No Encore! by Drew Fortune

Author:Drew Fortune [Fortune, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: N/A
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2019-05-25T21:00:00+00:00

33

JOEL GION

(The Brian Jonestown Massacre)

For those unacquainted with the West Coast psychedelic-folk scene in the ’90s, director Ondi Timoner’s 2004 documentary Dig! was the perfect entrée into the dysfunctional world of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Here, the band’s tambourine-wielding troublemaker, Joel Gion, fondly recalls the time that he almost broke up Oasis with his “super speed.”

Back in the early days, I was constantly on speed. In 1994, two years before filming started on the Dig! documentary, I was working at Reckless Records on Haight Street. Oasis’s Definitely Maybe record had just come out, and I was really into it. I saw Oasis was coming to San Francisco, so I phoned our manager and said, “You’ve got to get us on this bill!” This was before “Wonderwall,” and they hadn’t had a huge hit yet. It was this cool underground thing at the time. They were playing this small 200-capacity club called Bottom of the Hill. We all knew the club owner, so she got us on the bill. Definitely Maybe was released two weeks before the gig, and suddenly, that venue was way too small. It was their first time in America, and people were going bat shit.

Like I said, I was on speed all the time, and I had been up for three days before the gig. I was super excited to meet them because I kept reading about how they were really into drugs, especially coke. I thought, “If they’re into that shitty English coke, I’ll blow their minds with this crazy crystal meth I’ve got!” We pulled up to the venue for soundcheck, and their huge bus was parked outside. I knocked, and Noel Gallagher opened the bus door. I said, “Hey man, I’m in the opening band, and I have the most righteous speed you’ll ever do!” I was all stoked to walk right in, but he said, “No, we only do coke.” I stood there stunned, and he shut the door in my face.

Our guitar player at the time, Jeff Davies, was a heroin lifer. He’d been doing it since his early twenties. While I was trying to meet Oasis, he went off to score. He missed soundcheck, and it was getting pretty late. Meanwhile, a female friend I used to do speed with all the time had met Liam Gallagher outside. She had gotten on Oasis’s bus and had given them a bunch of lines of this crazy speed. Jeff still hadn’t gotten back from scoring, and the show was oversold and completely packed. Coincidentally, Pulp and Blur were on tour together and had played a show across town the night before. Both bands showed up for the show. Damon Albarn was going out with Justine Frischmann from Elastica, so it was this whole scene. It suddenly had turned into Brit-pop central for one night.

With no Jeff in sight, we had to go on. We’re playing without our guitarist, and suddenly Anton [Newcombe, lead singer] yells out, “Jeff! I see you motherfucker! If you’re

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