Live Review: Mogwai - The Garage, Islington 07/02/2023
Glasgow post-rock titans Mogwai return to London’s The Garage for a weighty and cathartic show in honour of the venue’s 30th birthday celebrations.
Though harbouring a number one album under their belts, Glasgow post-rockers Mogwai have always seemed to float under the radar of the wider mainstream. Opting instead to operate as something of a cult-band, their ability to veer recklessly between punishing volume and crushing weight or gentle harmonies and delicate nuance earning them plenty of die-hard fans across their almost 30-year career.
Tonight, 600 of those fans are packed into The Garage in London, the second of two nights at the venue as part of its 30th birthday celebrations. As such, it’s a small show for the band, especially when one takes into account last year’s 10,000 capacity Ally Pally headline, yet tonight is a show that succeeds in feeling both intimate yet colossal in its delivery.
Opening with ‘To the Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth from the aforementioned Number One album. Yet surprisingly, it’s only one of three tracks from that record that get an airing. Instead, the set’s given over almost equally, with material from almost every album in the band’s career represented.
Fan favourites such as ‘New Paths to Helcion’, ‘Summer’ and ‘Cody’ are all interspersed with more recent, less-established tracks such as ‘Dry Fantasy’, yet nothing in Mogwai’s set feels out of place. From the towering walls of intimidating noise, right through to the quieter more introspective moments that fall away just as quickly as they appear.
And therein has always lay Mogwai’s appeal, an intrinsic ability to play with dynamics, to twist and to subvert expectation from anyone still unfamiliar with the Scottish four-piece. Indeed, that just four men could make such noise is nothing short of impressive, and the earplugs being worn by quite literally everyone in attendance shows this isn’t their first post-rock rodeo, and is a testament to just exactly how loud Mogwai can be.
It's not just loud however, it’s elegant, the army of pedals laid out before them allowing the nature of the set, and indeed individual tracks, to change at the drop of a hat. Or in this case, the press a button. As such, there’s an air of unpredictability about the band’s set, both through the arrangements, and through the setlist itself. Tonight, for instance, sees a distinct lack of the modular synth driven ‘Remurdered’, often a set staple. Such omissions however do mean we get rarely played tracks such as ‘Summer’, which opens the band’s two-song encore.
Saving the best until last however, a monumental ‘Like Herod’ from their debut album ends proceedings in spectacular fashion. Ten minutes of sprawling and sinister post-rock, it’s a brutal and cathartic end to their set.
And just like that, we’re left blinking into the venue’s houselights. As the smoke clears from the stage, and ears begin to ring despite our plugs, we’re ushered out onto Islington high street, safe in the knowledge that Mogwai remain one of the best live British bands, and no-one is likely to take that away from them.
Words by Dave Beech
Photos by Jake Lewis
