Review: Mogwai at Northumbria University, 01/02/2018

Mogwai played an enjoyably noisy show at Northumbria University this week. The Glasgow band played a career-spanning set, ranging from early pieces such as ‘Ithica 27/9’ and ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ to new album tracks such as ‘Party in the Dark’ and ‘Every Country’s Sun’.

Mogwai have now been around for over twenty years, and even if some of the newer tracks (such as slightly pedestrian opener ‘Crossing the Road Material’) are somewhat eclipsed by the earlier ones, they still know how to structure an entertaining live show.

Moody mid-period pieces such as ‘I’m Jim Morrison’ and ‘Rano Pano’ stood up well, and helped to bridge the gap between the slow-building majesty of ‘Helicon 1’ and the more immediate new material.

After a very brief break, 2003’s ‘I Know You Are…’ proved an effectively subtle lead-up to the noise immolation of ‘We’re No Here’. And then they were gone in a cloud of dry ice, leaving the audience to stumble out with the feedback still ringing in their ears.

Setlist:

01. Crossing the Road Material

02. I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead

03. Party in the Dark

04. New Paths to Helicon, Part 1

05. Ithica 27/9

06. Rano Pano

07. Battered at a Scramble

08. Every Country’s Sun

09. Don’t Believe the Fife

10. Remurdered

11. Mogwai Fear Satan

12. Old Poisons

Encore:

13. I Know You Are But What Am I?

14. We’re No Here.

All Tomorrow's Parties, End of an Era Part 2

29/11/2013 - 01/12/2013
Pontins Holiday Park, Camber Sands, Rye, Sussex

We saw:
Les Colettes / Om / Shellac / Slint
A Winged Victory for the Sullen / Fennesz / The Pop Group
Michael Rother presents the music of Neu! and Harmonia /
Superchunk / Il Sogno del Marinaio feat. Mike Watt / Mogwai

Om

 Camber Sands

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

 Rye

Michael Rother presents the music of Neu! and Harmonia

Mogwai

Mogwai at The Sage, 27/02/11

Set list:

01. White Noise
02. Friend of the Night
03. Letters to the Metro
04. CODY
05. Death Rays
06. Killing All the Flies
07. How to be a Werewolf
08. Rano Pano
09. I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
10. You're Lionel Richie
11. 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
12. Mexican Grand Prix

13. Helicon 1
14. Xmas Steps.

See Bright Light for people's comments.

Weekend of Wonders @ The Sage, Gateshead

Music venue The Sage in Gateshead is hosting a kind of mini-festival next month called 'Weekend of Wonders', the vague theme of which seems to be horror movie soundtracks.

I'm going to see Goblin on Thursday 24/02 (who are apparently playing in front of a screen showing clips from the Argento/Romero films that they worked on, as when I saw them at Supersonic 2 years ago).

I'm then seeing Mogwai on Sunday 27/02, hot on the trails of their new album, 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will'.

You can read more about 'Weekend of Wonders' here.

Review: Mogwai - 'Special Moves'/'Burning'

'This recording is meant to be listened to on vinyl', it states on the back of Slint's 1991 album 'Spiderland'. The same could be said of Mogwai's new live album, 'Special Moves', because the vinyl edition contains six extra tracks which are easily as powerful as the other eleven performances on the CD edition. MP3s of these tracks are downloadable by means of a code supplied with the CD.

This is only half the story, however: 'Special Moves' is accompanied by the live DVD 'Burning'. Both the live album and DVD were recorded over three nights in Booklyn last year, although both feature different track selections and alternative mixes. Shot effectively in grainy black and white, the film does an effective job of capturing what it's like to see the band live (and my ears are still ringing from the volume of the screening in Newcastle several weeks ago).

Mogwai remain one of the very best live bands around, managing to apply the right degree of professionalism to their performances while maintaining a sense of humour about the whole thing. The highlights of this live package are, unsurprisingly, early career highlights 'Mogwai Fear Satan' and 'Cody', but it's also nice to hear tracks from the fantastic 'The Hawk Is Howling': pieces such as
'I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School' which envelop the listener with carefully structured washes of sound.

'Special Moves' and 'Burning' will present no surprises to seasoned Mogwai listeners who have seen the band live before, but they do show that the band are very much alive, comfortable with the legacy of their past and looking to explore new territory on-stage as much as in the studio.

Mogwai are on tour in February next year and are working on a new album at present.

Mogwai - 'Burning'

Mogwai Live Film "Burning" Teaser from Nathanaël Le Scouarnec on Vimeo.