Brian Jonestown Massacre lead singer Anton Newcombe spotted at Gallowgate record shop

The Brian Jonestown Massacre were in town last night for a gig at Glasgow’s legendary Barrowland Ballroom.

Ahead of the gig, lead singer and founder of the group Anton Newcombe was spotted record shopping at Blitzkrieg across the road from the venue on the Gallowgate.

Taking to social media, Blitzkrieg posted a photo of Newcombe in the store along with owner Tony Gaughan saying: “Guess who stopped by yesterday?”

It was the first time that the San Francisco band had performed in the city for over two years as they brought their UK/EU tour 2025 to Glasgow’s East End. with a fine setlist that included:

• Maybe Make It Right
• Anenome
• Forgotten Graves
• P***
• Fudge
• Abandon Ship
• That Girl Suicide
• When Jokers Attack
• Servo
• Nevertheless
• Days, Weeks and Moths
• Super-Sonic

The bands relationship with Glasgow stretches back over two decades as they made their debut performance in the city back in February 2004 when they played King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on St Vincent Street. They have also appeared at the Queen Margaret Union and the O2 ABC.

In an interview back in 2022, Newcombe explained where the bands name came from, saying: “When we started out we were young and we wanted a name that had a certain amount of affinity for psychedelics. So, I named the group Blur and thought it was appropriate for the whole thing. Then I opened up a New Music Express or Melody Maker and there was a new band that already had the name and they had a good lawyer.

“I felt like I had to come up with a name that nobody would have ever thought of. There are multiple levels to that. The main thing is that every since I was young I really liked the idea that somebody driving their role in the group does not have to be the singer, it could be a tambourine player or a guitar player. That’s why I like Brian Jones.

“He brought the love to the music. It did not matter if he was playing cello, sitar, marimba or guitar. Then you had this shocking cultural event (Jonestown Massacre), even though people don’t really remember it that way. It was scarier than Manson, and all that stuff that happened. All these families sold their houses, then the moms were gone and you had those guys just adopting children.

“I remember when that happened and it loomed very large in San Francisco, so I like the idea of making something that couldn’t be commercial. I always said that my band was some kind of exotic fruit that’s really yummy on the inside but has spikes on the outside. It's a type of survival strategy.