Wrong Band for the Wrong Crowd
I had a feeling the Brian Jonestown Massacre would get a mixed reaction at best. Admittedly Friday can be a bit of a slow burner, but in previous years more household names have really got the event off to a flyer. This day has become known for hosting the likes of Supergrass, Ordinary Boys aand the Lightning Seeds.
It seems you either get BJM or not. They’re known for their grumpiness on stage, and because of this some people find them hard to take seriously. At one point Anton did tell the somewhat unenthusiastic crowd they were the worst ever, and you’ve also got to wonder how pleased the families encouraged to Guilfest felt about some of the expletives.
Given the fact that they only had around fourty minutes, even Brian Jonestown Massacre fans will have left feeling something was missing, and their up coming UK tour is the place for those in the crowd to get the fix they were really looking for.
Musically they delivered a set of often mid-paced, alternative rock, nothing to get too excited about, but then the flat atmosphere didn’t help their cause. Put them in a different setting, even the Ents 24 Stage, then they could be enjoyable, but this was one time when the Guilfest Main Stage diversity policy strayed too far off the beaten track.