ATP/Motor Pool/音の歩きかた @Club Doctor

ATP
Maki & Datch
Motor Pool
音の歩きかた
@Club Doctor
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Contributor: Cori
January 11, 2011
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I haven't been to any live shows in awhile, but headed out to Shinjuku Club Doctor on Tuesday night to catch up with ATP.

I got there a bit late so I missed the 1st show from Maki & Datch.  As an update to this article, I did talk to Datch after the show and will catch up with them next time. They seem to be a regular band at Club Doctor, and quite good from what I remember.

Motor Pool was the second band to play. It seems they have known the members of ATP for quite some time. I talked to Mug before their show and he told me they have also helped with them with their CD, and sometimes play with them.

Motor Pool is a really great band. They seemed to be more calm and mature than a lot of the other bands I've seen on the circuit here in Tokyo. In fact I was heavily reminded of bands like The Motels when I saw and heard them. The singer is the bassist. She has a very clear, loud and great voice. I was very surprised. Their first few songs were really slow and seemed well under their abilities, but the last 2 songs they really picked up the pace and started shining out.  The guitarist played a Rickenbacker and the song was cool and unmistakable. The drummer was a very mellow kind of guy but very skilled drummer.  I would recommend this band to people who love more classic rock style and in a more mellow arrangement.

 The next band was 音の歩きかた　(Sound of the way of walking). This was a Japanese trio, rap band. I've never seen a rap band live in Tokyo, but this band had a very cool twist on rap. Their style reminded me a lot of 311 mixed with The Plugz topped with M&M.

I was pretty impressed with the almost hypnotic sounds of the guitarist. He was playing a lot of atmospheric, kind of psychedelic while the bassist was grooving to his own funk. It worked great and this band blended very well. It was just like something you might here from Southern California. In fact I talked to the drummer after the show and called him "So-Cal" hahaha. He didn't get it I think, but it was a compliment.

I would recommend this band highly because they were a lot of fun to watch, and their blend of sounds is very cool.

The final band of the night was ATP.  This was a pretty interesting show because Taata had Influenza and she couldn't sing. She wore 2 layers of masks to keep from infecting anyone. I think they tried to cancel but they were the headliner, and so it was impossible to cancel at such a late date.

As you can see from this pic, the lead singer from Motor Pool joined for 1 song to sing, and she did a really good job.

For the other songs, Mug was singing. It was pretty cool because I had never seen him sing before. His voice was very quiet so I don't think people heard him much.  It did change the style of their show a bit. Taata's voice is really amazing so it's easy to miss hearing that.  I did notice that the band really picked up how loud they were playing, and it worked out very well.

Instrumentally, ATP is one kickin', powerful band, and they are a pleasure to listen to just to hear the instruments. I always highly recommend ATP for anyone. They are one of the greatest bands playing out there. In fact, I haven't heard any other bands with this level of talent that aren't already very famous.

Another cool thing, before the show they were playing intro music from the band "Love". This is a late 60's band, and gave a very cool intro to the show.