OFF: Acid Mothers Temple

[K Henderson]

Hi Folks...

Well, last night I went as a complete Acid Mothers Temple virgin to their
show in downtown Columbus at an artsy performance space club called the
MadLab.  I came home wondering how the hell I could have gone so many years
without ever really knowing anything about them (only a hint of
understanding that they were 'some Japanese band').  They were completely
amazing, and we were all transfixed.  Never before had I been to a 'concert'
with just 60-70 attendees in a place with no alcohol license that erupted so
at the finale and ended up with boisterous rhythmic clapping that forced an
encore.  They are truly an amazing band.  Five piece with bassist/lead
vocalist (seemed to be the 'frontman' if there was one), older guy on
rhythm/occasional lead guitar/part-time synth (perhap one of the founders?),
lead guitarist/part-time vocalist, younger female synth player (I was
wondering if perhaps the older guy's daughter?), and drummer.  They played I
think about five-to-six tracks total, which lasted a full 90 minutes.  There
is some similarity in what they do to the Space Ritual type of performance,
with the quiet poetry bits replaced with crazy semi-traditional a capella
Japanese singing (the bassist has an amazing array of different vocals
sounds he can produce, including one where he seems to have swallowed a
didgeridoo).  The synths are knob-twiddly things (digital-type, Roland,
surrogates) that came across like Theremins most of the time.  The bassist's
playing was outstanding, very complex, yet often still loopy/rhythmic a la
true blanga.  The drummer was similarly busy and impressive but normally
within the nature of the overall sound.  The lead guitarist was simply
insane - he played like Hendrix but only way more over-the-top, completely
manic and totally psychedelic.  The entire band would just go totally nuts
at the climax of most every track, esp. at the end with the guitarist doing
everything but destroying the stage with his guitar.  My ears are still
bleeding a bit, but it was a true joy to watch.  My only issue was if they
sustained the nearly rhythmless free-for-alls too long, which did happen
once or twice, but that was easily forgiven considering the virtue of the
bulk of the performance.

Those of you in the UK have no excuse for missing joint shows with this band
and Finland's Circle next month.  Of course, I worry about Circle being
completely forgotten about once AMT goes on stage, as on CD, I imagine that
they'll continue to be my favorite artist of the last five years.  'Cause by
comparison they are like statues on stage, even as their music amazes you.
Will be an interesting juxtaposition of kinetic energy level displayed.  I
picked up the newest CD's by both AMT and their spinoff Nishinion...I
haven't listened to them yet, so I can't tell you how the bands differ, nor
how the AMT style comes across on plastic compared to live.

Go see Acid Mothers Temple!!!

Grakkl (FAA)

P.S.  Last night's show included other performances by some guy doing solo
rhythmic/sampled/electronic/computer-enhanced/turntable tricks (marginal), a
Cincinnati quartet named Clumsy that did fairly interesting drone/post-rock
stuff with some sax, accordion, lots of e-bow guitar drone and other
effects, and then the world's worst band ever (that oddly seemed to cop
Hawkwind licks, the first track seemed to be based on the Psi Power riff)
that played 10-minute ersatz psychedelic jams that featured no talent
whatsoever (including a rhythm guitarist and drummer who repeated a single
short riff/rhythm over and over with absolutely no modification whatsoever,
and a "lead" guitarist/singer who couldn't sing (read: scream) and only
played with one finger of his left hand as if he were holding a slide).  God
they were awful.  I've intentionally forgotten their name, and only remember
they said they were from Chicago.