Acid Mothers Temple
April 2nd, 2011
Urban Lounge
Salt Lake City, UT


Source: 
Roland Edirol R-09 (SBD feed) > GoldWave (converted from hard-left mono to true mono, volume fluctuation at 1:09 smoothed somewhat, entire show level-boosted ~175%) > WaveLab (Puncher (medium density, 75% effect, 0% output gain) > CDWAV (tracks split and saved as .FLAC level 8 ) > foobar2000 (Tags + ReplayGain)

Location: The sounds are coming from INSIDE THE PA!!

Patches:
Roland Edirol R-09HR (onboard mics) > GoldWave (levels boosted, joined with SBD source)

Patch location: House front-center, about ~15 feet from stage

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

SBD man: Ryan


SOUND QUALITY: A for *Asterisk* (due to lack of perfect cable preperation on my part, this is a mono recording. The big issue here is that this is a (very well-done) house mix, with Kawabata's guitar somewhat buried in the background (I'm guessing that all traces of his guitar here are the result of bleed-through from his vocal mic). Given these cavets, this is still a very fun listen, and highlights parts of the AMT sound that aren't always audible to the average concert-goer - and turning the volume up is highly recommended - but the comparitive lack of Kawabata may prove frustrating to some)


THE BAND:
Tsuyama Atsushi: monster bass, voice, cosmic joker
Higashi Hiroshi: synth, guitar, voice, dancin'king
Shimura Koji: drums, latino cool
Kawabata Makoto: guitar, voice, speed guru


TRACK LIST:
CD1 [73:03]
01. Soundcheck [3:15]
02. "Space Ritual Jam" [3:20]
03. > "Tsuyama Vocal Loop" [0:45]
04. > Chinese Flying Saucer [10:20]
05. La Novia [15:16]
06. "Tsuyama Flute Interlude" [1:38]
07. > Pink Lady Lemonade [25:25]
08. > Cometary Orbital Drive > Speed Guru [13:06]

NOTES:
Track 1 and the first 0:08 of track 2 are from AUD recording, some minor level fluctuations around 1:19 - 1:30 of track 2 due to house level adjustments.


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: 
The 2011 tour saw your intrepid taper and his erstwhile driving companion braving the tedium of southern Utah, the snow of central Colorado, the ennui of western Nebraska, and the eighty-cent tolls of suburban Chicago in a quest to see, and record, as much Acid Mothers Temple as was rendered feasible by the twin anti-forces of gas prices and mother Nature.

This was the first show of the three midwestern shows LqStuart and myself managed to attend, and the first live AMT experience for the aforementioned LqStuart. As far as deflowerings go, I couldn't ask for a better show - the 2011 tour is looking great so far, with a streamlined setlist that gives the audience something new, something fresh, and something tried and true, in that order. I guess if they jiggled the order a bit, the re-telling would rhyme better, but who am I to complain?

Maybe it was "new tour syndrome", but of these first three shows, I have to give Salt Lake the nod. Great Pink Lady (with the long-forgotten Echoplex Section reclaiming its rightful place - I don't think I've heard this since the pre-Austin 2008 shows), LOTS of sample loops from Tsuyama, and the way they pop out of a long improvisation to congeal in the La Novia chorus is spine-tingling in all the right ways. "Chinese Flying Saucer", this tour's new blood, rips an infectuous riff straight out of an old biker hangout and dresses it in Acid Mothers Sonic Attack, and bookends the entire thing with some really inspired Tsuyama acapella loop-layers. Not really a weak moment to point at.

If there's any valid criticism I could levy against this show - and this tour, so far - it's the rather abbreviated length of the set. Seventy minutes is barely enough Acid Mothers to feed a family - we need an Acid Mothers Stimulus package!


LQSTUART'S OBSERVATIONS:
LqStuart: Uh salt lake was decent
LqStuart: the place was empty until acid mothers came on, the crowd kinda seemed like they weren't as comfortable in their hipster ensembles as other areas for some reason
LqStuart: the snow was cool cause I thought I wouldn't get to see any this year lol, got a sorta creepy vibe from salt lake more than the other cities, and also lol at the street numbering


LESSON LEARNED:
Unfortunately, my AUD recording did not turn out too well - I'm probably going to use the old R-09 for the east coast leg, the 09HR's "improved" mics seem to be just too sensitive to be trusted, and when recording a loud show I'd gladly trade a bit of detail for a lack of mid-range distortion. It's probably altogether possible to EQ for guitar and combine with this guitar-light-but-otherwise-flawless SBD for an altogether decent listening experience, but given the time constraints I'm under, this may have to be put in the "Project For Someone Else" category. 


REQUESTS & REMINDERS:
Do not sell this recording. Do not buy this recording. Do not sell this recording, then buy it from yourself. When in Salt Lake City, stay at the Crystal Inn - but don't expect the buffet to be much more than an undignified chow line.


CREDITS:
Ryan - Board Ops
LqStuart - Driver, Jaunty GTalk Gentry

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

