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Oki, Psychonauts! I am new to this forum, but have been buying Motorpsycho records since the Wearing yr smell ep in 94’. A Motorpsycho gig is usually about three hours, so here is the challenge: what would be your dream set list and why? Of course you can add an half hour of encores.
Bent is Jesus, Snah is God and Tomas the holy spirit :MPD:
Acoustic set:
Blueberry daydream
Feel
Come on in
Lobotomizer
Electric set:
Watersound
Pppp
Lux aeterna
Taifun
Junior
Sinful windbourne
Hell
The wait
Cornucopia
Heartattack mac
The tower
Un chien d espace
Encore:
Plan#1
Vortex surfer
Fools gold
This is rather a 3 1/2 hours set
Allow some time for tunings, jams, extended play, long, drawn out versions…
I'd say:
1st Electric Set: (50 min.)
Year Zero
Radiation Freq.
Lacuna Sunrise
Acoustic set: (25 min)
Blueberry Daydream
Turn Turn Turn (acoustic version)
Wharf Rat (Grateful Dead Cover, semi-acoustic)
2nd Electric Set: (80 min.)
The Crucible >> Hell >> Big Black Dog >> The Crucible
The Mirror & The Lie
Starhammer into The Wheel
The Tower
Feel
Encore: (20 min.)
All Is Loneliness
Vortex Surfer
Burn (Deep Purple Cover)
High Time
Ãœberpilgrim
Lykkepilgrim >> 577
Ship of Fools feat lengthy jams of "Love Love" (Julian Priester tune)
& "Theme de Yoyo" (Art Ensemble of Chicago)
Running With Scissors >> I.M.S.
Granny Takes A Trip
Psychotzar
A Pacific Sonata
Un Chien d'Espace
Close your Eyes (2012 live version)
Superstooge
Walking On The Water (You Lied)
Black to Comm'
There are so many combinations of great Motorpsychedelic Tunes & Jams that I could go on for hours…
I'll play. That 2nd unscheduled encore takes it just over the 3 hours
1. K9 (35) –>
2. Manmower (10)
3. LTEC (15)
4. All is Loneliness (10) –>
5. Cornucopia > The Other One > Cornucopia (10)
6. Neanderthal (acoustic) (5)
7. Malibu (acoustic) (5)
8. Pills, Powders, Passionplays (10)
9. Close Yr Eyes (short version) (5)
10. Mad Sun (5)
11. Psychotzar (10)
12. Psychonaut > Blueberry Daydream > I Can see for Miles > You Shouldn’t Do that > Within You Without You > Halleluwah > Pyschonaut (slight return) (20) –>
13. Starhammer (20)
14. Lighthouse Girl (10)
15. Vortex Surfer (10)
16. Feel (5)
Whip that ghost
STG
Beautiful Sister
Sinful, wind-born
Ozzylot
Up`Gaints the Wall (High time)
The Slow Phaseout
You Loose
The Bomb-Proof Roll and Beyond (for Arne Hassle)
The Magic & The Wonder (A Love Theme)
I.M.S. [inner mounting shame]
Intrepid Explorer
The Afterglow
The Alchemyst
Ship Of Fools
Encore:
Stained Glass
Taifun
The Golden Core
The Crucible
This would be the end of the line for me. Pure heaven :MPD:
This would be kinda neat:
The Visitant
Dreamhome
She Left on the Sunship
Through the Veil
Ãœberpilgrim
Whip That Ghost
Hell
Lacuna/Sunrise
Psychotzar
Hogwash–>Starhammer–>Hogwash
The Crucible
—
K9
The Tower
Possibly doable in 3-ish hours?
