Like watching blooming flowers coming from organised chaos, Kikagaku Moyo heighten every sense and blow your mind simultaneously and quite effortlessly too. 

Truth be told, I’ve been looking forward to catching the Japanese psych greats ever since I caught them at this past year’s Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia. 

Beforehand, we’re treated to a support set by brilliant psychedelic folkster Irma Vep, who brought us over half-an-hours worth of pure sounds. 

His terrific set kicked off with a much more noise-driven sounds, like the heavier psych often provided by the likes of Moyo, however Irma progressed into a more folk sound with quite well-crafted songs. He’s a troubadour in his own right, and more should know of Irma Vep. 

Very quickly after, it was time for the main act, the almost iconic Japanese psych favourites Kikagaku Moyo. 

The band proves time after time that they are on the forefront of modern psychedelia. To a causal audience, psych is the genre that holds the likes of Tame Impala, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll find a treasure trove of pure, mind-bending bands like Kikagaku Moyo. 

Tonight was different from the last time we caught this lot, instead of the costumed intent to impress, the band had an audience that purposely paid to see them. 

Their laidback set filled with instances of pure chaos creates an intriguing live performance, one that I’d see a million times over. 

The band for tonight’s set pulled out some of their best live tracks including the likes of “Green Sugar“, “Smoke and Mirrors“, “Kodama” and “Streets of Calcutta“. 

During their final song, the band amongst some turbulent interruption showed their perfected attitudes and ability to keep the movement despite anything. 

Just as an idiot member of the audience jumped the stage, creating a scene and in-the-end pulling the guitar from Tomo Katsurada. It was an awful disruption, full of disrespect for a great band.

However, the rest of Moyo slowed down and twisted their song, improvising a middle as Tomo struggled to fix his guitar. The crowd burst into applause and admiration as the interrupter was thrown, with an urge to keep Kikagaku Moyo in the game. 

Pushed by the general love by the powerful crowd, Tomo rejoined his band mates and finished their set joyfully. The band finish drenched in praise, well deserved victory for the outfit. 

It won’t be surprising if we see Kikagaku Moyo bringing their sounds to a location like the Gorilla next time in-town, it seems like they get bigger every time. 

Words by Jack Cinnamond, photography by Andy Sunley.