What a beginning to a sermon we witnessed as the black-clad Keiji started off by sputtering, howling, muttering and blasting random words (all in Japanese, of course) into various, strategically positioned microphones. As he used delays heavily, over the course of the following fifteen minutes or so, we were treated to a full-on orchestral version of Keiji’s voice.

As he picked up his guitar, he led us into a full-blast, elongated guitar solo (it must’ve clocked in at a good half an hour). The sound was thick, blasting with fury and as he used feedback and delays liberally, the place shook and so did we. My body literally throbbed for a good chunk of the time, though the volume level was never really a problem. Thing is, the sound was dispersed over a good area of the room, so loudness never got in the way of Keiji’s vision for the performance. To be honest, volume levels were quite mild when you compare this concert to legendary performances at Victo by such notorious duos as Voicecrack and Borbetomagus or Peter and Caspar Brotzmann.

As the guitar solo drew to a close, Keiji decided to surprise all by sitting down and delivering a lovely ballad. Full of emotional force — though I could only actually make out the phrase “baby love you” — the man turned out to be in great shape as a crooner. Another guitar blast followed full of throbbing beauty and spectacular force.

Throughout it all, Keiji was heavily using delay pedals in order to create a thick atmosphere of buzzing force. Near the grueling three-hour feast, he sat down and belted a moving 10 minute Sonny Sharrock circa Guitar solo. Where the hell did this come from, I thought to myself? Then again, just as it was over and another longish guitar feast ensued, we were treated to yet another heart-breaking ballad. A world of surprises or a book divided into multiple, well-divided chapters, you make the choice.