March 9, 2011
Although not a venue usually associated with live bands - generally being more of a DJ and comedy orientated place - The Regal, with it's Olympian stone pillars, impressively roomy downstairs standing area and deafeningly loud PA system, proves to be a perfect environment for Scottish post-rock music, as opening act The Twilight Sad happily demonstrate. Hailing from Glasgow, their dramatic, bass-heavy brand of claustrophobic indie-prog makes for a suitably apocalyptic start to the evening. Clearly relishing the surroundings, the band turn in an enthusiastic, impassioned performance, bringing to mind gloomy Manchester post-punk outfits such as The Chameleons and Joy Division, with a side order of dark math/post rock thrown into the mix. A highly appropriate choice of support for Mogwai.
When Mogwai first materialised, in the murky fog of the mid nineties, they sounded positively revolutionary. Whilst nearly every other up and coming independent band of the time seemed content to do half baked impressions of Blur or Oasis, Mogwai took their musical cues from post rock bands such as Slint and Tortoise, and infused it with a white hot punk/grunge/prog loud-quiet format which made for some amazing live shows. Put simply, they sounded like no other band on the planet. The fact that their music was almost entirely instrumental made it sound all the more dangerous; here was a band that was ripping up the rule book page by page sonically, creating an incomparable, virtually indescribable soundtrack to the post millennium.
Their debut album, Young Team, has rightfully gone down in history as a classic album. Since then, the boys from Scotland have released countless albums and ep's, and are touring to promote their eigth studio album proper, the wonderfully titled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Slightly more upbeat and accessible than some of their early releases, but still caustic and intense enough to keep the established fans smiling, the tracks taken from this release, all featuring trademark off-beat titles such as "How To Be A Werewolf", "George Square Thatcher Death Party" and "You're Lionel Ritchie" nearly strip the paint from the venue's walls with their sheer volume! Old favourites such as "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" and their signature tune, "Like Herod" all meet with rapturous applause from the first note onwards, and the band's intricately structured mix up of melodic post rock and instrumental white noise is nicely complemented by two large screens positioned at the back of the stage projecting flashy visuals into the crowd below.
Still pushing the boundaries, still making music that sounds like no other band on the planet, Mogwai have deservedly claimed the throne as kings in the palace of post-rock royalty. Long may they reign.
When Mogwai first materialised, in the murky fog of the mid nineties, they sounded positively revolutionary. Whilst nearly every other up and coming independent band of the time seemed content to do half baked impressions of Blur or Oasis, Mogwai took their musical cues from post rock bands such as Slint and Tortoise, and infused it with a white hot punk/grunge/prog loud-quiet format which made for some amazing live shows. Put simply, they sounded like no other band on the planet. The fact that their music was almost entirely instrumental made it sound all the more dangerous; here was a band that was ripping up the rule book page by page sonically, creating an incomparable, virtually indescribable soundtrack to the post millennium.
Their debut album, Young Team, has rightfully gone down in history as a classic album. Since then, the boys from Scotland have released countless albums and ep's, and are touring to promote their eigth studio album proper, the wonderfully titled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Slightly more upbeat and accessible than some of their early releases, but still caustic and intense enough to keep the established fans smiling, the tracks taken from this release, all featuring trademark off-beat titles such as "How To Be A Werewolf", "George Square Thatcher Death Party" and "You're Lionel Ritchie" nearly strip the paint from the venue's walls with their sheer volume! Old favourites such as "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" and their signature tune, "Like Herod" all meet with rapturous applause from the first note onwards, and the band's intricately structured mix up of melodic post rock and instrumental white noise is nicely complemented by two large screens positioned at the back of the stage projecting flashy visuals into the crowd below.
Still pushing the boundaries, still making music that sounds like no other band on the planet, Mogwai have deservedly claimed the throne as kings in the palace of post-rock royalty. Long may they reign.