Mogwai Roll Call

There were definitely people smoking near me…

Originally posted by you be betty:

Originally posted by distance:
i know the 930 is smoking, but the low ceiling helps the smoke to just hang there and that just makes it worse. the sonar show was the least enjoyable of the mogwai shows i saw on the spring tour.

…by the way, on that note, did the smoking ban go into affect at 9:30? i haven't been at the club in a few weeks, but the last two shows i was at were both non-smoking, and it was kind of weird…two in a row…so, are they ALL non-smoking now?

I believe the ban goes into effect starting next year. The shows you went to, the bands probably requested that.

This is all very interesting, but does anyone care to comment on the music? I couldn't make it last night due to no cash, no energy and Lost, but if the best part of the show was the lack of smoking, I guess I'm glad I stayed home.

Originally posted by nkotb:
This is all very interesting, but does anyone care to comment on the music? I couldn't make it last night due to no cash, no energy and Lost, but if the best part of the show was the lack of smoking, I guess I'm glad I stayed home.

I thought it was okay. Not blown away, but I'm not a big Mogwai fan. The feedback solo at the end was a bit indulgent and definitely excessively loud. But overall I enjoyed it.

The feedback solo at the end was a bit indulgent and definitely excessively loud.

in this instance, a bit indulgent and definitely excessively loud = transcendent music experience

last night was the best mogwai set i've seen since at least the 2002 ottobar show. they were loud, sure, but it was always under control…until the end, where i got a free anal massage by sitting on a stool as the low frequencies rumbled through the club's floors and walls. the setlist was great, a perfect mixture of classic older material and the best of the new. another new addition to the show was the active use of stage lighting; whereas before, mogwai played under static, dark lights, now they're utilizing strobes and movement, all done tastefully (though the strobes might have been a bit too intense for some, i didn't mind them).

jack rose played wonderfully for 40 minutes, but the crowd wouldn't shut the fuck up (not that this has any accurate correlation, but i noticed the mogwai crowd being much younger than it used to be). if people were quiet, they might've realized the masterful performance unraveling before their eyes, but then again, most of these people want to see something rock, not some delicately played solo 12-string guitar. seeing jack at my house or the warehouse next door is infinitely better than at the 9:30 club, but it was stil cool to see him on that big stage. fortunately for jack, he said the monitors were so good that they canceled out a lot of crowd chatter, allowing him to concentrate on his playing.

Well said- the set list was phenomenal, and a great blend of old and new. "See Mogwai play Christmas Steps live" can now be crossed off my 'Must Do Before I Die' list. A couple of questions for the crowd:

1) Does anyone know where I can get the set list for the show?

2) I heard from someone in the crowd that you can sometimes d/l 9:30 Club shows. Does anyone know where I could get the Mogwai show so I can re-live the splendor for all eternity?

Originally posted by bishop88:
Well said- the set list was phenomenal, and a great blend of old and new. "See Mogwai play Christmas Steps live" can now be crossed off my 'Must Do Before I Die' list. A couple of questions for the crowd:

1) Does anyone know where I can get the set list for the show?

2) I heard from someone in the crowd that you can sometimes d/l 9:30 Club shows. Does anyone know where I could get the Mogwai show so I can re-live the splendor for all eternity?

The show, and others, can be downloaded or streamed at the 'all songs considered' portion of the NPR website.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5384035

Last night was a truly great show.

Matts, you rock.

Thanks for the URL.

i was gonna tape last night, but i've been kinda sick and didnt want my cough all over the tape. luckily, NPR did the work for me, and came up with a better result than i could have.

The feedback solo at the end was a bit indulgent and definitely excessively loud

Was that jus feedback or My Father My King?

When they played the club in 2001, they ended with that track and you could hear it perfectly all the way to U Street. Didn't they blow out the sound system?

Originally posted by bishop88:
1) Does anyone know where I can get the set list for the show?

You can get it right here:
01 Hunted by a Freak
02 Friend of the Night
03 Summer
04 Travel is Dangerous
05 Stanley Kubrick
06 Acid Food
07 Ithica
08 Yes, I Am a Long Way from Home
09 Christmas Steps
10 Stop Coming to My Home
11 Helicon 1
12 Glasgow Mega-Snake

Encore:
13 You Don't Know Jesus
14 We're No Here

(note: the last song was not "My Father My King", for whoever asked)

Originally posted by snailhook:
in this instance, a bit indulgent and definitely excessively loud = transcendent music experience

amen, Snailhook. thought the show was great, just wish the crowd had actually paid attention for the phenomenal jack rose. oh well - their loss!

Originally posted by matts:

Originally posted by bishop88:
Well said- the set list was phenomenal, and a great blend of old and new. "See Mogwai play Christmas Steps live" can now be crossed off my 'Must Do Before I Die' list. A couple of questions for the crowd:

1) Does anyone know where I can get the set list for the show?

2) I heard from someone in the crowd that you can sometimes d/l 9:30 Club shows. Does anyone know where I could get the Mogwai show so I can re-live the splendor for all eternity?

The show, and others, can be downloaded or streamed at the 'all songs considered' portion of the NPR website.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5384035

Last night was a truly great show.

Holy shit, this is good!

Thanks for posting this.

And thanks to the person who posted the set list.

They didn't play Mogwai Fear Satan???

review in the Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/11/AR2006051102059.html

Mogwai Offers Mix of Old And New, Mild and Wild
Friday, May 12, 2006; Page C07

The Scottish quintet Mogwai has made a decade-long career out of serenely dynamic instrumental songs that layer simple riffs and chords into dramatic sound sculptures. On Wednesday night at the 9:30 club, the group highlighted a number of its most distinctive songs from its back catalogue, including the furiously heavy "You Don't Know Jesus" and the droning, angst-ridden "Helicon 1."

In contrast to its older material, Mogwai's songs from its latest album, "Mr. Beast," revealed a milder side. The drum-machine-driven "Acid Food" featured the deep, aloof vocals of guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, while the soft-rock melodies of "Friend of the Night" were gentle and graceful. Despite strobe lights, the songs relied more on warm tones than on the underlying tension and dissonance of the group's earlier work.

However, several of Mogwai's newer songs weren't so sedate: The blazing riffs of the aggressive "Glasgow Mega-Snake" were reminiscent of Black Sabbath, and the final number, "We're No Here," built a deliberate guitar line into a resonant roar. As if to prove that the group hasn't fully mellowed, Braithwaite ended the 90-minute set by laying his guitar on top of his amplifier, and the wall of rumbling feedback reverberated throughout the room like an oncoming tornado.

– Catherine P. Lewis

© 2006 The Washington Post Company