Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

One Kool-Aid, Please

"This happens every night," guitarist Ricky Rene Maymi said while sneaking a smoke inside the Casbah on August 17. Anton Newcombe, the mercurial vocalist behind the Brian Jonestown Massacre, was in the midst of a rant about Iraq and Afghanistan, implying he could fix things over there with his music.

Maymi and fellow guitarist Frankie Teardrop were prepared for Newcombe's Andy Kaufman--esque antics. It's likely that other people at the sold-out show were, too. Dig!, the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize--winning documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the friendship between BJM and the Dandy Warhols. The movie paints Newcombe, the only remaining founding member of the band, as a lunatic afraid of success and failure.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Before their Casbah show, BJM had canceled two dates due to Newcombe's throat ailments. He seemed mellow as he entered the Casbah. Maybe he feared using his raspy voice to sing, because he spent 10 to 20 minutes between each song tuning his guitar and berating his guitar techs and the opening band (which featured a former BJM member). The tuning began to wear on the crowd. Audience members shouted encouragements ("We love you, Anton. Play for us, Anton") and epithets ("Fuck you, Anton." "Just fucking play").

After telling a few overweight hecklers, "I don't come to Taco Bell to criticize you" and asking Casbah security to take them out so everyone could have a good time, Newcombe told the crowd they were lucky he wasn't Frank Sinatra because he would have had the hecklers killed by the mafia.

Other highlights included Newcombe telling a female heckler her ovaries were cankerous and that it was no wonder Kurt Cobain killed himself after having to deal with fans like these. Someone yelled, "You're a fucking idiot." Newcombe responded, "I'm not a fucking idiot. I'm a fucking genius." One accomplished San Diego musician in attendance said afterward, "I don't really see the genius."

In between the shenanigans, a few songs were played, including two intense instrumental jams. Newcombe proved he wasn't all bad; he gave a fan a guitar pick.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

"This happens every night," guitarist Ricky Rene Maymi said while sneaking a smoke inside the Casbah on August 17. Anton Newcombe, the mercurial vocalist behind the Brian Jonestown Massacre, was in the midst of a rant about Iraq and Afghanistan, implying he could fix things over there with his music.

Maymi and fellow guitarist Frankie Teardrop were prepared for Newcombe's Andy Kaufman--esque antics. It's likely that other people at the sold-out show were, too. Dig!, the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize--winning documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the friendship between BJM and the Dandy Warhols. The movie paints Newcombe, the only remaining founding member of the band, as a lunatic afraid of success and failure.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Before their Casbah show, BJM had canceled two dates due to Newcombe's throat ailments. He seemed mellow as he entered the Casbah. Maybe he feared using his raspy voice to sing, because he spent 10 to 20 minutes between each song tuning his guitar and berating his guitar techs and the opening band (which featured a former BJM member). The tuning began to wear on the crowd. Audience members shouted encouragements ("We love you, Anton. Play for us, Anton") and epithets ("Fuck you, Anton." "Just fucking play").

After telling a few overweight hecklers, "I don't come to Taco Bell to criticize you" and asking Casbah security to take them out so everyone could have a good time, Newcombe told the crowd they were lucky he wasn't Frank Sinatra because he would have had the hecklers killed by the mafia.

Other highlights included Newcombe telling a female heckler her ovaries were cankerous and that it was no wonder Kurt Cobain killed himself after having to deal with fans like these. Someone yelled, "You're a fucking idiot." Newcombe responded, "I'm not a fucking idiot. I'm a fucking genius." One accomplished San Diego musician in attendance said afterward, "I don't really see the genius."

In between the shenanigans, a few songs were played, including two intense instrumental jams. Newcombe proved he wasn't all bad; he gave a fan a guitar pick.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.