Stained Glass
Starhammer
Lacuna/Sunrise
Starmelt/Lovelight
The Promise
The Afterglow
Psychotzar
Go To California
A Pacific Sonata
The Alchemyst
Trapdoor
Now It’s Time to Skate
Vortex Surfer
Demon Box
Psychonaut
Heartattack Mac
> Big Black Dog [*]
Superstooge
> The Wheel
Swiss Cheese Mountain [**]
> On The Toad Again
Gutwrench
> KR-3 [***]
For Mad Men Only
Timothy's Monster
Seethe
Loaded
> Wishing Well [****]
—
Sideway Spiral II
Hogwash
Home Of The Brave
GrindStone
—
Vortex Surfer
The Golden Core
[*] After the main part of "Heartattack Mac" they went into the melodic mid-part of "Big Black Dog" (the one that starts at around 11:45). It kept building and building, and eventually they kicked into a sort of Golden Core-type groove on top of it – best version ever!
[**] Played '97 style
[***] Incredible, and very surprising transition – straight into light, psychedelic kraut-mood with motorik beat
[****] Played as a sort of coda, no vocals – just the massive build-up/guitar solo Roadwork 4-style
This is such a difficult challenge! Because the ultimate Motorpsycho concert is a very unpredictable affair – the most mind-blowing setlist on paper can turn out to be an uninspired and tedious affair in real life, and vice versa. The best setlist is always the one *they* want to play at any given time, give or take the X factor that you never know when is going to appear. But all that said, I can try to compile something that would be a great starting point and could potentially be the best gig ever. So it’s going to be a mishmash of tried-and-true stalwarts that just *have* to be there, some real surprises, and some songs that I would just love to hear them play live again. It’s obviously going to be 90s-heavy, but I will try to feature something from every phase.
And I decided to cheat a litte….I pretend this is a double gig, Fri and Sat night. Those are always the best, and a little easier to spread the epics and the oddballs a little…
Friday night, live @ someplace:
———————————-
Home of the Brave —>
S.T.G.
Psychotzar —>
Starhammer
Greener
Watersound
Sideway Spiral III
She Left on the Sunship—>
The Wheel—>
Ship of Fools
———————
Radiance Freq.
Superstooge
Plan #1
————————
Vortex Surfer
————————
Friday night. The band comes on and the air is thick with expectation. Bent simply says «good evening» quietly into the mic, then launches into the bass riff from Home of the Brave. Hair stands up on end, and the band has got you by the balls from the first note. It’s extremely heavy, loud and sweaty. People are struggling to come to grips with what just hit them…are they really playing HOME OF THE BRAVE!!?? It segues directly into STG. The band sticks with something familiar, a hard rocking classic that *never* fails to work live. The noise section in the breakdown is extremely skronky, 1998-style, but then gives way to a long, drawn out, spacey jam in a 20-minute version. It’s pretty clear already that the band is in the zone tonight. After the spaciness of the end section of STG, the band brings it back down to the ground with the Sabbath-like riff of Psychotzar, never letting go of the grip they have on their audience. The last section again gives way to some searching, jamming stuff before launching directly into Starhammer, played 2019-style, about 13 mins long. Already this set has seen a *lot* of variation in mood and loudness, but it has been rather heavy and jammy, so it’s time to bring in something familiar. Snah takes the microphone for the «evergreen» Greener, and next up Watersound has everybody swaying with their eyes closed, then pogoing along as the crescendo towards the end comes in. About 60 minutes into the set, Sideway Spiral is played as it was on the 2000-tour, with a repetitive build-up to glorious peak as it goes into the final verse, with some very effective visuals on the background screen. Everyone is extatic at this point as every song has been quite sublime, although there haven’t been any big surprises except for the opening. It’s also time to get rocking again, so the band has chosen a much-neglected number from the early Kenneth era, namely the superb She Left on the Sunship. On the record, it was marred by a slightly confusing ending, but in this setting it works perfectly as an introduction into The Wheel, which starts out probingly, but builds and builds. It’s clear that we are in the thick of the main set now, with the band in a jammy mood. It gets heavier and heavier, the Moog Taurus shaking the foundation of the building, and after about 20 minutes of riding The Wheel, and letting the last chord ring out, we hear the familiar sounds of the playbox opening of Ship of Fools. One of their latter-day masterpieces, you can sense that they really *mean* it, man, when they assure us that they won’t crew any ship of fools. Thomas builds up a drum storm to the glorious, climactic ending. And thus ends the main set after about 1 hr 55 mins.
