THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE PLAY SELECT US SHOWS INCLUDING HONOLULU
AHEAD OF NEW ZEALAND/AUSTRALIA TOUR
AHEAD OF NEW ZEALAND/AUSTRALIA TOUR
NEW ALBUM PLANNED FOR LATER THIS YEAR
Photo: Jeffrey Delannoy
L-R Hallberg Hallbergsson, Hakon Adalsteinsson, Tobias Humble, Anton Newcombe, Ricky Maymi, Joel Gion, Emil Nikolaisen
After a busy 2025, which saw the The Brian Jonestown Massacre tour the UK, Europe, as well as North and South America, the band have announced select dates in Ventura, Sacramento, and San Francisco, and for the first time, Honolulu, ahead of their New Zealand/Australia shows in March. Expect to hear a variety of songs from their vast catalog, including fan faves “Anemone,” “Fingertips,” “Nevertheless", and "Super-Sonic", all delivered flawlessly by Anton Newcombe and company. The band is equal parts chaos and charm, bringing their legendary psych-rock spectacle, and proving once again that there’s no road too weird or winding for the BJM.
Newcombe recently told SPIN that, for the live shows, he has been reaching back to the very beginning of the band, which formed in San Francisco in 1990. “The song that we’re opening up with was written at our first practice,” he says. “It was like six songs that came out over a couple of the first early records that all were from the first practice.” That song, “Whoever You Are,” was released on 1997’s 'Give It Back!'
The single, 'Makes Me Great / Out Of Body', was released last year via Newcombe's record label, A Recordings, and there are plans for a new album. Stay tuned.
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It is over 30 years since Anton Newcombe – frontman, songwriter, composer, studio owner, multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, father, force of nature – and his band The Brian Jonestown Massacre released their first single, She Made Me / Evergreen, in 1992. That year, as the British music press descended on the US to anoint the next US guitar band as flavour of the month and major labels were on the hunt for the compliant hopefuls to be their latest quick fix, Anton Newcombe had an idea: say no. As leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Newcombe had already established himself as a visionary songwriter, a man to whom making music wasn’t a lifestyle choice or a hipster haircut but the very fabric of existence itself, and he had observed in silent horror as his peers meekly acquiesced to everything – yes to contracts, yes to management, yes to suggestions, yes to this, yes to that, yes, yes, yes. But he was different. Anton Newcombe was going to say no to everything. “I just knew I would be more successful in a certain way by saying no, just being contrary because I figured that if people liked me they were gonna like me anyway,” he says. “Or dislike me. It doesn’t matter.”
Much of this was documented on the controversial documentary ‘Dig!’, which is still hailed as one of the best rock documentaries ever made, and celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year with the remastered, expanded version “Dig! XX.”
Brian Jonestown Massacre’s shoegazing-tinged debut album Methodrone was released in 1995 and since then, numerous band members have joined Newcombe on his sonic escapades, but he has remained the sole constant, the creative mastermind at the centre of one of music’s most fascinating bands. There have been a further 20 albums under the Brian Jonestown Massacre moniker since then, each embarking on their own mind-expanding adventure and exploring the outer realms of rock’n’roll; psychedelic rock, country-blues, snarling rock’n’roll, blissed-out noise-pop and more.
Along the way, Newcombe has established himself as a once-in-a-lifetime talent who saw the direction in which mainstream indie-rock was heading and opted to take the long way round. He’s emerged as a revolutionary force in modern music, an underground hero. There was no other way, this was how it had to be. “My only option with everything in life has always been that you just jump into the fire,” he declared. “It doesn’t matter what it is.”
It's with that spirit that he’s hopped around the globe, from the West Coast to New York, from Manhattan to Iceland, and then to Berlin, where he’s lived for 15 years and has two flats, one to live in and one that’s been converted into his studio.
After a hugely prolific 2010s that saw the release of eight long-players and one mini-album, Newcombe had been going through a period of writer’s block when one day he picked up his 12-string guitar and The Real (the opening track on previous album Fire Doesn’t Grow on Trees) came out of him. Like the kraken, it was as if he’d summoned it. “All of a sudden, I just heard something,” he says. “And then it just didn’t stop. We tracked a whole song every single day for 70 days in a row.” By the end of it they had 2 albums ready to go. Joining Newcombe in the studio for The Future Is Your Past were Hakon Adalsteinsson (guitar) and Uri Rennert (drums).
Brian Jonestown Massacre released their 20th full-length studio album The Future Is Your Past, in February 2023 on Anton’s record label, A Recordings. In 2022 / 2023, they completed a massive world tour that saw them play 34 dates in North America, 25 dates across Europe and 16 dates in the UK. Towards the end of 2024, they released ‘Don’t Look At Me’ ft. Aimee Nash. It is a delicious slice of hypnotic shoegaze with Nash lyrically casting a spell with the mantra “Do No Harm.”
There is no such thing as a defining statement in Anton Newcombe’s world anymore, just more chapters that contribute to the tale. “Nobody can stop me, I’m not asking somebody, I’m not making the rounds at Warners, saying ‘please put out my record!’. It’s just for me,” he says. He hopes he can be an inspiration to others. “I would love to see more groups, people playing music in the UK and everywhere else because I really enjoy it. That’s the only reason I need. It’s the only reason to do stuff.” That hits to the core of what makes Anton Newcombe and Brian Jonestown Massacre tick. He’ll keep jumping in that fire. That’s how he rolls. Savor it.
LIVE SHOWS:
March 4 - Ventura Music Hall - Ventura, CA
March 5 - Harlow's - Sacramento, CA
March 6 - The Chapel - San Francisco, CA
March 7 - The Chapel - San Francisco, CA
March 9 - Blue Note Hawaii - Honolulu, HI
March 10 - Blue Note Hawaii - Honolulu, HI
March 17 - Powerstation - Auckland, New Zealand
March 19 – Enmore Theatre – Newtown, Australia
March 20 – King Street Hotel – Newcastle, Australia
March 21 - The Tivoli - Brisbane, Australia
March 22 - The Gov - Hindmarsh, Australia
March 26 - Odeon Theatre - Hobart, Australia
March 27 - Northcote Theatre - Northcote, Australia
March 28 - Northcote Theatre - Northcote, Australia
March 29 - Theatre Royal - Castlemaine, Australia
March 31 - Magnet House - Perth, Australia
"Layering that signature BJM haze, while still keeping it sharp enough to cut through the room." Culture Addicts
★★★★★ “Anton Newcombe’s near-death experience led to a transformative performance… leading what is currently the best underground rock ’n’ roll band in the world… hypnotic guitar music rooted in ’60s folk‑rock, pouring his soul into this music.” The Guardian
"Hypnotic." Culture Map Austin (Best of Levitation 2025)
“These shows have seen the band back to their best… career‑spanning sets that have gone down a storm every evening… left in little doubt that this is a band totally on top of their game.” Under the Radar
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