Brian Jonestown Massacre // Metropolis Fremantle // KLowe Photography

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It was certainly a night of seeing just how many musicians one could fit one the stage as local artist Michael Savage opened the night with a set of psyche pop tinged brilliance. Armed with his new album Won’t Die Wondering – the first he’s released on vinyl – Savage’s songs touched on the melodic, the ambient, but each song was underpinned by an inherent Beatle-esque pop genius. Songs like Commonalities and Won’t Die Wondering showcased the singer/guitarist’s love of lush orchestrations and his band, including local stalwarts Russell Loasby on drums and  Brendan Gaspari on guitar, fleshed out the songs with pounding insistent rhythms and etheric slide touches interspersed with some quirky pop hooks. Having not been exposed to too much of his solo work before, this reviewer is now convinced that Savage is one of the finest songwriters Perth has on offer right now.

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Michael Savage // Metropolis Fremantle // Klowe Photography

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Arriving on stage to little fanfare other than the enthusiastic encouragement of the faithful crowd, BJM’s leader Anton Newcombe began by giving a positive shout out some iconic Perth bands like The Triffids and Tame Impala before kicking into ‘work in progress’ song Whatever Happened To Them?, immediately setting the scene for the rest of the evening. Dense, hypnotic walls of guitar-driven rock punctuated by Newcombe’s distinct vocals and his spidery lead guitar lines, the six piece band were totally immersed in the groove from the first song.

On stage the band visually comes across as an almost modern Velvet Underground, complete with skinny black jeans and sunglasses, giving the band an uber cool approach to stage presence, and yet whilst the band members mainly come across as a study in total concentration in their parts it is the MUSIC that speaks volumes here. So many elements converge to form the BJM sound; mid to late 60’s psychedelic rock, pop, ambient sounds and the 90’s shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, all these are melded together in a potent mix that balances the spacious and the overloaded all at once whilst still retaining an air of originality all of its own.

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Brian Jonestown Massacre // Metropolis Fremantle // Klowe Photography

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With 17 albums, 13 ep’s and a handful of singles worth of music to choose from it must have been a hard task to form a set list but the band managed to straddle the divide between their earlier period and the more retro tinged songs with ease, each song fitting seamlessly together. New tracks like Hold That Thought and Who Dreams Of Cats? worked perfectly against more classic songs like Sailor and Pish and showed that Newcombe is still at the top of his creative powers. That Girl Suicide and Wisdom from their debut shoegaze masterpiece Methodrone built from some delicate strumming into immense glaciers of sound that swept out over the crowd in waves and induced some more than heavenly blissed out moments. For the most part Newcombe, situated stage left to the rest of the band, was in a fine mood, addressing the crowd and showing very little of his much documented difficult nature, with the only exception being at one point where he berated the band for starting a song far too fast. But this small blemish aside it was sublime set. Classic songs like a gorgeously spacey Anemone and Yeah Yeah were saved until last, finishing a 19 song set that proved yet again just why the band have built up a massive cult following all over the world. A stunning set that was well worth the 3 year wait between tours, and with another album of new material due later this year, The Brian Jonestown Massacre are still a creatively potent entity and a must see live band.

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Check out the full gallery by Klowe Photography by clicking HERE!

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AMNPLIFY – ET