Gilli

Exhilarated with sake and cherry blossom, mountain top temples to the great goddess Amaterasu (creator of living things especially whales and dolphins), hot dark brown volcanic springs and japanese bath houses, noodle bars sushi trains and endless alleys full of colourful paper things, amazing decor…each place an unexpected adventure.

daevid

PROWLING FEVERISHLY ABOUT ON A LARGE QUEENSLANDER COLONIAL STYLE VERANDA, BEING SOOTHED & STIMULATED BY MOTHERLY FRIENDS: MAXIM & MIZBAH. EMOTIONALLY WIPED.

I LOSE TICKET AND MISS PLANE. (e-ticket that ate osaka). MUST FINISH OBSCURA COVERS WITH TOBES, JAMMING ELECTRONIC MIND WITH BRISBNE ALPHA OMEGA CREW FULL MOON HIGH.

MONDAY MORNING 9AM GET TICKET FOR 3PM FLIGHT. I MISS FIRST 3 GIGS.

Gilli

Airlines messed up daevid's ticket so he missed first three gigs but arrived at full strength for the Pepperland gig on Tuesday. Meantime for first three dates, a semi acoustic set came together, followed by Makoto's solo set, then the final set, band altogether. The acoustic set had Josh on Ukelele, Atsushi on l2 string guitar, Hiroshi on synth, Makoto with glisses and his cello-like instrument played with a bow, Gilli with vocals and lyrics. Lyrics were simple, had some words in Japanese, and lots of singing. It was intricate musically and really fun, innovative from the unexpected instrumentation.

The audience reacted fervently to gilli's whale song, and it is evident that many people in Japan are opposed to whaling….and to war, the "no war means no war of any kind" chant correlated with public unrest about having troops in Iraq, in the midst of the hostage drama. This continued as opening set after daevid arrived with the whole band playing the second set.

daevid

ARRIVE TUESDAY 6TH MORNING

MAKOTO BEAMING & AVUNCULAR INTRODUCES AMT DRUMMER GODSPEED OKANO & SOUNDMAN HITOSHI OKUNARI WHO LOOKS A BIT LIKE A BLEND OF ZUBIN & MARK ROBSONG & HAS THE CUTEST WEE DAUGHTER NAMED…um

MAKOTO HAS ORGANISED A SECOND OSAKA DATE FOR OUR LAST DAY IN JAPAN.

OFF TO PEPPERLAND CLUB IN OKAYAMA REMEMBERED FOR A FASCINATING QUESTIONS & ANSWERS SESSION TWIXT DAEVID GILLI & CLUB OWNER & AUDIENCE AFTER A DOUBLE SOLO GIG IN 1996.

VASTLY ENJOY JEF BELL'S EMPTY ORCHESTRA SET.

HIGH FREQUENCY SENSITIVETIES, A VEIGNED BRAILLE OF CEREBRAL NODES & ORGANIC INTELLECT. GLUTINOUS LUMINOUS BLOBS FLOP DOWN ALL ROUND US AS WE LISTEN, BOUNCING & BOWLING ABOUT ON ECCENTRIC TRADJECTORIES. CONFRONTINGLY TACTILE.

JEFF IS THE INVISIBLE MAN. BANDANA, SHADES, HEAVY BEARD…WHO IS THIS MAN? IS HE YOU TOO?

OUR TURN, MY FIRST GIG FINALLY. BIG ENERGY PENTUP VERSUS CURSE OF CONTAINING LOUDGUITAR AMPS IN A SMALL SPACE.

I AM SITUATED IN A BERMUDA TRIANGLE OF HUGE FENDERS.
MY VOICE PALES & I END UP HOARSE.
GILLI IS COWED BUT REMAINS DOGGED.

banana ananda say:

SURRENDER & YOU FIND ENTRY TO A NEW DIMENSION OF HEARING, FRESHLY & HARMONIC FREELY INVENTIVE & SURPRISING. ALL RESISTANCE WILL FEEL LIKE PAIN. FEEL FREE TO LEAVE even if nobody else does.

WEDNESDAY 7TH

daevid

today starts with Atsushi saying sorry he cant play bass on autumn tour. I am sad. Somehow I will persuade him.

Long bullet & local train haul.

Hot tea from coin machines this i like!!

YAMAGUCHI INDO-YO CLUB TONIGHT.

Gilli begins with her incredible string & whale band followed by Makoto & Cotton & i as GURU ZERO. Fun to be playing with these two again. A stimulating dialogue on many different levels between us.

Psychedelia suggests multiple dimension music. Midnight guitar riders take their space in a flailing hailstorm/springtime & bird language synthesizer thunderstorm named Cotton Casino.

Cotton is happy with Bill.
Cotton is a dancing bear performance.
Queen of the underworld wind her whim is your emotional overdraught.
Ten green bottles balancing on her edges. The slipstream of overlapping tailormades.
Then AMG. Last night with Godspeed Okano.
All the contained energy roars into life & deathmetal speed punk uprush thows my body into deep tissue mime frenzy flashdancing.
At some point my flying hand hits cymbal bruising wrist which soon swells.
Voice blows out from screaming over the uproar & gig ends sadly with battered & scarred & collapsong version of the Garden Song.
Feeling dead beat. All vocalists would. Gilli same.
Josh feels I played too loud & too long. Maybe he is right.
Godspeed depressed because bad monitors make his job of time hell.

