Acid Mothers Temple – Dundee

Every so often I get the opportunity to introduce unsuspecting people to music that exists well outside the mainstream.

Whether they thank me for it afterwards is another matter.

Around this time, Emma and I were hosting Marcy Kravat and her daughter Julie, who had travelled over to record material for a documentary film Marcy was making about me. As we chatted about plans for the week, I happened to mention that we were heading to Dundee to see Acid Mothers Temple.

Naturally, I invited them along.

To be fair, I also felt obliged to issue a warning.

Anyone familiar with Acid Mothers Temple knows that they are not the sort of band you casually stumble into without preparation. Their music is an extraordinary blend of psychedelic rock, space rock, improvisation, noise and cosmic exploration that can leave audiences either completely mesmerised or desperately searching for the nearest exit.

Julie had work to do and decided to stay behind at their accommodation, a decision that may or may not have proven wise in retrospect.

Marcy, however, was game for the adventure.

I explained as best I could what she might expect, but there are some things that simply cannot be communicated through words alone. You can describe Acid Mothers Temple, but until you’re standing in a room while they launch into a ten-minute psychedelic freak-out that appears to be travelling through several dimensions simultaneously, you don’t really understand what you’re dealing with.

For a while, Marcy held up admirably.

She survived the first extended cosmic excursion and even made it through another. But eventually the combination of volume, intensity and intergalactic guitar exploration proved too much. After a couple of particularly lengthy sonic journeys, she decided that fresh air was preferable and retreated outside to wait for us.

Honestly, she lasted longer than many people would have.

Meanwhile, Emma was attending her very first Acid Mothers Temple concert.

Now, introducing someone you care about to Acid Mothers Temple carries a certain amount of risk. Not every relationship can survive being subjected to that quantity of psychedelic noise. Fortunately, Emma handled it remarkably well. Rather than running for the exit, she embraced the experience and came through the other side intact.

That’s one of the many reasons she’s my girl.

As for the band, they were everything I hoped they would be. Acid Mothers Temple have spent decades building a reputation as one of the most fearless live acts on the planet, and this performance demonstrated exactly why. Their concerts aren’t simply performances; they’re experiences. The songs expand, mutate and evolve until time itself seems slightly less reliable than it was when you entered the venue.

By the end of the evening, Emma and I emerged grinning, Marcy emerged relieved and Dundee had once again hosted one of the strangest and most exhilarating nights of live music imaginable.

Looking back, the concert became about much more than just the band. It was a cultural exchange of sorts. A documentary filmmaker from America arrived expecting a gig and found herself accidentally participating in a psychedelic endurance test.

I suspect it wasn’t quite what she had planned.

The videos and photographs below capture some of the evening, although no recording can fully communicate what an Acid Mothers Temple concert feels like. Some experiences have to be survived in person.

She done well to last a couple of ten minute psychedelic freak out tunes before having to leave the venue and wait for us outside.

It was Emma’s first time seeing them and she handled it pretty well. That’s why she’s my girl.