Mogwai

Since seeing Mogwai at both All Tomorrows Parties in 2000 and Reading 2001 I was certain that they were without doubt the greatest live band in the world. They draw in the crowd from the start and move them into the music, beneath all the fantastic noise. Fragile, intricate and heavily emotional music. Their supernatural abilities were confirmed to me at Reading, when after 90 minutes of intense sprawling post-rock goodness the sound men turned off the amps leaving myself and everyone surrounding me utterly confused and disorientated. Having been immersed in their music for so long it became apparent that more existed in the world than the music, something that had not been realised throughout the set.

I did therefore head to Wolverhampton with the highest of expectations. Unfortunately instead of the transcendent magical experiences of past gigs, it was just a band on a stage playing some songs. Very good songs of course, but no deep seeded connection tearing apart emotions. There were some technical difficulties; popping PA’s and the like though I think it would be a bit naïve of me to pass off these slight hitches for their failure to satisfy me. Despite the detachment from the crowd they still had moments of greatness. “Ex-Cowboy” provided perfect sheets of pure white-noise whilst “You don’t know Jesus” and “My Father, My King” had the epic tense post rock build ups for which the band are known. It was however a disappointing evening, proving that even the greatest bands can have an off day. Nevertheless it still remains true that a bad mogwai gig still shows up almost every other band in the country.