I was eagerly and anxiously awaiting the Brian Jonestown Massacre's Las Vegas debut gig for two whole months. As a huge fan, I had hoped that they'd do a show here for ages. On the other hand, I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, knowing that lead vocalist, Anton Newcombe, has expressed certain unsubtle, and not so mixed notions about Vegas in the past. So, when I walked into The Rock at the end of their "Screw the Women - Guys Drink Free" event, I was open to the fact that this could turn into a nightmare experience. Let's do the math here, free drinks for well over half of the testosterone bearing clientele, plus a lead vocalist with a reputation of rightfully having little tolerance for ignorant bullshit, lends itself to equaling one of those rare, but not entirely unheard of, raucous BJM concert experiences. Finally, when you factor in that this was their last run of an intensive four-week tour of the States, the possibilities were limitless.

Although many had long since filed out, there was still a captive audience when, around 12:30 a.m., the band started their nearly two hour set with the lovely, jangly "Whoever You Are." Joined by newest member, drummer Dan Allaire, and guest guitarist Matthew J. Tow, nabbed from The Lovetones on this tour, guitarist Frankie Teardrop, bassist Dave Koenig, and Anton Newcombe chauffeured listeners through a brilliant glimpse into the band's musical history. The set list followed closely, but was not limited to, the lineup of their fan-inspired upcoming UK release, "Your Side of Our Story". From the classic "Wisdom," with its rolling, infectious rhythm and bass lines to their rendition of heavily-layered-psychedelia meets The Jesus And Mary Chain-style feedback of "Sailor," featured on the more current endeavor "Bravery, Repetition, and Noise", patrons were definitely given a taste of the band's diversity.

Saving some of the best moments for last, the band jammed out a jaw-dropping performance of their garage-rock-reverb epic "Sue" that would have put Spacemen 3 to shame. To top that off, they ended the evening by demonstrating yet another side of their split musical personalities with Anton on harmonica, vocals, and guitar dishing out the fantastic folkadelic tune, "The Way It Was."

After the show, members of Philadelphia's Laguardia, who opened for the band on some of their earlier east coast dates, mentioned that BJM's Vegas show was the best show that they played this entire tour. I would even dare say that this was one of their finest performances I have seen, full stop. I am already looking forward to their May 16th show at The Rock.

- Tracee

My favorite anecdote of the evening was courtesy of Frankie... He said when they pulled up and saw the marquee read "Guys Drink Free From 9 to 10pm" they thought they'd been booked at a gay bar.

- Poizen Ivy