Acid Mothers Temple, Flights of Helios and The Elephant Trip, The Bullingdon, Oxford, Friday 4th October 2019
My son and I arrived early for the gig in time to grab some excellent Turkish food and drinks before heading a few doors down to The Bullingdon. Who should we see hanging around outside, waiting to get access to the inexplicably locked dressing room, only AMT in civvies, and I couldn't resist taking a shot of them, though I did stop short of getting a selfie!
Organised/promoted by Divine Schism, the gig was originally to be hosted at The Jericho Tavern, but for some reason at the last minute it was moved a few miles down the road to The Bullingdon on the Cowley Road. The downside of the move was that the curfew in East Oxford was 10, rather than 11 in Jericho, and with a bill including two local bands, it meant sets were to be kept tight and equipment change over equally hurried.
First on the bill were 'The Elephant Trip', a three-piece bass/vocals, guitar and drums line-up, almost always a potent mix, especially in a live setting, and they certainly lived up to that truism. From the outset it was clear they were here to impress and their songs and playing pulled you in. Sinuous bass and drums, overlaid by psych / acid guitar and the distinctive vocals of Jo Chapman on bass make for an intoxicating sound.
Bandcamp makes some interesting comparisons with late 1960's influences like The Doors, Pink Floyd and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, amongst others, and though I felt the sound was more of today, perhaps there is something in the timbre of Jo's vocals that have a hint of the Jim Morrison, though I could equally add Cathal Coughlan (less the Irish accent) or Ian Curtis, perhaps. The songs and band sound coupled with the on-stage presence of Jo Chapman make this a band to watch. I for one am looking forward to hearing these songs recorded, and let's hope they can capture the on stage energy in the studio.
Right now there's only one recorded work available at the moment on Bandcamp here. The set list on the night was as follows, though some of the titles may change:
Intro
(bit of noise at the beginning)
Ship
Sails To The East
The
Devil At The River
Secrets
Of The Void
The
Elephant Trip
The
Dream
She Is The StormThe closing song, 'She Is The Storm', was an excellent set closer, and if you go to the band's page on Facebook, you can see a video of that performance
I'm told recordings are in the final mixing stage, so here's hoping it won't be too long before an album's released - in the meantime if you see them on a bill near you, take the chance and see them - you won't be disappointed!
Given the three band bill and curfew it was a pretty abrupt end with a hasty stage clearance to make way for the next band, Flights of Helios, a local seven-piece, which I'd also not encountered before. I like the band name and it put me in mind of 'Ulysses' (the Joyce novel primarily, but of course, by extension to Homer's 'Odyssey'), so I had high hopes, for reasons which are totally illogical and only exist in my tangled brain wiring.
There was a very hurried set up of instruments and rudimentary sound check and then they were straight into their set. As with The Elephant Trip I had no preconceived ideas of what they'd be like, so it was with open mind and ears I watched and listened.
A seven-piece band is always a tricky one to mix right in a small venue as often a lot gets lost in the mid-range, though maybe that's my hearing (or lack of!), so at times I felt the songs didn't come over as well as they might have, but small gripe aside, the songs were strong enough to shine through, and I was hooked.
Front-man, Chris, who took the lead on all vocals had a strong stage presence and was a focal point for much of the action though all the players had the chance to shine - there was an energy to the playing that was entrancing, underpinned by some excellent drumming (it was quite a night for drummers!)
The all too brief set list on the night was:
Magpie
Falling down your stairs again (A very new song, not in the playlist below)
Factory
Star
You can't beat hearing a song, so here they are (minus the second) on a YouTube playlist...
...and also on Spotify, just for good measure...
The set closer, 'Stars' had a flute solo which was different from the recorded version and worked well, it lent a 'prog' feel to the number, which is no bad thing necessarily, and provided a sonic contrast to the other songs.
I enjoyed the set enough to listen to more on Spotify and also to order a copy of their debut album 'Endings' and I reckon you should take a listen too! Better still catch them live! They are a band to watch out for...
Throughout the support sets Acid Mothers Temple, in the form of Jyonson Tsu, Higashi Hiroshi and Wolf, were manning the merch desk, selling CDs, LPs, T-Shirts and so on. One of the things with AMT is that the only way you can get official T-Shirts is at their gigs, so, naturally I had to take advantage - often the designs are by the band - and these were specifically emblazoned with a 'European Tour 2019' logo.
Strictly speaking I should refer to the band by their full title Acid Mothers Temple and The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. to distinguish it from the many other incarnations Kawabata Makoto and his fluid cast of players have been known by.
No sooner had Flights of Helios cleared the stage, AMT were on stage getting set up, lead by Kawabata Makoto. A quick sound check for each player over and they were straight into the ferocious opening to (what I took to be) 'Black Magic Satori'.
This segued into the excellent 'Dark Star Blues', which Jyonson Tsu, resplendent in blonde wig and silk cape, took the lead on, as on the recent album 'Reverse of Rebirth in the Universe'.
AMT have a huge stage presence, and an incredibly loud mix ('my ears!, my ears!'), with each player a stalking giant: Kawabata's incendiary guitar playing and freak outs; Wolf's towering presence in flowing red trouser suit (I think, not checked with my fashion consultant) and hypnotic bass riffs; Jyonson Tsu's flamboyance and attacking electric bouziki; Higashi Hiroshi's aloof electronic noodlings; and the Tasmanian devil-like drumming of Satoshima Nani - the energy and ferocious attack of his drumming was something to behold - no wonder he wears shorts!
The set moved on to fan favourites 'Pink Lady Lemonade' and set closer 'Cometary Orbital Drive' with extended guitar wig out culminating in Kawabata's guitar being suspended, feeding back, from the lighting wiring. Whether that was intended or not, who knows, but it followed a period when he'd been playing the guitar suspended vertically from the neck.
Overall the set was like a whirlwind, a maelstrom of noise, of riffs, of total abandon - whatever you think of AMT, they give 100% of themselves when they play. There was no holding back. No quarter.
I can't wait to see them live again, it was the most visceral, ripped apart, bludgeoning, all-consuming set I've seen in years. I abso-fucking-lutely loved it and the songs still rattle round my brain.
I reckon the set list was, though happy to be corrected (especially about the middle bit!)
Black Magic Satori
Dark Star Blues
Improvisation???
Pink Lady Lemonade
Cometary Orbital Drive
...excluding the wig-out between 'Dark Star Blues' and 'Pink Lady Lemonade' the playlist sounds like this...
...I've taken the liberty of including a couple of live versions which give a feel for the experience on the night, but the Spotify playlist below is mostly studio versions...
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