Mogwai in Boston
Aside from their quick, nine-ish day tour in March supporting the release of Mr. Beast, this current tour is the first time Mogwai has been in the US since the 2003 Curiosa tour (with, of course, the Cure). Getting in and out of Boston was obviously painful, but it was managed. The show was at the Avalon, a little dinky club across the street from Fenway Park. I'm going to keep my commentary short, but I will say that Mogwai was as good as they are supposed to be live. "Hunted By A Freak" was flat compared to the album version (for lack of overdubbing galore) but the rest of the songs made up for less nuance with more noise. Also, they are not the loudest band on Earth, despite claims to the contrary. Hell, Ted Leo is louder than they are.
Here's the set list (mostly in order....mostly). No openers, just two hours of blissful Mogwai:
1. Hunted By A Freak
2. Travel Is Dangerous
3. You Don't Know Jesus
4. May Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door
5. Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home (The "emergence" [as I call it] in the outro was amazing live)
6. Tracy (w/o the conversation)
7. I Know You Are But What Am I
8. Acid Food
9. Stop Coming To My House
10. Stanley Kubrick (w/o the potato)
11. Friend of the Night
12. Glasgow Mega-Snake
They also sprinkled some concoctions in with those songs, all of which were excellent in their own right.
For the encore, they played what seemed to be a combination of "Travel Is Dangerous" and "Kids Will Be Skeletons," a song that sounded like something right off of Mono's Red Flag..., not a bad thing, mind you, and "We Are No Here," the closer from Mr. Beast. Then they ended the set with noise, as they always do.
My only suggestion would've been less from the new album and more old stuff. "Kids Will Be Skeletons" and "Small Children In The Background" would've been my choices. Someone wanted them to play "Christmas Steps," which would've been nuts, but it was [Stuart:] "Too old." Plus, the tempo increase in the song would be excessively difficult to pull off well. So I don't blame them. Overall, an amazing show.
Here's the set list (mostly in order....mostly). No openers, just two hours of blissful Mogwai:
1. Hunted By A Freak
2. Travel Is Dangerous
3. You Don't Know Jesus
4. May Nothing But Happiness Come Through Your Door
5. Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home (The "emergence" [as I call it] in the outro was amazing live)
6. Tracy (w/o the conversation)
7. I Know You Are But What Am I
8. Acid Food
9. Stop Coming To My House
10. Stanley Kubrick (w/o the potato)
11. Friend of the Night
12. Glasgow Mega-Snake
They also sprinkled some concoctions in with those songs, all of which were excellent in their own right.
For the encore, they played what seemed to be a combination of "Travel Is Dangerous" and "Kids Will Be Skeletons," a song that sounded like something right off of Mono's Red Flag..., not a bad thing, mind you, and "We Are No Here," the closer from Mr. Beast. Then they ended the set with noise, as they always do.
My only suggestion would've been less from the new album and more old stuff. "Kids Will Be Skeletons" and "Small Children In The Background" would've been my choices. Someone wanted them to play "Christmas Steps," which would've been nuts, but it was [Stuart:] "Too old." Plus, the tempo increase in the song would be excessively difficult to pull off well. So I don't blame them. Overall, an amazing show.
posted by Jimmy at 12:34 AM
0 comments
