Brian Jonestown Massacre returns in a psychedelic rush and swirl - 48 hills

"The Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM) is currently on the West Coast leg of its North American tour, moving forward with its foot on the gas. For its fearless figurehead, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anton Newcombe, returning to San Francisco carries a particular weight. The city is where the band first coalesced 35 years ago, born in a crucible of psychedelic rock, Haight-Ashbury idealism, and underground chaos that still echoes in its sound. When BJM takes the stage at the Regency Ballroom (Thu/20), it won't just be a concert—it will feel like a homecoming for one of San Francisco's most fabled musical exports."

""It's been quite some time since we started," Newcombe says from Berlin, where he has lived and worked for the past 18 years. "I feel incredibly honored to be still doing what I do and to have people all over the world who genuinely tell me the music holds meaning for them.""

"The setlist draws from the group's sprawling catalog: the shimmering haze of "Anemone," the sharp-edged swirl of "Fingertips," the jangling melancholy of "Nevertheless," and the pounding rush of "Super-Sonic." With a reinvigorated rhythm section and seven musicians on stage, the band thrives on the tension between order and disorder. The tour also honors the past—its droning, kaleidoscopic opener, "Whoever You Are," reaches back to the group's very first rehearsal in San Francisco in 1990, proof that the chaos of the early years still fuels the present."

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is on the West Coast leg of a North American tour and returns to San Francisco, where the band coalesced 35 years ago. Anton Newcombe lives and works in Berlin and expresses gratitude for worldwide listeners who find meaning in the music. The setlist spans the group’s catalog, including ‘‘Anemone,’’ ‘‘Fingertips,’’ ‘‘Nevertheless,’’ and ‘‘Super-Sonic,’’ and features seven musicians and a reinvigorated rhythm section. The tour honors early chaos with an opener, ‘‘Whoever You Are,’’ that traces back to the group’s first 1990 rehearsal. Newcombe arrived in San Francisco in 1989 with little money, drawn by the city’s misfit energy.

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