Acid Mothers Temple
May 5th, 2015
Boot & Saddle
Philadelphia, PA


Source:
Roland Edirol R-09 (onboard mics, low-cut on, AGC off) > WaveLab (Puncher (high density, 75% effect, 0% output gain) + SL-1 StereoExpander (100%) + levels normalized (channels de-linked to correct slight imbalance)) > CDWAV (tracks split and saved as .FLAC level 8 ) > foobar2000 (ReplayGain)

Location:
Start of show > Pink Lady sai solo: House-rear-right, next to (elevated) soundboard.
Pink Lady sai solo > end of show: House center, on ground level.

Taper: ZaPenguin (zappa.penguin(AT)gmail.com or
http://db.etree.org/ZappaPenguin)


SOUND QUALITY: A-. A bit boomy/boxy in places - spent about half a day tinkering with this one, experimenting with various EQ and compressor settings to see if I couldn't squeeze out some better sound, but the deadly combo of Tsuyama's venue-soaking monster bass and Higashi's oh-so-high-pitched synth sweeps foiled my best efforts.


THE BAND:
Tsuyama Atsushi: monster bass, voice, cosmic joker
Tabata Mitsuru : guitar, maratab
Higashi Hiroshi: synth, guitar, voice, dancin'king
Satoshima Nani: Osaka mutant drums
Kawabata Makoto: guitar, voice, speed guru

NO LONGER WITH THE BAND BUT WE WON'T FORGET HIM:
Shimura Koji: drums, latino cool

TRACK LIST:
01. Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky [17:50]
02. Benzaiten [19:43]
03. Pink Lady Intro [6:24]
04. Pink Lady Lemonade [13:45]
05. Om Riff [6:01]
06. Pink Lady Lemonade [5:08]
07. Cometary Orbital Intro [7:05]
08. Cometary Orbital Drive > Speed Guru [9:40]

Notes:
Track 03 is not quite the same as what I liked referring to as "Kawabata's Reflections" or the "Pink Lady Nocturne" and may well be a full-blown new song. Similarly, I'm not sure if track 07 is the result of a reworked Cometary or if the band considers it a different song.


MINI BIO:
"Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (and subsequent offshoots) is a Japanese psychedelic band founded in 1995 by members of the Acid Mothers Temple soul-collective. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career featured many musicians but by 2004 the line-up had coalesced with 4 core members and frequent vocal guests.

The band have a reputation for phenomenal live shows, and releasing frequent albums on a number of international record labels, as well as the Acid Mothers Temple family record label which was established in 1998 to document the activities of the whole collective."
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which every 14 year old has edited.


BAND PAGE:
http://www.acidmothers.com


SHOW NOTES:
Despite heavy rain and traffic leaving me mere mental inches from calling this one a wash, I hunkered down and pedalled the little engine that can and made it to the venue just - and I do mean just - in time to catch the Acid Mothers' set. And boy howdy, what a fortunate turn of events that was - this was a great show from start to finish, a refreshing return to form after what was, at least in my mind, a bit of a ho-hum effort in 2014 (only ho-hum relative to the startling highs the Acid Mothers are capable of, of course). We get not one but TWO "classic" songs in regular rotation, along with a pretty interesting "token new song" and a pretty nicely reworked Cometary Orbital Drive to round things off and send us all home with a grin.

As for the elephant in the room - or rather, the Osaka mutant in the back of the room, hidden behind a drumkit. Maybe the freshness of this tour can be attributed to his presence - a veteran of the Japanese punk scene, Satoshima Nani is not afraid to burst out with some clap-your-hands, stomp-your-feet arena rock drum-fills here and there. I don't know if I'll ever have an easy "is better-than / is worse-than" opinion of him, but his driving, "rock" approach is definitely different from the no-longer-on-the-road-but-forever-in-our-hearts Latino Cool King Shimura's jazzier stylings - and while that may sound trite, one need listen no further than tonight's Pink Lady to hear that it is absolutely true.

And, finally, in lieu of eloquence, let me just state for the record that the "new beginning" to Cometary (or is it a new song entirely?) kicks ASS. Weird, out-there, full of jagged guitar-synth sounds and loops, with a desert trance aftertaste. Cometary itself is also pretty fresh - no longer masquerading as a hazy, slow-building jam, now it's all rock and disco from the get-go - and for this particular listener, that's exactly the shift the song needed.

REQUESTS & REMINDERS:
Do not sell this recording. Do not buy this recording. Do not sell this recording, then buy it from yourself.


CREDITS:
Philly Phanatics - sweat and chatter

Torrented by the taper: ZaPenguin

email - zappa.penguin(AT)gmail.com
web - http://db.etree.org/zappapenguin (always woefully out of date)

Band page: http://www.acidmothers.com