ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE/MAMMATUS @ Triple Rock 5/6/07.

Ben and i took in a massive slab of psychedelic indulgence last night courtesy of two of the best acts in the genre, the esteemed Acid Mothers Temple and newcomers (although they have two awesome records to their name) Mammatus. Twas Ben's first time bearing witness to the onslaught that is the AMT and my fourth time, so i was pretty excited by the time concert time rolled around. I'm not a huge concert goer anymore-i think this is the first show i've been to in many many months-but i'm glad i got out for this one as both bands turned in unrepentant, if aesthetically opposed, sets. Mammatus took the stage and immediately busted into a faster psych rocker that was completely unlike the doom influenced Melvins worship they fell into about five minutes later. The riffs became slower and more rock/cliche oriented, all while swirls of fuzz clouds and ultra loud whooses of wah noise filled the room. The drummer was a Dale Crover clone for sure, which is never bad in my eyes, especially when done well, and really the whole thing smacked of Melvins worship, right down to the dresses the members wore on stage and the onstage moves/vocals that their lead guitarist involved himself in. I remember when i was really into the idea of Melvins worship as well (still am to a degree!); i think i might even have the dress i fashioned for myself after seeing them on the Crybaby tour. The other influence that really stuck out at me, besides Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer, was Sleep-so Mammatus wasn't really bringing anything new, but they do what they do very well, they write some awesome syrupy sludge riffs and wrap the whole thing in a bag of pysch demolition and guitar extravagance. I liked it a lot-enought to buy a shirt (didn't hurt that it had a wizard on it) and realize that they pretty much blew both of their studio records out of the water on the stage.

And then came the main event, the true heirs to the modern psych throne, the mighty AMT out of JApan. Those who know me know of my devotion to this band-they take up more space on my cd shelves than any other group (i think i have over 100 of their cds/records in my possession, and that's not even th half of their output)-and they have been a huge influence on my guitar playing and generally one of my fave "mind expanders" when i'm "getting into the shit." Their set began with a shriek of Guitar feedback from the mighty Speed Guru and after that it was right into a little 5 minute excesso rock rave up to set the mood. So far so good-and then the set took a strange and unexpected turn. The next track was a plodding, droning piece of crust metal that was one chord for about 10 minutes, along with the folk rock mountain songs of Japan that their bassist can pull out at any time. it was AMT doing doom metal most certainly and it was fucking right on, people, right fucking on! totally awesome. heads were nodding across the 80 people that had gathered and the drone beat us all into compliance. Things followed that route for the rest of the night-the set, while filled to the brim with crazy ass space synth and wailing banshee guitar leads, alongside equally crazed vocals from Cotton Casino's heir apparent-walked a fairly mellow, subdued path (for the AMT, at least.) Things segued into a 30 minute or so three part version of " Pink Lady Lemonade" that broke hearts and reached into the clouds and the night was brought out to a close with a 40 minute (it HAD to have been) version of one of my fave AMT pieces, the mighty folk ballad "La Novia." This was waaaaay different than the last time i saw them, which was an all out rock fest that ripped the jugular right out and left no faces unshorn from heads-definetely crazy compared to this almost mantra-esque performance. it seemed more in line with some sort of Buddhist Temple ritual than a rock show, which is fine with me, and it was cool to see this weirder more complacent side of the AMT juggernaut. Things ended abruptly after "La Novia" finally supernova-ed into the blistering piece of psch insanity that it is and the AMT disappeared from the stage to sell the 30 or so cd's they had brought with them. I snagged a few things that i didn't have, including their newest record, but i was bummed that they didn;t have their upcoming record on Important with them (even though the people at Important swore that they would have the record with them on tour.) Oh well. You can't get everything all the time, and when what i got was this amazing headfuck of guitar armaggedon for three hours straight, i'm not gonna complain.