Music > Live Reviews

Acid Mothers Temple

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

05/11/18

I would probably place them in my top 20 best ever live acts and regardless of what night of the week they play, or which venue they perform in I know I am guaranteed one of the gigs of the year. Before embracing their majesty though there were two support acts, the first of which was Gorm. Internet research had suggested they might be German or possibly from San Diego, but in actuality it was a solo performance, and I’m afraid the artist’s origin remains a mystery to me. Dark, twisted and ominous electronic music was the order of the day – music that would have made the perfect soundtrack to a particularly scary episode of Day Of The Triffids for example.

Considering it was just a guy hunched over his equipment, it made for a genuinely interesting start to the evening and full marks for doing something which I never normally get to experience live.
Next up were local stalwarts Mega Emotion. This was my fifth time seeing them and if I’m being honest I approached their set with a little trepidation. By virtue of the fact a band is local you can end up seeing them more than you would normally choose, and I’d gone from being impressed by them first time out to gradually becoming less enamoured. I’m very pleased to say though I thought they were excellent, this being comfortably the best performance I’ve seen by them. It felt like all of their ideas had fully crystallised for the first time, and they completely did the songs justice. I’m a sucker for a synth soaked 80s sound and Lisa, Jan and Iain impressed with a fully committed performance. Brains remains their best song perhaps, but new track Laura bodes very well and a cowbell heavy Ok Maybe Ok ended the impressive set on a complete high.

There’s something about Acid Mothers Temple that takes me away from the mundane day to day concerns. I watch a lot of live music, but it is surprisingly rare to lose all sense of time and space, but AMT achieved this within the first few minutes of their set. Featuring new, caped, guitarist Jyonson Tsu and an additional member playing flute & sax the effect was the same as in previous years – intense, soaring, otherworldly, cathartic, overwhelming, even emotional at times. What can be loosely described as songs end and I forget to clap, because doing something as normal and mundane as clapping doesn’t really do justice to what I’ve just heard. Although the flute and sax struggled at times to be heard over the maelstrom, they did add an extra element to the sound. Perhaps the most impressive part of the gig is the rhythm section – very possibly the finest I have ever witnessed, and that’s not something I say lightly. It’s rare to hear the bass played as lead, but ‘Wolf’ channelled his inner Geezer Butler and did just that - led. Satoshima Nani on drums though was the star of the show, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better drummer. Busy, fast, powerful yet subtle when needed, for me he was the visual focal point and was a joy to behold. These guys provided the foundation on which everything else was built.

The only slight frustration I’ve had with previous AMT live shows is the relative brevity of their shows, but not so this year as it was longest set I had seen them play and was all the more satisfying because of that. This is not the same set every night either, song intros merely the starting point for their improvisations. Pink Lady Lemonade consumed most of the second half, the riff reappearing occasionally to remind us that we were still hearing the same song.
Once again they delivered something completely memorable; a sensory overload of epic proportions from a band that are the finest exponents of freak out music. Their songs may be long, but they have the energy of punk, the groove of krautrock, the freedom of jazz and it is never anything less than completely thrilling. See you in 2019.