Acid Ape have been a favorite band of mine ever since I heard one of their early demos a couple of years ago. They have come a long way since then... Their "Fleshspa" album was one of the better ones released last year, and their stage performances gets better and better...
The first time I saw Acid Ape live they didn�t seem to sure of themselves on stage, but they�ve done a whole bunch of gigs since then... and it shows. The music has always been great, but now the attitude on stage fits the music as well... I have mentioned stuff like Melvins, Shellac, Jesus Lizard and Black Flag when describing their sound before... after this gig it struck me that I should also throw in some early Helmet influences among those bandnames. But at the same time it should also be said that Acid Ape have their own sound, that they have their own unique take on the noiserock sound... can�t put the finger on what it is really, other than that these guys definitely rock, both on stage and on studiorecordings, and they sure got that groove-a-licious drive going for them...
Acid Ape
@ Playground Pusterviksbaren
Gothenburg, Sweden
March 22nd, 2003
(Click photos for larger versions)
There also was another band called 27 between Acid Ape and Isis, but I didn�t pay them much attention... so I really can�t write that much about `em... It was pop with loops and stuff, that probably works great on record (if you like that kinda stuff), but there was just one song that I thought worked live. (I squeezed of a few photos on 27 as well, but since they didn�t turn out that good they�re not included here).
After this it was time for Isis to hit the stage. I�ve been wanting to get a chance to see these guys on stage a long time now, since they�ve had a whole bunch of great releases the last couple of years and I have heard rumors about gigs stateside and in the rest of Europe... So when they finally included a couple of dates in Sweden on their latest European tour they didn�t exactly disappoint me.
If you have to describe the Isis live experience for someone uninitiated, they could easiest be described as a mix between the hypnotic groove of Godspeed! You Black Emperor and the sonically divergent heaviness of Neurosis... but still, there�s plenty more to this band...
I thought I had a perfect spot to squeeze of a couple of good photos, but as soon as Isis hit the stage everyone in front of the stage picked up a camera (or videocamera) and started to use their elbows to get a better spot (so now you know why the Acid Ape photos looks so much better than the Isis ones). After 2 songs the gig almost ended due to equipment problems... caused by some lamebrained and extremely drunk vegans (!?!) who was trashing around so much in front of the stage that they managed to spill a couple of beers over the guitar and keyboard fx-racks... on top of that there was an asshole who started to shout "Yankees, go home" while they were trying to get the stuff working again. If they had left the stage then and there, which they almost did, I guess that guy would�ve had a lynchmob beating his stupid ass senseless...
Isis
@ Playground Pusterviksbaren
Gothenburg, Sweden
March 22nd, 2003
(Click photos for larger versions)
But Isis got their shit working again and delivered a bunch of great tunes and they even had two of the members from 27 on stage for one of the tunes. Even though the sound was kinda crappy at times (you couldn�t hear no vocals at all... which I guess is a problem with the PA-system at the club and not with the bands equipment, since it isn�t the first time I�ve noticed similar sound problems at other gigs at this club), it was all in all still a great gig from a great band...
All you Americans will be able to check out Acid Ape for yourself when they fly over to the U.S. for a couple of gigs in May (among the gigs are the "Emissions from the Monolith" festival in Youngstown, Ohio... for more dates check out the "Tour Date Announcements"-forum here at StonerRock.com).
