The Brian Jonestown Massacre - live at the Glasgow ABC

This gig was what I expected. Long and unexciting.

I have to admit that I only went because of the freakshow element of the band. Anton 'motherfucker broke my sitar' Newcombe is now a minor anti-hero after his sociopathic diva performance in the DiG! documentary. His random violence, drug abuse and self declared genius are all now the stuff of legend. At a guess I would say that about 800 people were at this gig so I realise freakshows must be popular.

As you might expect The Brian Jonestown Massacre have not sold many records.

I do own a BJM CD. I bought their Tepid Peppermint Wonderland retrospective when it came out a couple of years ago. I tried really hard to like it. Anton and I are into similar music. I like Spacemen 3 and the Byrds and the Stones and the Velvets and psychedelic drone rock. So does he. You can tell because his songs combine elements from most of these bands. Sometimes it works. Most of the time it is just a bit bland.

Tonights show was formless. One psychedelic noise jam blends seemlessly into another. At times 5 people are playing guitar on stage. Temelo pedals, reverb, 12-string electric guitars. Shimery. Very, very shimery.

None of the threatened violence or psychotic drama of DiG! was present tonight. The dancer with the monkey sideburns shook his tambourine and lit a cigarette (ROCK AND ROLL!!!). There was a lot of jamming. The most exciting moment came when the heavy handed Rock Steady security ejected a punter for smoking. I am a commited non-smoker. I hate smoking. I was tempted to light a fag in the hope that I would get thrown out.

I guess I'm being a bit harsh hear but this was just boring. I expected it so I can't really complain. Anton seems like his heart is in the right place even if he has 'issues'. If you have seen DiG! you might argue with me about that. To find out more about BJM please go to http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com/bandinfo.html You can download a lot of their back-catalogue for free from this site. Form your own opinion. Don't believe me. I won't be going to see them again.

Watch DiG!

funky