'50 quid mate and I'll write your review for ya'. I've barely stepped into the arty confines of the ICA and I'm being harassed by one of the hardcore Mogwaites littering the corridor in earnest hope of scoring a ticket. It's understandable really considering Mogwai's hiatus from the live arena but. no deal. £50 probably only buys me one Budvar anyway.
Mogwai will crush you. You'll hear it coming but you'll anticipate it with a contented inhale of breath. Demonstrating the quiet, LOUD, quiet formula at its very best, they tentatively edge towards a peak of destructively heavy guitar carnage with peerless subtlety and magnitude. 'Hunted by a freak' rivals the superlative beauty of Elbows 'New Born' whilst 'Kids will be skeletons' encompasses a similarly sublime tenderness, as much their hallmark as the crashing guitar crescendos.
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Successfully resisting the urge to crank it up for the most part, it's a set both soothing and immediately inspiring. They simply demand your undivided attention ensuring any bar room chatter's inaudible when they cut loose and non existent when they reduced the music to a whisper.
As 'Mogwai Fear Satan' explodes into life it comes with a familiar feeling of trepidation. Epic, dramatic, apocalyptic it's the perfect climax to any set even if it does sound like the end of the world. Apt really because it's one of the few circumstances where maybe just maybe I'd part with my ticket.
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