Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Peel (and their frienemies the Dandy Warhols at the Pizza Company)

Get ready for the legendary Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Orange Peel (on Wednesday) by watching the documentary DiG! at Asheville Pizza Company (on Tuesday). 

The dish on the documentary, from Liz Whalen at the Orange Peel: “As you might already know, Brian Jonestown Massacre is playing the Peel next week, at 9 p.m. on Wednesday—tickets at $15 in advance for the show and we still have some available.

Since this is the first time that our city has ever hosted Brian Jonestown Massacre, we thought it would be fun to show the documentary DiG!, which is how many people (including myself) first became acquainted with the band. If you’re not familiar with DiG!, it was a 2004 documentary that chronicled the relationship (and rivalry) between BJM and the Dandy Warhols—VERY interesting even if you weren’t a fan of either band before seeing it. It won 2004’s Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at Sundance.

The Asheville Pizza Company (Merrimon Ave. location) is going to be screening DiG on Tuesday at 10 p.m., the night before the BJM show. The film will be free for anyone who shows a ticket (or an online confirmation) purchased for the show at the Orange Peel the next night. For anyone else, they’ll be $3.”

And, a dispatch from music expert Whitney Shroyer—the Smart Bet that didn’t make it into Xpress last week:

Who: Brian Jonestown Massacre

Where: The Orange Peel

When:  Wednesday, April 8 ($15 advance/$17 door)

Why: San Francisco psychedelic legends Brian Jonestown Massacre may be better known for being one half of the subject matter of the movie DiG!, their frequent lineup changes and the colorful personality of front man and principal visionary Anton Newcombe than for their music. This is something of a shame; the band has a series of fascinating if inconsistent LPs and quite a live reputation when all cylinders are firing. The lineup for this relatively lengthy jaunt across the U.S. is a dream for any recent convert. It’s an eight-man psychedelic guitar onslaught, with both tambourine man Joel Gion and guitarist/secondary songwriter Matt Hollywood, key members during the band’s peak recording years, returning to the fold. Show reports indicate long sets and strong performances, so Asheville’s first opportunity to see the band has the potential to be pretty exciting, in a stoned, droning, pop-psych lullabyes ‘n’ rockers kind of a way.

(Photo by Rob Johannes)

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