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Some musicians maintain legendary rivalries for decades on end — try getting Sting and Stewart Copeland to bury the hatchet and you’ll see what we mean. Very rarely, though, is a band’s epic enmity so huge it can carry a feature-length art-house documentary like 2004’s Dig!, which chronicles the Dandy Warhols’ rivalry with Brian Jonestown Massacre, the high priests of neo-psychedelic freak-out rawk. But any disputes with other bands will be forgotten when singer/major-domo Anton Newcombe and the revolving-door lineup of BJM hit the stage. Part ’60s pastiche and part postmodern aural astronaut, Newcombe has spent the better half of the past decade mining the acid-stained pabulum of ’60s and ’70s rock, à la the Rolling Stones and the Velvet Underground, in search of the perfect song. BJM has been praised and assailed over the years, being called everything from supercilious and silly to savant and supernatural, but the band has never been accused of being boring. The same goes for a BJM concert. Expect the unexpected — over-the-top stage antics, totally over-the-top posturing, and oodles of Newcombe’s undeniable talent.