
Acid Mothers Temple, 2005
It's easy to slip into hyperbole when watching something at the time, but I'll stick by what I said at the time, that Acid Mothers Temple at The Mars Volta's ATP was one the most incredible performances I've ever seen. It also might not have happened as for some reason, the band had missed their earlier scheduled afternoon slot and when I arrived on Sunday, Pontins looked in a bad way as the men's toilet cubicles had been wiped out.
Going on as the final act, the band had an amazing groove, which included Damo Suzuki standing centre stage while adding little more than his actual presence and occasional vocals. After Damo wandered off, AMT's space jam continued to build increasingly until in the midst of this, Kawabata Makoto mischievously started to lift his guitar like an axe. While I'm wary of rock photography cliches, this was in the context of an incredibly exciting wall of sound with layer upon layer being added to their kitchen-sink psych drone noise. By now, destroying a guitar seemed entirely apt and I scrambled to get my camera out to catch this timeless, almost graceful moment.