Mogwai at Bristol Beacon 22/02/26

As I've said before on this 'ere blog, sometimes the random, unexpected events are the best. This is often the case with gigs, and was definitely the case on a Sunday night three ago when I encountered the semi-legendary "post-rock" band Mogwai in the Bristol Beacon. I was only vaguely aware of Mogwai before, mostly their reputation for extreme volume, but thought it would be an interesting gig. Sarah didn't fancy going out on a school night, so I made the journey down to Brizzle on my own - an easy drive down the M5, into the city and the Trenchard Street car park, literally a few steps from the venue.

I got there as support act Forest Swords was about half way through his set. A one-man band with various decks, samplers and synths at his disposal, Matthew Barnes ( for 'tis his real name ) was creating some atmospheric soundscapes, while projected geometric shapes danced around him. All very cool in a chin-stroking, nodding-nonchalantly-along kind of way, but somewhat lacking in passion. The last couple of "songs" added some tasty beats and edged the filmic sound more towards an Underworld/Orb style which was more my thing. He went down very well with the audience and it set things up nicely for the more guitar-based sound of Mogwai...

Actually I should have said THE more GUITAR-based !SOUND! of MOGWAI! because their MO is the whole loud / quiet / light / dark thing... and they're very, very good at it. The band ambled onto the stage to little fanfare, main man and lead guitarist Stuart Braithwaite said something to the effect of "Hello, we're Mogwai from Glasgow and we're glad to be here", and then they plugged in and played. After the barn-storming stage moves and energy of Suede's Brett Anderson ( the last gig I'd been to at this venue ) Mogwai were one of the most static groups I've seen play live - they basically just stand there and do their thing. It does give you a chance to focus solely on the music and that's probably the intention.

They started with a couple of songs from their new album, The Bad Fire, although they were pretty much all new to me. First number ( I find it hard to call them "songs" as there's very little in the way of lyrics ) God Gets You Back, saw the two "other" guitarists sit head-to-head at two keyboards and play some Kraftwerk-reminiscent melodies, while Hi Chaos introduced the guitars. A fairly low-key introduction, but building throughout, pointing the way to more guitar-based wizardry to come.

( Incidentally, I was glad to see the Palestinian flags draped over the amps, demonstrating the band's support for that beleaguered nation. )

At times, as the songs swelled and the guitarists conjured up squalls of sound, as in Drive The Nail, it was easily to literally get lost in the music. At one point I even shut my eyes for a while and just became enveloped by the beautifully melodic-but-discordant sound - just like a right old hippy. ( I did see a bloke in a Hawkwind T-shirt which made total sense. ) Two or three songs featured actual lyrics, verses etc. ( mostly with the vocals distorted so they were virtually just another instrument ) and it showed how Mogwai could have been a traditional indie band if they'd wanted to, but clearly they didn't. My unfamiliarity with the band and their music makes it difficult for me to single out specific numbers, but one in particular saw Braithwaite swap his guitar for bass, while the bass player did the same, sit down on a stool and deliver some absolutely stunning music along with the other hugely talented band members. I really need to listen to more of their stuff so I can actually remember song titles ( lol ) and maybe write a better review if I see them again. And I hope I do. They're really something special.

After all the online talk about extreme volume and warnings to wear ear plugs ( I saw a few people doing that ), I must admit I didn't find the gig unbearably loud. Oh yeah, it was loud alright, but I often complain that gigs aren't loud enough these days, so it suited me fine. I'd positioned myself fairly close to the front and just slightly right of centre ( unlike my politics, right kids? ) so I wouldn't be directly in line with the PA - I think that helped. Mogwai finished with probably the only number of theirs that I'd heard of - Mogwai Fear Satan - which was a huge crowd-pleaser. I knew this was the epitome of the loud-quiet-LOUD style and I was expecting it to kick off - which it literally did as, after a tension-building quiet-ish section, the three guitarists all stamped on their effects pedals and the sound hit the stratosphere. Red lights and strobes flashed as the noise hit the crowd like a fighter jet taking off - a rushing, monolithic wall of sound you could feel punching you in the chest. It was fantastic.

With a brief "Thank you so much" from the taciturn Braithwaite, the band exited the stage to the sound of waves of feedback as their guitars were left on the floor to reverberate. And our ears were reverberating too. It had been a hugely impressive performance from a super-talented band, a real eye-opener for me. What a gig! What a sound! What a band!