The last time I saw Brian Jonestown Massacre was a disaster. Two hours
of rants of race-hate, calls to violence, and physical aggression
towards band members culminated with Anton - I kid you not - digitally
penetrating his rectum on stage. They only got through 4 songs. The
depressing part was that those four songs were really great, we all
wanted to hear it, everyone else in the band wanted to play it, but it
wasn't going to happen. It left me unsure how to approach those
beautiful songs in the midst of all the hate, worried that I was
enjoying the marching band at a white pride rally. Understandably, I
approached tonight's show with serious reservations.

The show started quite flat, it was difficult to connect with the
band. When you're on stage with four other guitarists strumming three
chord songs, you should at least enjoy it; there seems little point
otherwise. This lack of engagement made the 60's getup and page boy
haircuts seem a bit like disguises they'd picked up on the way. I was
pretty bored. This changed when halfway through the set Anton finally
spoke up, and to my relief he didn't say anything vile. He even made a
joke about AC/DCs massive carbon footprint. It went down well. I
relaxed, and I think he and the band relaxed too. Maybe they'd been worried he was going to lose it on stage too. The band became tighter, the
audience more engaged. Each song from this point was better than the
last. The only person who yelled anything at the crowd was guest
vocalist Amy Nash. I think the tribute flowers thrown by the hardcore
BJM fans weren't black enough or something. Hollywood turned his drum
upside down and used it as a vase. Bliss.

My favourite song for the night was "Vacuum Boots". It was great to
see Matt Hollywood on stage, his songs contributed a 90's feel, reminiscent of pavement or maybe Mascis, and didn't seem out of place
with the 60s inspired tracks that BJM are best known for. Overall, a
good show. I recommend to anyone who was burnt by a show in the past to
check them out again.