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What can I say! Not sure where to start. How about un-fucking-believable! Putting it into words, kind of diminishes the brilliance of it, but I'll try.
That was one hell of a gig. Overwhelming to say the least. The sheer no-holds-barred committment to being in the moment, but driving towards an unknown but transcendent destination. Karnevil9 said it beautifully "they just take you on a journey with their mesmerising jams and the way they build their sound to this complete tripped out Nirvana!" Fucking awesome Рcannot wait for K̦ln.
Setlist? My lack of experience combined with my being very stoned last night means there would be gaps and question marks here except that someone already posted on Setlist.fm. However, I have added one question mark here because I thought there was one more track – but I could easily be wrong – I wasn't keeping count
ASFE
Intrepid Explorer
Dream Home
The Alchemyst
Upstairs/Downstairs
Ship of Fools
Stained Glass
?
The Tower
Bartok
The Wheel
Plan #1
—
PPP
I believe they played for a little less than two hours. The audience was woefully thin, which I'm sure must have been disappointing for the band too, and might put them off coming here again. Nobody likes to play to only half-full venues.
Highlights: the whole freaking gig!
ASFE was a great opener. I was already psyched up for this so the energetic explosion of ASFE came on like a glorious late punk anthem and I was very, very close to pogoing (but at 55 my pogoing lacks the energy of years gone by
)Intrepid Explorer – my first experience of the Motorpsycho tripped out jam. This blew my mind – the wall of sound, building by increments of volume, attack, colour, shade, everything. Heaven.
Upstairs/Downstairs – Beautiful, jazzy, trippy. HORN!!!
Stained Glass – I remember it as very laidback and trippy and one of the more luscious and quietly gorgeous moments of the evening. I defintiely swooned.
The Wheel – This was the longest track of the evening (longer than Ship of Fools). And was definitely a serious highlight. Again with the slowly building wall of sound, Kristoffer's persistent keyboard pushing through the surface then sinking back down, while all four members added brick upon heavier brick. Glorious.
PPP – As Karnevil9 says, a much-needed chill-out. A calming, affecting, beautiful ending to the evening,
Loved Kristoffer's horn and keyboards throughout the gig. His guitar was ok Рmore functional than anything, adding a layer and allowing Snah more room to do his thing. I could have done with Snah being a lot louder in the mix Рbut that's a minor issue. Hopefully this will not be an issue when I see them next, in K̦ln.
Tomas was superb – unobtrusive, complimentary, playing with both power and grace.
Being in the presence of Bent and Snah was a bit crazy. In the very short time since I was introduced to Motorpsycho and started to immerse myself in the music and then become rather obsessive with the whole Motorpsycho musical Weltanschauung (as I understand it with my limited experience), these two gentlemen have quickly become mythic figures of my imagination. To actually be there and see them in action was such a high.
This goes down as one of a number of remarkable gigs for me. I'd have to say Hawkwind and Neil Young and Crazy Horse are the only two other acts I can recall seeing play like this. Uncompromising in their dedication to creating a transcedent high not through the precise recreation of superb studio recordings, but through their interpretation as forces of energy, holding as fast as possible to the moment, to the immediacy of the live event. It's sad I never got into this band earlier, it really is. But then again, I'm so fortunate that I've now found them and that I was able to see them at all.
@ The Other Anders – Thanks. I just cannot wait! I'm sitting at home itching to leave the house and start the adventure … and the doors don't open for another six hours! Unfortunately there will be one (maybe two) support acts tonight, and the venue has an 11pm curfew, so I don't expect this to be a long gig. Thankfully I'll be seeing them in Köln too in a couple of weeks.
@ Halitosis If you're going tonight, maybe you can help with posting the setlist here later as there's a fair chance I won't know one or two of the tracks. And if you see a bespectacled tall guy in a light brown Magma T-shirt, come over and say Hi.
@Halitosis – I just looked up the capacity for this venue and it is indeed 800. I do know that in 2014 they played the Jazz Cafe, which apparently holds 420. From memory, the Borderline is smaller (I've been there a few times over the years), as is The Garage, which holds 600. So this might indeed be the biggest so far. To be honest, I should be surprised if it's sold out. It's a tragedy how little known they are over here. I was only just introduced to them a couple of months ago and I've been spreading the word as much as possible because MP are so far beyond pretty much every band out there (that I know of
).
