[ATTENDED: April 6, 2022] Mogwai
Back in 1997, my friend Lar was living in Ireland and we would send each other CDs of songs we liked. He even sent me a couple of UK (etc) only Mogwai singles.
I’m fairly certain he had seen them around this time. Or at the very least he was aware of their live shows being raucous and loud with endless versions of songs like “Like Herod” where the feedback roared on for twenty minutes.
Well, here it is 25 years later and I still hadn’t seen them live, but they were still going strong. Actually, I have a ticket stub for them in 2001, but I have no recollection of the show. I was also supposed to see them in 2017, but a freak snowstorm kept me home. It was probably the right decision, but I hadn’t forgotten it in five years. [Either way according to setlist, at neither of those shows did they play “Like Herod”].
And the band did actually wait the 55 minutes to start at 10PM. Good heavens. It was so long that the guy next to me passed out (this is the fourth show that I’ve been to where someone has passed out). He was fine and they walked over to the door to get him so air.
I was right up front (2nd from the fence) and had a perfect view of center stage. Which was only a shame that Stuart Braithwaite, the defacto leader of the band set up shop on the side of the stage. Between me and he was a very tall man with a lot of hair. Bummer. (more…)