The singer/songwriter is a walking contradiction. Anton cites Bob Dylan and The Beatles to be major influences over his band; and yet, is known to express disgust at those who challenge the current leadership of his home country, the U.S. That said, I had assumed that Anton’s opinions were just that, and that they would indeed be irrelevant in regards to tonight’s gig. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Anton began the gig with a twenty-minute speech about “defending our honour”, “dying for the nation” and not calling out at any stage during the performance. After one punter encouraged Anton to proceed with the set, the singer unleashed a lengthy sequence of verbal abuse and physical threats to said punter, during which he felt the wearing of his pants to be unnecessary. Visibly embarrassed, Anton’s band members began the first song of the night while the singer was still swearing profusely at the crowd. Anton reluctantly joined in on the song, before turning his abuse to his own band. The frontman reminded the others on stage that he was “in control of the situation” and should they begin another song without his consent, he would physically abuse them after the show. A number of audience members laughed nervously as they assumed Anton’s behaviour to be done in jest, or at least mildly tongue-in-cheek. However, the facial expressions of his band members, clearly told a different story.

Anton’s rage only escalated as the night proceeded. The frontman barely lowered his voice once the entire evening as he made overtly racist remarks to both refugees and Australia’s Indigenous population. Anton also singled out random audience members, verbally abused them for a lengthy period of time and threatened their lives should they not leave immediately. The band performed a mere seven songs in two hours, all of which were imbued with a multitude of profanities or Anton’s threats of violence. What is most frustrating is the fact that The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and in particular Anton, are incredibly talented, and innovative musicians. Certainly, there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

Like the vast majority of tonight’s crowd, I Ieft the Gaelic club utterly disgusted- much less disappointed- and indeed ashamed to be a Brian Jonestown Massacre fan. See what others are saying about the gig here.