I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 21, 2018] Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.

Several months ago I purchased a ticket for Ministry in Morristown, NJ.  I’d loved Ministry’s brand of industrial noise in the early 90s, although I pretty much stopped listening to them altogether before Y2K.

But I saw that they were touring and that they were playing some older songs so I thought it might be a cathartic experience.

Then I found out that Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. were playing at a small club the same night.  Acid Mothers Temple is one of my friend Lar’s favorite live acts and it was fairly easy for me to decide to get a ticket to them and sell my Ministry one.  (I decided I’d rather be pummeled by psychedelia than vitriol and anger).

It was the right decision because Acid Mothers Temple was amazing.

The band is the creation of guitarist Kawabata Makoto (“speed guru”) who started the band in 1995.  There have been nearly a dozen offshoots of the Acid Mothers Temple band (each with different members except Makoto).  The only other near constant is Higashi Hiroshi (“noodle god”) on synths and keyboard and theremin who joined the band (and some offshoots) in 1998.

They had a female vocalist Cotton Casino, who left in 2013.  She was recently replaced by Jyonson Tsu (“midnight whistler”) on vocals, guitar and bouzouki.

Rounding out the rhythm section are Wolf (“space & time”) on bass since 2016 and Satoshima Nani (“another dimension”) on drums since 2014 (a lady behind me went on and on for about 5 minutes about how hot Nani was).

I was initially parked in front of Jyonson Tsu’s side of the stage, but the people were shorter on the other side, so I moved in front of Kawabata Makoto having no idea what I was getting myself into.

The band came out and started putting their gear on stage.  I loved that Makoto had all of his gear in a milk crate and plastic bag and proceeded to set it all up.

Then Jyonson Tsu came out and I loved his look right from the start.  It was a fantastic contrast to the grungey psychedelia of Makoto.

They tuned up, they fixed their gear–Higashi Hiroshi was actually using a screwdriver to fix parts of his rig as they were setting up.  Things were looking good.

And then Makoto played a tremendously loud chord and I knew the earplugs were staying in tight all night.

Then Jyonson put on a cape and I knew this was the greatest thing I’d ever seen.

Acid Mothers Temple have released some 75 albums (since 1995) not including nearly 50 live albums).  I have one–and not the one with the song that they always play (“Pink Lady Lemonade”).

So I don’t know what songs they played.  I don’t even know how many songs they played–there could have been 3 or 30.  Who knows.

They opened with Jyonson on bouzouki and after a minute or so, Makoto starting wailing on his guitar and nearly everything else was lost.

Makoto played fast–really fast.  And loud.  Really loud.  I realized that I was actually too close to the stage for most of the set because all I could hear was Makoto and the drums for a lot of it.  But maybe that’s all anyone could hear.

Jyonson’s vocals were pretty quiet from where I was and forget that poor bouzouki.

That song lasted an eternity, with soloing, trippy sound effects from the keyboard and a steady bass and drums keeping it going for however long is lasted.

And then they started another song and more of the same happened.  Makoto was soloing and wailing, the rest of the band was with him and we were all in rapturous (loud) bliss–like this guy behind me.

At some point Higashi Hiroshi started playing the theremin, which was a real treat to watch.

Jyonson switched to electric guitar and was still barely audible.

And still they kept on going.

Nani was a beast on drums.

It was so loud that those without earplugs soon departed for the back of the room.

There were some quieter moments which were both a nice break from the wall of noise, but also a chance to see that Makoto cold play slow and melodic as well.  Jyonson actually sang some things that I could hear (although I’m not sure if he was singing words).

Makoto even took out some kind of device and started sliding it up and down the strings.

The band even played a kind of disco version of  “Pink Lady Lemonade” (with Hiroshi adding some ear-splitting high notes) and then Makoto just freaking out.

The song seemed like it was over until Jyonson hushed us and began the sing-along portion.

I loved this part when Makoto is rocking out and then Nani comes in and starts smashing everything.

I had no idea how long the band would play, so after 90 minutes I had to move back from the stage–it was overwhelming.  I bought a water and moved in toward the crowd.  It was a wholly different experience watching them from several rows back.  For one, I was better in the mix and could hear Jysonson singing (and his guitar)–the price of being too close is a bad mix of sound.  But I also couldn’t see nearly as well, so you have to decide what to sacrifice.

The band finished up about fifteen minutes later.  And while I w as a little bummed I was not up close to witness that smashing ending, I’m just glad I was there.

They were very friendly after the show, although I didn’t stay for too long.  I wanted to try to duplicate an iconic photo my friend Lar took of himself standing between the two Japanese behemoths Makoto and Hiroshi, but decided against it.

Maybe if I see them again….

SETLIST as from Makoto’s blog

1. Dark Star Blues

2. Blue Velvet Blues

3. Disco Pink Lady Lemonade ~ La Le Lo ~ In C

4. Untitled ~ Nanique Another Dimension ~ Pink Lady Lemonade coda ~ Cometary Orbital Drive