Here we go:
In July '97 I had seen Richard at Phoenix Festival (UK) and then three weeks later at The Essential Dance Weekender in Finsbury Park. Both sets featured the Aphex Bears dancing, fighting and humping around the stage while Richard played out from his children's plastic play-house
I had agreed to travel to Las Vegas with friends in September of that year and the truth is, I really wasn't prepared for the full-on assault of the senses that I encountered.
Scanning through the flyers and leaflets in the hotel, I picked up a listing for the Hard Rock Cafe and Aphex Twin was scheduled to play on 19th September, the day before I flew back
Supported by Luke Vibert with a DJ set and with Sneaker Pimps and Linoleum also on the bill, it was a no-brainer
The gig was insane - Richard's best gig ever apparently
I recall there being a red chaise longue on stage and Richard lay on the floor behind it with his setup
The set list began with tracks from the newly released 'Come To Daddy' EP and I particularly remember Bucephalus Bouncing Ball pinging around the venue
The Aphex Bears were a little more hyper than I had seen previously and one bear unzipped his costume to reveal Matt Jones (The Jones Machine? of RePhLeX infamy)
Stage left, next to a particularly menacing security guard was an Asian girl, who was wearing a costume that seemed to consist of a single ribbon, wrapped around her torso
As Matt's dancing got more and more manic, she handed him an electric shaver and he proceeded to shave his chest and head, throwing the clippings into the audience who were now being worked up into a state of increasing irritation
Matt grabbed a plastic cup and shoved it down the front of his bear costume
When the cup emerged again, he proceeded to throw the contents over the crowd
Panic ensued and as the security guard moved onto the stage to take down this obscene teddy bear, the Asian girl proceeded to unroll the ribbon, getting naked on-stage.
That was it! - They got shut down early but man, what a gig!
PS. Warp Records ran a competition to win the Aphex Bear costumes - You had to write in (!) and complete the lyrics to "To Cure a Weakling Child"
I got a letter back saying that although I had been picked as a winner, the costumes were absolutely rancid and had already been destroyed so they would send some 12" promos instead