Acid Mother's Temple and the Cosmic Inferno

Yo! So a couple of weekends ago, I went to Nagoya to hang out with my friends Masahiro and Hiroaki, a pair of brothers who I have collectively dubbed "Masahiroaki". These are some great guys I met at a show in Kyoto. Since AMT&CM was playing in Nagoya (only ~2hr by train from Kyoto), I decided to travel up there to catch the concert with the brothers. The show was actually at the same venue (Tokuzo) in Nagoya where I had seen AMT 3 years prior. The scene this time, however, was completely different.

Last time, AMT (that time it was -& the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.) played face-melting psychedelic noise to a sitting crowd of about 30-40 people of all ages (seriously, a lot of grey hair) in the small jazz venue. The bands came out an hung out with the crowd afterwards, and I was able to introduce myself to the lead guitarist (Kawabata Makoto), who was a hilarious and friendly guy. This time, all the tables and chairs were removed, and the entire venue was completely packed with perhaps 150 people. The event was called "Giga-psyche" (how awesome is that?), and it pulled a very large audience. Needless to say, I was unable to score the interview with the members that I was hoping for. Next time...

The show itself was really great. AMT&CM played the usual hits with jubilant gusto. Also featured were home-made visualizations (classic stuff from the 60s, like colored oil and water mixed over a lamp projector), which were so cool. In the middle of the hours-long set, the band stopped playing to hold an auction of merchandise. This was an incredibly brilliant idea, I thought, and the band ended up raking in perhaps over $1000 in 30 minutes. I won a sweet AMT t-shirt for a total steal (~¥1,500). This whole auction was very entertaining for those who were not bidding as well, since the guys in the band are comedians. They had the crowd doubled over in laughter more than several times.

Towards the end of the show, this guy jumped up on stage right in front of me and did a stage dive into the crowd, hitting Masahiro in the face. Masahiro began to bleed all over himself, and his brother accosted the guy behind him (who was not the guilty party). Masahiro pulled his brother away and went out to apologize to the innocent man and patch himself up. We left the show shortly thereafter, and I said goodbye to the brothers and went home to Kyoto, exhausted.