Of course, everyone knows this isn’t all, so we patiently clap them back, routinely, for the first encore. Wait, what’s that sound….singing glass?? Hadeland’s finest?? OMG, can it really be?? Yes, it really is!! The lost masterpiece in Motorpsycho’s catalogue, unfairly neglected for 20+ years. I nearly break into tears as I hear that droning DGDGAD tuning and Bent croaking «Hey Creator mind, we want in, we want in». It is just as glorious as expected. It is followed directly by the ultimate traktor-bass riff of Superstooge. It is another track that *never* fails to deliver live, and the audience knows and feels it. The symbiosis between band and audience is at an all-time high now, which the band feeds on and prods them into completely unchartered territory in the jam section. I can’t find the words to describe it other than this; it is Motorpsycho-music, and the finest there is. It’s clear that the band planned this encore, because the moment the final note of Superstooge is hit, we hear the classis «the lyrics….you know something? God loves you. And he has a plan for your life». Ah, the mighty Plan #1. Perhaps the very first, undisputable Motorpsycho classic. The first track where they kind of sort of knew they had something special going on. This night it’s obvious it means something special to everyone attending, as the band members desperately play their hearts out. The crowd roars its approval as the song ends, and the wave of applause forces the band back on stage. I am guessing we will hear one of two tracks, and I am correct. Vortex Surfer is probably the only right choice tonight, the only track that could perfectly cap this spectacular set. 2 hrs 45 mins of light and shade, concise and jammy, beautiful and abrasive, loud and quiet. The band has been in a somewhat psychedelic and jammy mood, but never lost sight of the nerve and songcraft at heart of their creations. What else could one want? We will see tomorrow…
Saturday night, live @ someplace
—————————-
Un Chien d’Espace (K9+++ version feat Hogwash)
Bartok of the Universe —>
On the Toad Again
Heartattack Mac
Feel (acoustic)
Mad Sun (acoustic, feat Geb)
Wishing Well acoustic, feat Geb)
Nature’s Way (acoustic)
Manmower
Kill Some Day (Song for a Bro tease)
In Our Tree
The Magic and the Wonder
Hey Jane —>
The Alchemyst
———————-
The House at Pooneil Corners
Mantrick Muffin Stomp
Demon Box (feat Deathprod and feat Step Inside)
Grindstone
The Golden Core
Saturday night. Somewhat overwhelmed by last night’s mind-blowing set, which featured pretty much every aspect you love about Motorpsycho, it’s hard to know what to expect. You got some unexpected nuggets (Home of the Brave, Radiance Freq), but above all, it was the pacing of the set, without absolutely no weak spots, and a band in peak form, that made it an out-of-this-world experience. A little hung-over, and both mentally and physically drained by last night, expectations are actually not too high. You already got what you came for, and then some. But knowing what Motorpsycho can do, and especially on two consecutive nights in the same town, you can’t help but hoping somewhere way, way back in your head, that they somehow, magically, will top it all tonight.
You get the feeling that everyone was here last night, and everyone else is equally exhausted, because it’s unusally subdued and quiet in the house for a Saturday night. This fits the band perfectly, as you get a sense that the band is feeling quite dark as they enter the stage and you hear a synth-like drone. Snah plays the little motif that signals the opening of that all-time epic to end all epics. The K9 suite. Only this time, it turns out to be K10, K1.000.000, K9 to the power of 100. Snah has brought out the Fender Rhodes and the Space Echo for a return to the 1998 arrangement, but again, words cannot quite describe what is going on here. It starts out sneakingly, perfect for the slightly weary audience, warming them up slowly. As the chuggah-chuggah of the «The rounder we go» section builds, suddenly you notice a shift in the bass rhythm, and lo and behold, out of nowhere Hogwash appears! Spacewash! Dogwash! After about 35 mins total, the dog lands back on ground, and you just know that when you expect nothing, Motorpsycho delivers everything.
