MogwaiA solo, semi-acoustic support act would in most cases have later been obliterated by Mogwai’s wall of noise.
J Mascis is a breed apart. Approaching his half century and looking a tad worn as he read his lyrics from a sheet with the aid of large, red-framed glasses, he nonetheless blasted solo numbers and seemingly random but well received Dinosaur Jr songs at levels that defied the limits of semi-acoustic technology. As his exceptionally heavy right hand hammered at the strings like a brick, retuning was frequent and a string-snapping cover of Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You had to be stopped short. An insular performer, Mascis just about acknowledged the crowd’s presence on a couple of occasions. You could read in his face as he switched from one scorching solo to the next that he loves to play music, loves to play it his own way and the fact that a couple of hundred people were attentively watching him is neither here nor there.
“Louder!” a sarcastic fan shouted in a good-natured way as Mogwai completed their atmospheric opener Heard About You Last Night. Someone should’ve told him to be careful what you wish for; you might just get it. Mogwai’s reputation for universe-exploding level bursts of noises is well established, although tonight they were perhaps just a fraction of a notch less brutal. Expanding to a five-piece, there was some extra space allowed for multi-instrumentalist Luke Sutherland to add new elements to some of their most loved pieces, such as a few bars of shivering violin to Hunted By A Freak.
Celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, tonight could’ve been an opportunity to wallow in nostalgia, yet Mogwai appeared intent on exploring all that they can be. Their ruthlessly effective simple chord structures have become incrementally more complex, electronic elements have slowly crept in (such as the driving electronic arpeggios that rippled through Remurdered which had the front rows doing a kind of Caveman Shuffle dance) and there was even a fair bit of singing. In a new-material-heavy setlist, many of the tracks from their latest album Rave Tapes sounded even better live. They closed with a bludgeoning We’re No Here, just to prove their volume can still reduce a stage to rubble, but despite all their achievements, Mogwai continue to evolve.
