Ascending with The Brian Jonestown Massacre

DOWN AT THE ROCK AND ROLL CLUB—I experienced the Brian Jonestown Massacre experience for the first time at a transcendent, highly enjoyable show at The Vic in Chicago last night. Walking down Sheffield Avenue afterward, feeling blissy, I had to touch a leaf on a tree to feel grounded again.

Led by founder Anton Newcombe, the Brian Jonestown Massacre collective has been tripping out audiences since the early 1990s on numerous albums, EPs, and singles, rotating musicians in and out of the studio an...