Live Review: The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Forum Theatre

The Raveonettes are an inspired choice to open for Anton Newcombe and his band of merry men. Their recently released vinyl EP is fantastic, and besides: is there a more delicious feast for the senses than walking into Melbourne's best music venue as two incredibly attractive Danes coat floor to ceiling in fuzzy, feedback-drenched pop goodness? They're incredibly noisy and yet restrained, the rhythm is pushed along by a drummer playing to a backing track and Sharin Foo's minimalist bass handiwork. Foo has a beautiful voice too, but it's Sune Rose Wagner (who now even looks the spitting image of William Reid circa 1985!) who steals the show tonight. The way he holds back until breaking point song after song to absolutely unleash his blistering, feedback-heavy guitar parts is as sexy as it gets. Set closer Aly, Walk With Me is mesmerising. Well played.

Now, The Brian Jonestown Massacre have strong ties with Melbourne and bandleader Anton Newcombe wastes no time tonight in announcing that it's one of the greatest cities in the world. His band has played some of their finest shows here. They've played some of their most debauched here. They've found love here. The Brian Jonestown Massacre love Melbourne and judging by the sea of BJM faithful singing along with each and every lyric, it's clear that Melbourne loves them too.

As always, Newcombe stands as far to the side of the stage as possible while his band, positioned in firing squad-like formation, stand and deliver their trademark wall of sound. They open with Stairway To The Best Party In The Universe, a track taken from the excellent new record Aufheben. And with that, they're off; taking Melbourne on a two-hour-long journey of new material, classic Jonestown staples and songs we thought we'd never see them play again. There are too many individual highlights to mention: Wisdom, Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth, Servo, Open Heart Surgery – it's relentless! It's always nice to see the longstanding Matt Hollywood singing lead vocals on a bunch of songs, too (Oh Lord!).

Then comes the ending. And what an ending it is. Picture this: a ten-minute-long rendition of Straight Up And Down that somehow seamlessly transitions into Hey Jude before morphing into Sympathy For The Devil, back into Straight Up And Down, and finishing with five minutes of drone and strobe lights. And then nothing. No encore. No banter. That's how to finish a show.

There are so many bands who've built their entire sound around what The Brian Jonestown Massacre do. And why wouldn't there be? Tonight, Anton Newcombe once again shows Melbourne why, even after over 20 years, they're still the most beautifully brutal rock'n'roll band in the business.