THURSDAY 8TH APRIL
DOORS CLUB IN TOKYO

Gilli

In Tokyo its packed.
People from Norway, from the U.K., far-flung Japanese islands, France…..much energy.

daevid

LONG NIGHTMARE JOURNEY 8 HOURS NO FOOD ON FIVE TRAINS.
GILLI'S FEET BLISTERED. MY BRAIN STRESSEDOUT.
NICE CLUB BUT HAND SWOLLEN & PAINFUL SO NO GUITARPLY FOR ME TONIGHT. DEAD PARANOID BEFORE GIG.
WALK STREETS ROUND CLUB IN FREEZING WIND FOR 2 HOURS BEFORE GIG STARTS WATCHING AS QUEUE GAINS ENTRY FEELING SORRY FOR THEM & MYSELF BECAUSE CERTAIN GIG WILL BE A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. FIND OLD FRIEND AKIKO IN DRESSING ROOM. WE SWOP TALES OF WOE & WEEP ON EACH OTHERS SHOULDER.
GILLI OPENS POWERFULLY & I BEGIN ALONE WITH A VOCAL
CALL & ANSWER DUET WITH MYSELF LEADING TO A QUICK EXCHANGE TWIXT VOICE & Tatsuya Yoshida BACK ON DRUMS & WE ARE AWAY.
IMMEDIATELY THE TEMPLE BEGINS TO FORM AND THE ENERGY STREAMS UPWARDS. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG THE FIRST NUMBER WAS BUT IT HAD EVERYTHING & THE AUDIENCE LEAPT TO THEIR FEET & ROARED AT THE END.
THE GIG SLOWLY SETTLED FROM THAT EARLY EXALTED UPLIFT

TONIGHT THERE IS LOADSA VOCAL INTERACTION. ESP WITH ATSUSHI BASS WHO IS A BIRD WATCHER & MOUNTAIN WARDEN. CLIMAXING WITH A VOCAL VERSION OF PINK LADY LEMONADE WHICH MADE MY TOENAILS TWINKLE. IT WAS A GIG TO REMEMBER.

Gilli

This tour was organised bythe Acid Mothers Temple themselves, who also took good care of the band, and everywhere warm and friendly promoters and club owners. Travelled everywhere (with pass) on trains, from endless spotless subways to the 300mph Nozomi Express. Concluded that the Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world because they walk so much.

FRIDAY 9 APRIL
NAGOYA Tokuzo club.

daevid

Nagoya is AMT hometown base. Good crowd. Good food.
Tonight is our second gig with the brilliant Tatsuya Yoshida drum experience.
I am back on guitar & feeling happy. The crowd instantly warm to the band vibe & the first tune is appropriately very very long & carries everybody to the very end. Atsushi's singing & chanting is again a feature & its a bubbly & eagerly & easily inventive set.
The general reaction is very positive.
After the gig everyone stays in club & we take photo of band on stage surrounded by friends from audience. see photo by chris clarke (in the gallery soon).

Gilli

Friday night in hometown Nagoya…club booked out, two or three English! football fan type people in front annoying Hiroshi by pulling at his synth, falling over etc., he towering over them like a "berserk" Viking on the edge of the stage, long hair streaming out wildly, and the whole evening was wild.

daevid

LAST NIGHT & SECOND GIG IN OSAKA AT THE BRIDGE.
THIS VENUE IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER. A 300 CAP WAREHOUSE SPACE ON 7TH FLOOR OVERLOOKING AMUSEMENT PARK IN A HUGE ROOM. PERIODICALLY A SCENIC RAILWAY RUSHES PAST THE LARGE WINDOWS IN A BLUR OF INQUISITIVE FACES.
GIGANTIC DRAGON FLYING OVERHEAD AT ENTRANCE BELOW.
TONIGHT I DECIDE TO GIVE MY ALL. I CUNNINGLY ARRANGE SOME STURDY TABLES BETWEEN BACK OF DRUMSTOOL AND BACK WALL & SORT OUT SOME COSTUMES.
OUT FRONT GILLI BEGINS AN ABSOLUTELY MAGICK GIG IN TWILIGHT. THERE IS SUPPOSEDLY A BREAK BUT MAKOTO & ATSUSHI & YOSHIDA & HIROSHI JUMP IN AND STARTN PLAYING STRONG & STREAMING GUITAR ROCK.
I LEAP UP BEHIND YOSHIDA DRUM ON TABLE & DANCE IN SLOW MOTION. MY HANDS FALL ON TO MY PYJAMA CORD & LOOSENS TILL THEY DROP. SLOWLY I PEEL OFF MY SHIRT TILL I STAND COOL SKINNED & COMPLETELY NAKED.
SUCH A SENSUOUS EXPERIENCE. SUCH A SIMPLE JOYFUL ACT.
I RAISE TWO TOY SPINNING LIGHT WANDS IN EACH HAND IN A "V" SIGN OVER MY HEAD.
I HOPE SOMEONE IS PHOTOGRAPHING THIS!
AS THE PIECE CLIMAXES I DRAW THE YELLOW TITS HARNESS UP & SQUEEZE INTO IT.
THUS TITTERING BUT NOT TEETERING I TAKE MY SPOT FOR A TOUCH OF POWER GLISSING AS THE SECOND NUMBER LIGHTS US ALL UP. SUCH A FEARLESSLY INVENTIVE BUNCH OF PEOPLE.
NO REHEARSALS, NO DISCUSSIONS. JUST GO ON STAGE & NEVER REPEAT YOURSELF. I LOVE THIS BAND. ITS ONE WONDERFUL FUTURE.

Gilli

Last night, Saturday, at Osaka "Bears" club, very energised by week of gigs, always different… experimental.

Next morning after little sleep, return to Australia, laden with gifts of sake and rice cakes.