Woolloongabba: San Francisco musical project The Brian Jonestown Massacre will bring their haunting country psychedelic sounds to the Woolloongabba’s Princess Theatre this November.

The band’s “post-punk” name has always attracted attention, combining the names of Rolling Stones music magazine founder Brian Jones and tragic US historical event the 1978 Jonestown Massacre.

This Brisbane live music event, with all its obscure psych-folk calamity that is The Brian Jonestone Massacre, is sure to impress punters at The Princess Theatre at Woolloongabba in November.

You gotta give it to the longevity of this band, forming in 1990 and only bursting onto the global stage in 2019, after 17 full-length albums.

But it was lucky number 18 for Brian Jonestown Massacre and its creator Anton Newcombe, with the new album exploding overnight, after just seven months of its release.

The nine-track album, recorded and produced at Newcombe’s Cobra Studio in Berlin, sort of proves that fans enjoy some kind of eery intrigue, given its self-titled name and double-up of the band’s gruesome name-choice.

The Jonestown massacre was a mass murder-suicide in 1978 of the Peoples Temple cult under the leadership of Jim Jones, which involved the tragic assassination of US Congressman Leo Ryan who was investigating the cult.

Newcombe told FBI Radio the band was almost called Blur, but he saw UK rockers with the same name in a magazine and had to think again.

He explain the name provided ” a parallel between cult leaders and the cult of personality.”

“Meaning, maybe (Lady) Gaga and her little monsters are very similar to a Jim Jones and a congregation in a lot of ways,” he told the radio.

“See what I’m saying? It’s like the whole public space is a church, and these people are the followers. So I thought that was interesting.

“Brian Jones (from the Rolling Stones) really was an icon in the fifties, I just wanted to sort of repaint that.

“When you look back at the old magazines, he was the one who’s been interviewed non-stop for his fashion (and) he had the most money… he was the whole nine yards. So there was a cult of personality around that.”

Newcombe said he also wanted to make something that wasn’t commercial, saying the historical event had a “punk concept”.

“In post-punk, people called their bands like, living shit, you know? It’s like a swastika T-shirt. There’s like a whole history of pastiche where people made things that were socially-charged, like the Sex Pistols.”

The 18th studio album, which threw the band to the stars, was released on the back of a hugely successful global tour, displaying a new swag of songs in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

It features Sara Neidorf on drums, Heike Marie Radeker on bass, Hakon Adalsteinsson on guitar, with (cult leader?) Newcombe on multiple instruments.

Making a guest vocal appearance on track, “Tombes Oubliées”, is Rike Bienert who also sung on their previous albums.

Living up to their mysterious, sombre sounds and meloncholic name, The Brian Jonestown Massacre has gained media attention for their apparent toxic working relationships as well as Newcombe’s odd behaviour.

Hey, they’re only rockstars, right? Well, we will leave that for you to decide.

Whatever the case, this band continues to be prolific having now released 20 albums, five complication albums, five live albums, 14 EPs, 22 singles, and two various-artist complication albums.

The Brisbane live music scene can enjoy the sounds of The Brian Jonestone Massacre at The Princess Theatre, Woolloongabba on November 18 from 7.30pm.

Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/the-brian-jonestown-massacre-woolloongabba.

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