The Brian Jonestown Massacre: New footage shows fans throwing drinks at band before on-stage meltdow

American psychedelic rockers The Brian Jonestown Massacre have been widely panned for their violent onstage antics in Melbourne this week, leading to the cancellation of the rest of their Aussie tour.

Ticketholders have clamoured for refunds but the tired and true fans know a fist fight has always been a potential addition to the menu.

Singer, guitarist and mastermind behind the outfit, Anton Newcombe, has built a reputation for fiery stage antics over his 33-year career with the band. The 2004 documentary Dig!, which follows the band’s chaotic early years alongside The Dandy Warhols, did two things for Newcombe’s ever-evolving cult project.

Thousands of new fans were drawn to how the band spawned a new wave of neo-psychedelia in the West Coast underground. But others saw something much more entertaining – a band with a tendency to collapse on stage at a moment’s notice.

Fist fights, broken sitars, slurs and multiple emotional resignations have dotted Newcombe’s relentless touring career, which up until this day remains entirely independent of major labels.

A few years ago, Newcombe claimed he had left much of what made him notorious — the fights, alcohol and general punk-rock ethos — behind him.

But the outfit still remains a revolving door, and nobody quite knows how many dozens of musicians have tried their hand at working with the eccentric Newcombe.

With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that there have always been fans eager to push Newcombe to the limit in anticipation of one of his famous meltdowns.

When I walked into The Enmore Theatre show last Thursday, I knew I could be walking into anything. Newcombe’s rantings between songs turned off a lot of the crowd, who clearly didn’t know what to expect when he put a pause on the music, told them to shut up and gave them a lecture on a number of vaguely-relevant topics.

There was clearly tension between Anton and a few band members, as he continually schooled them on how to play their instruments – even restarting a few songs after lengthy diatribes at the crowd.

But this was nothing compared to what Melburnians saw four days later.

The show, which has been described as a “nightmare” by some and the “greatest thing I’ve ever seen” by others, saw Newcombe trade blows with guitarist Ryan Van Kriedt.

Initial reports suggest the brawl was entirely of the band’s own making, and given the tension at the Sydney show and similar reports from earlier legs of the tour, that doesn’t come as much surprise.

But new footage shared online before the biff showed the moment two crowd members hurled their drinks at Van Kriedt, and later Newcombe.

The video shows Newcombe had only seen Van Kriedt hurling the empty cup back at the audience. He asked him to apologise to the audience member, which clearly was the final straw for Van Kriedt.

“Put down my guitar on the stage. We don’t actually need you,” Newcombe told his guitarist and backing singer.

“You better think about this one man, because this is forever,” Van Kriedt shouted back.

Video uploader K C Sunshine Adventures said: “The crowd throws drinks at Ryan and Anton from BJM, Anton didn’t see Ryan get hit by cup and tells him to apologise to the audience. This is the start of the argument which ended up in a fight.”

Not long after, the safety curtain was drawn with Newcombe simultaneously telling the crowd to “shut up” and “God bless this country”, in between more drinks thrown towards the band’s priceless vintage equipment.

It may be the contrast between Newcombe’s aggressive persona and his 30-year love affair with writing heartfelt music about peace and love that keeps his fans coming back. But the latest Australia tour has proven to be another chaotic crossroads moment for The Brian Jonestown Massacre, for both disappointed fans and band members who have clearly had enough.

But some blame should be on the crowd members who stoked the flames and threw beer at the performers.

The band has now cancelled the rest of the tour and remains silent on all social media channels.

The band’s Australia tour page has been taken down and has not responded to requests for comment.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xKernqqklravucSnq2ilpai2pHvTqKyrq1%2Bjsrh5xaimrZmXmnq0tM6wqmaekaPAbsPEq5xmrJinvLi1zaBknaqZo7i0ecCtZK2glWKvs7XAp2Sjp56awLW71qdkppmjqK6kvsRmmZ6en6eybrvNrKuan5Viuqa4052msKZfo7K4v4ysq6iqqWSAp4CVn2xva2WarqOwknFsnZ1jbIN1gcOfcGqclZeGpQ%3D%3D