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ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE @ The 13th Note.
The Acid Mothers Temple gig was a huge revelation for me. Here we were, heading through to Glasgow to do their lightshow, and we'd never even heard them before. However, we
weren't to be disappointed...
Not long after we had set up our gear and the band were ready (without even a soundcheck) the audience started piling in...and piling in...and kept piling in! We were squashed
next to the stage, with little room to manoeuvre and could barely even see the visuals we were creating! The doorway was just filled with heads trying to squeeze in...no chance! This venue was a bit too small for
this particular gig (the 13th Note having gone into liquidation, they had to move the gig from the live venue to downstairs in the cafe).
First up was support act Richard Youngs. He played a very mellow
acoustic set, mostly improvised, with wordless vocals just adding texture to the music without distracting from it.
He was joined by Kawabata from Acid Mothers, who played a traditional Japanese bowed
instrument, the whole affair being very laid back. The audience were well chilled out, and some people came and sat on our lighting rig, best seat in the house. And as the ceiling was so low, it also stopped any
lanky freaks from standing in front of the lightshow!
After Richard finished his set, Acid Mothers came on straight away, and treated us to a long space jam, with Cotton Casino making wonderful spiralling
filter sweeps with her synth while smoking fag after fag after fag after fag...man, that chick likes a fag!
The whole band then burst into the most amazing, uplifting space rock riff I have heard in my life!
Taking elements of Hawkwind and Ozric Tentacles, but lifting it higher than any of them have ever gone, then sending it blasting into outer space, and doing this again and again, each time reaching a higher
crescendo. I thought this song was never going to end, and I hoped it never would. Truly unbelievable!
The whole gig was a blur of spaced out Hendrix style grooves, tripped out intergalactic cosmic rock, and
I couldn't believe my luck to be part of this, providing visuals to go with the psychedelic sounds.
Then the band started singing in acapella what sounded like a really lovely Japanese folk song. This soon
mutated into more space weirdness, before becoming what sounded like Gaelic folk music, and returning to how it began.
The gig ended with a HUGE sleazy psychedelic groover of an encore, with Higashi playing
some really weird futuristic orb type theremin, looking like some freaked out Jedi warrior.
Then all too soon they were gone, away to blow the minds of some other audiences in their (other)worldly travels.
One thing I know, I witnessed THE best space rock band on the planet, and I can't wait to see them next time.
Thanks guys and gals.
Beano
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