I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 22, 2025] The Macks

I hadn’t heard of The Macks before and I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them.  I mean they were opening for Acid Mothers Temple so I knew they’d be kind of weird, but I wasn’t expecting them to be weird in the way that they are or for them to rock so hard.

After the set, I asked the singer if their set was a bunch of really short songs or a few long songs and he looked at me like I was crazy.  But there were so many stops and starts it was hard for me to tell.  Either way, though, I didn’t care because the songs were so cool.  Ben Windheim on guitar played great riffs and made wild sounds (he spent so much time on the high notes–chords, feedback, noise–it was great.  The drummer Josef Windheim (Ben’s brother) played really fast and added lots of little details that filled out the sound.  Aidan Harrison on bass played really cool lines and fills and was also up on the high notes a lot.

But it was hard to take your eyes of of singer Sam Fulwiler.  He was really intense, almost daring us to watch (or to turn away).  He had a kind of barking delivery that worked perfectly with the staccato verses.

But there were also some really catchy parts.  Like the chorus of Modern Grape: “I don’t need anymore, godamnit.”  But the verses were staccato pumps with staccato lyrics.  And then the middle slowed down with wild spacey synth sounds from Jacob Michael Perris.  That’s what made it so hard to know if these were all the same song or lots of little songs.

I love the shouted chorus of Nice (the only song from their previous album): Nice.  That shit was nice.

I loved the wonderfully titled Cypher Sore Eyes.  A repeated two note sequence on the keys was the only consistent part as the guitars were alternating between feedback and a wild solo, and Sam manipulating some kind of box on his mic stand, going nuts and generating all kinds of weird sounds.  Even the bass was creating walls of feedback.  It seemed like a set ending freak out jam, but they were barley half way through the set sets.  On record the song is like 4 minutes but they jammed this out for twice as long.  After like two minutes of noise, the song just picked up like before with those two synth notes–going slower and slower. Until the lyrics: Our storm of overkill, it wages still With phasers set to kill they fire at will.

It was followed by the far slower and sweet sounding Strict Patterns

If I’m gonna die someday it might as well be in your loving arms

But it quickly segued into the brutal, fast and vulgar punk of Bluto.  Back to back on the album and even more intense live.

The final song opened with a drum solo (not show offy, but a drum solo nonetheless) which resolved into the aggressive Family Ties. This was a fun fast song that seemed like it would go on far longer than it did and then it abruptly ended.  Ending their set.

A review of their new album described them as focused yet scattered and that’s really apt.  I loved the set.

The Macks are from Portland Oregon and this is evidently their first time playing the East Coast, so I’m glad I got to see them.  I’d definitely see them again if they come back.

After Acid Mothers Temple I ran into my physical therapist who was at the show.  He didn’t know AMT but is a huge fan of The Macks.  He encouraged me to check out their recorded output and it’s really great too.  The Macks have a new fan.

Dually of Man ‰
The Modern Grape ‰
Nice √
Cypher Sore Eyes ‰
Strict Patterns ‰
Bluto ‰
Family Ties ‰

‰ Bonanza (2025)
√ The Macks are a Knife (2024)

Great guitar lines and a dynamic somewhat angry looking singer

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Kawabata’s blog:

For just two shows, tonight in Philadelphia and the day after tomorrow in Baltimore, AMT’s original founder , Cotton Casino , will be joining us for a special 90-minute set. The crowd was thrilled when Cotton first appeared, her incredible vocals and trance-like performance stirring up the band and the audience. Meanwhile, the enigmatic rhythms she occasionally played on the tambourine completely captivated both NANI and I, and this only served to further enhance the hyper-psychedelic sound, transforming us into a super-fast version of the eerie star Goras, racing through the galaxy with a furious cosmic rampage, and finally bringing the set to a grand finale.

Incidentally, in the middle of her set, Cotton lit a cigarette, much like she did in her old performances, causing a plume of purple smoke, and after the show she was given a stern warning by the venue. Smoking in public indoor spaces is now considered a barbaric act, and with the Fire Service Act now also coming into play, even the charismatic Cotton would not be tolerated in this day and age, so please do your best.

When they started the slow In A Session Not C, Cotton lit up a cigarette (which you’ll see below caused all kinds of concern)

2025 Milkboy	2023 Johnny Brenda’s	2019 The Saint	2018 Underground Arts
Dark Star Blues ‰ [3]	Jam (while soundcheck was finishing up)	La Nòvia £	Dark Star Blues ‰
Santa Maria Õ	Blue Velvet Blues ⊗ [2]	Sycamore Trees (Jimmy Scott cover)	Blue Velvet Blues ⊗
La Nòvia £ [2]	Dark Star Blues ‰ [2]	From Planet Orb With Love > ≅	Disco Pink Lady Lemonade > ⇑
Blue Velvet Blues ⊗ [3]	Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover)	Good-Bye Mrs. Uranus §	La Le Lo > ♥
In A session Not C >	Flying Teapot (Gong cover)	Hello Good Child > ‰	In C ©
Flying Teapot (Gong cover) >	From Planet Orb With Love § > [2]	Disco Pink Lady Lemonade > ⇑ [2]	Untitled >
OM Riff From The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. ‰ >	Good-Bye Mrs. Uranus § [2]	In E > ∞	Nanique Another Dimension >  ⊄
Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover)	Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔ [3]	Pink Lady Lemonade coda∀ [2]	Pink Lady Lemonade coda ∀ >
Pink Lady Lemonade prelude >		Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔ [2]	Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔
Sparkling Pink Lady Lemonade ◊
Cometary Orbital Drive ⇔ [4]

It’s unclear to me what records these songs first appeared on (as they have 1,000 records out), although Setlist does a pretty good job, I think.

Õ Holy Black Mountain Side (2024)
£ La Nòvia (2023)
⊄ Never Ending Psychedelic Deathmatch (2022)
◊ Domino Dimension Drumatique Vol.1 (2022)
⇑ Levitation Sessions (2021)
∀ Diend of Fiend or Unstoppable Moonsault (2020)
≅ Electric Dream Ecstasy (2018)
§ Sacred and Inviolable Phase Shift (2018)
∞ In 0 to ∞ (2010)
⇔ Cometary Orbital Drive (2008) or Paralyzed Genius Brain (2023)
‰ IAO Chant From the Melting Paraiso Underground Freak Out (2005)
‰ Does the Cosmic Shepherd Dream of Electric Tapirs? (2004)
♥ Mantra of Love (2004)
© In C (2001)
⊗ Pataphisical Freak Out MU!! (1999)