I had another chance to see Acid Mothers Temple last night and it was just as good as last year, and in some ways even better. They played the Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC again this year, this time with a better and more unique supporting act. I also had the opportunity to sample the cuisine at the Grey Eagle’s in-house restaurant, which provided me with my first taste of alligator (mixed in with pasta), which was chewy and tasted a bit like some sort of seafood, but I don’t eat seafood enough to identify the similarity. Anyway, on to the show itself…

The first supporting act, Doom Ribbons, wasn’t good or unique in any way, relying on tired looped guitars and drums. It’s very clear that quite a few dudes in Asheville with beards have heard SunnO))) and Growing records, but it seems that far fewer are those who are willing to put an interesting spin on ripping them off. Next up was the mighty Mammatus, a doom-ish outfit from Santa Cruz that not only both rocked and rolled, but brought a sense of humor to their stage show that’s sorely lacking from the whole doom/stoner/sludge scene. I had mentioned to my friend attending the show with me that they appeared to be “wearing dresses” in their pic on the Grey Eagle’s website, and lo and behold, they were indeed wearing dress-like robes, the singer/guitarist’s looking like some sort of home-made psychedelic moo-moo. Not only that, but he brandished a staff at the beginning of the show and motioned in a hug-like gesture welcoming the audience to draw nearer, as if to gain some sort of enlightenment from his Shamanic entourage. I’m very picky when it comes to music, so it’s extremely rare that I go to a show and enjoy both the opener (kiss-ass local bands notwithstanding) and the headliner, but this was one of those rare occasions. Mammatus put on a hell of a show, complete with a fog machine and a bubble-gun that never ceased to entertain, even if it did get a little over-the-top at times.

After Mammatus impressed the shit out of everyone, it was time for Japan’s premiere psychedelic troubadours, Acid Mothers Temple, touring this time as Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., on what was labeled on the tour LP I picked up as the ‘Crystal Rainbow Pyramid Tour.’ Last year they toured as a 4-piece, but this year they brought along a female member who sang and played theremin (though both the singing and the theremin were almost comically drowned-out by everything else going on). The sheer output of Acid Mothers Temple and its many variations, offshoots and solo discs is mind-boggling. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’s definitely among music’s most confusing discographies and family trees, so it’s no wonder that, when touring the US, they have a couple of tracks that have become staples of their live show (otherwise, no one would recognize much of anything). That said, they played two of those tracks, the menacing “Dark Stars in the Dazzling Sky” and the more laid-back “Pink Lady Lemonade,” both of which comprised last year’s tour CD “Power House of Holy.” The only other song I recognized immediately was “Starless and Bible Black Sabbath,” from last year’s album of the same name. All in all, everything they played was pretty good save for a few bouts of unfortunate scat-style singing interrupting the epic encore they put on. AMT head honcho Kawabata Makoto’s guitar playing was legendary as usual and the bass player crammed as many notes into his busy lines as possible, all backed up by whacked-out oscillating synth and a drummer who had to be fairly exhausted by the end of their set, which lasted at least an hour and a half, probably longer.

Anyone who’s ever been to an AMT show can tell you, their merch table is one of the most epic you’ve ever seen, with upwards of 30 CDs for sale, many of which are impossible to get outside of their merch table. I was a bit disappointed this year to see that they didn’t print up their tour shirt in XXL for fatties like myself, as last year’s tour shirt has been a regular in my wardrobe for the past year, but that just means I didn’t spend as ridiculous an amount as I did last year. In a rather odd (and arguably arrogant) move, they had a few relics from past live shows for sale at the merch table too, like used drumsticks ($10), a used pickguard ($150!) and the body of a smashed guitar ($400!!!). Yeah…somehow I don’t see those higher-dollar items going home with anybody. All things considered though, it was a great show and reiterated the fact that they’re one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. It’s still pretty early in the tour, so there are still quite a few dates left, all of which can be found at their website.