You all needed that warming up to get loose, and you are ready for some heaviness now. Another latter-day masterpice, Bartok of the Universe swings with lethal power, and segues directly into…ON THE TOAD AGAIN! The heaviness factor is ridiculous, outstoning any stoner band ever. And as if that wasn’t enough, Heartattack Mac blows your eardrums out and again the mighty Moog Taurus is employed to devastating effect. By this time everyone needs to calm down a little, so everyone is excited to see the band bringing out their acoustic guitars for the first time on this double night. Feel is an obvious starter to this acoustic mini set, and never fails to bring a smile. Bent then introduces a special guest, none other than Gebhardt(!) on banjo, and they play a beautiful version of Mad Sun and then Wishing Well, building in intensity. There are smiles and good vibes all around. Geb leaves and Snah takes over the mic for a beautiful version of Nature’s Way, the first cover so far these two nights. The subdued atmosphere continues with a note perfect version of Manmower, devoid of any pointless jamming which this gem of a song does not need.
We are about 1 hr 30 mins into the set now and we need a shift in atmosphere. It is Saturday night after all! Bent assures us that we need not worry, they are planning on playing for a looong time tonight. He starts out on bass teasing the riff from Song for a Bro, and your heart sinks somewhat in fear of an over-indulgent jam-band version, but it really is a tease, as it only serves as a build-up to launch into Kill Some Day. This is another one of those gems where they pull something extraordinary out of something seemingly somwhat mundane, via the ecstatic middle section. Next up is a forgotten little gem from BHBC, In Our Tree, and another more recent gem with Snah taking the lead vocals on The Magic and The Wonder. And then the familiar notes of Hey Jane has everyone singing along. It *is* Saturday night, after all. This section of «hits» is only a matter of preparing us though, for the onslaught that’s to come. The Alchemyst serves as a signifier. That’s what they are…alchemysts…turning the sometimes ordinary into something quite extraordinary and golden. It builds to a great climax as always, and ends the main set after about 2 hrs. But Bent assures us they will be back. You get the sense they have prepared something special.
And special it is indeed. They open with The House at Pooneil Corners. OMG!! Like Home of the Brave the night before, a track you never expected to hear again. The band playing as if possessed, you get the sense they are both having fun but also rediscovering, in real time, what they started out with – the excitement, energy, desperation and wonder. It continues with another surprise, a blinding version of Mantrick Muffin Stomp. Tucked away as a deep album track on the deep album side to end all deep album sides (side C of Trust Us), this nugget was in fact the first Motorpsycho track that knocked me out, and for that reason alone worth a place on my dream setlist.
But wait, who is that rustling around in the background? Isn’t it…it *is*!! Deathprod! Can it really be that…
Bent says «we never expected to do this ever, ever again, but in such good company, why not?»
You know what’s going to come. The Demon Box. Eyes closed, you want to experience this with every fiber of your body, so you focus only on the sounds and physical sensations from the sheer sound pressure. The middle section gets a bit of Step Inside and several other song quotes from dr Bent’s rock history archives. Perfect.
Can it get any better now? Yes, it can. It gets heavier, louder, and noisier with a devastating Grindstone, Bent screaming «you’ll shatter, you’ll shatter» and finally Deathprod manipulating the sounds and sending them around the room. You get the sense they have somewhat planned this, as they repeat the album segue from the ultimate abrasive tune, Grindstone, into the ultimate sound-of-God tune. The Golden Core. The very moment that Deathprod’s screeching sound manipulation halts, Snah rings out the first chord and summons the faithful to mass.
It is pointless to try to put into words what this song does. I will only say that if you were trying to put into music what it must feel like to see the gates of Heaven opening and the beauty of God revealing itself, it would sound like the climax of The Golden Core.
After the song’s end, everyone is calm and quiet. No cheering, but lots of quiet weeping. Everyone knows it’s over, nothing more to say. We all go home and try to fathom what just went down the past two days.
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