Welcome psychonaut! I'm new here myself and only recently discovered Motorpsycho. But such is the attraction, I'll be making a trip from the UK to see them in Germany, in Köln on the 8th, as well as seeing them here in London on Monday. Enjoy the gig tonight
I watched the video link for "what went down last time" (thanks ThorEgil). Looks very cool. Wish I could understand what was being said though
Hi there, and welcome! I was a new member here just a couple of weeks back, having also only recently discovered MP. I've been looking fairly closely at the setlists and as far as I can ascertain, in the roughly dozen gigs they played in the first part of this tour, they played a total of about five hours' worth of different material. That included all bar the two shortest tracks from The Tower, though A Pacific Sonata was, I think, only played once. They also played several tracks from Angels and Daemons at Play. The remainder came from a whole array of albums as far back as Timothy's Monster.
Like you, I've come to MP from the prog side of things, but have been thoroughly enjoying the earlier material that I've heard so far – which is primarily AADAP and Trust Us, plus a few tracks here and there from Timothy's Monster and Blissard. Of these I am so far highly impressed by Trust Us – it's a proper tour de force. AADAP feels less consitent to me, but it does have the brilliant Un Chien d'Espace, which, if you get the deluxe edition, comes (as it did on the original three-EP release of the album) with Have Spacesuit Will Travel, which is also brilliant.
It seems to me that whetever direction anyone comes to MP, the journey is a mind-blowing trip, such is the consistent brilliance and eclectic nature of this band.
@karnevil9 – I'll be at the Islington O2 too, which will also be my first MP gig. Hope you enjoy it.
@ everyone – thanks for your responses. As far as AADAP boxset goes, I just couldn't wait for the gig to roll around, so ordered it yesterday; it should arrive today
Looking forward to seeing what else they have at the merch desk, as long as the crowd isn't too thick. 
@Shakti -That's so funny what you say about Flick of the Wrist. I was listening to it yesterday and thinking – this is great, just a like a killer Neil Young and Crazy Horse jam.
It's great to hear you all enthusing about what this band means to you and how they affected you back in the day. At 55 years old, I guess I'm older than the average MP fan here. Some of you talked about just passing 40. Well here's what I hope for you – that in 15 years you should be as lucky as me to discover a band like MP. Not just an excellent band, but one that blows your f*cking mind.
@Shakti – Your point about eclectic taste is well made. And this little description of how I spent part of my day yesterday should give you a partial answer to how I feel (so far) about the different MP 'eras' that I've heard to date.
Yesterday I went to a gig in London. Whenever I do this I have a routine that involves getting into London early and walking for miles while I listen to whatever music I'm into at the time. So, with Cowon music player and Audio-technica over-ear headphones on, I set out …
Leaving the house for an energetic walk to the station – Cloudwalker.
After a brief moment to blaze up before going into the station, my high state of mind demanded something upbeat and bright – For Free followed by Go To California (album version of course)
Feeling like something with a little more punch as I neared the end of the train journey and left the station in central London – The Tower followed by A.S.F.E.
Now I'm in one of London's big parks and I'm feling like something with a little more bite, something more visceral and immediate – 577 followed by Evernine
And as I finish my walk in the park I want more of that heavy distorted guitar and bass, something jammy – Flick of the Wrist (I'm reminded of the best of Neil Young and Crazy Horse)
By now I'm walking through London streets and all I can think of is I want more of that raw energy – Trust Us (start to finish)
I meet friends at the pub – and all I can talk about is how brilliant MP are. None of these friends have heard MP, so I'm hoping a couple at least will check them out.
After the gig I'm mellowing out and heading home by foot and on the train again – Here Be Monsters (the whole album)
I leave the station and take it slow and easy on the walk home in the light rain – Vortex Surfer
To my ears, MP have something for almost all moments.
@Supersonic Scientist – Yes, I did now about Fiske playing on Eggplant, but I've only listened to that album a couple of times, so have yet to really get into it. To be honest, though, I'm not that conversant with Fiske's output. I have one Dungen album (Allas Sak), which was gifted to me by one of the friends who got me into MP. And I have Silver Mountain by Elephant9. The Dungen album didn't really do much for me, but I need to go back to it again. Silver Mountain, though, is tremendous. And sticking with these connections – I'm also off to see Jaga Jazzist next month. I know very little about them and have heard only a little of their output, but I have a feeling it's going to be special.
WOW! Anekdoten and MP on a double bill – that must have been something else. Anekdoten also played double bills with Anglagard a couple of years back, which would've been brilliant – but that was in Japan and well beyond by reach
