Mogwai Fear Satan

Here's everyone's favourite Scottish post-rockers doing ..fear Satan live in France:


Mogwai - Mogwai Fear Satan from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

2008 - 8 Great Gigs

2008 has been an amazing year for gigs round these parts and this was a hugely difficult list to put together. I had to leave out some superb sets that would have walked into my list in any other year. I couldn't put them in order, so here for better or worse are my gigs of the year (in alphabetical order):

Black Mountain - The Great Escape
Hard to believe they're not the loudest band on this list, Tyrant and Druganaut rocked my Great Escape
Bon Iver - St Giles' Church London
Jaw droppingly good stuff from the phenomenal Bon Iver. The closing song, from the centre of the church still gives me goosebumps when I see the youtube clip
British Sea Power - The Monaco, Canvey
A band at number 10 in the album charts, on top form in a pub 15 minutes drive from home. What more could you want? Shame they were mediocre at Latitude, but this was genuinely amazing, particularly when Wilko Johnson came out for the encore.
Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves - Latitude Festival
Until they invent a time machine, this is as close as it was possible to get to seeing James Brown at the Apollo in 1962. That good.
Grinderman - Latitude Festival
I still cannot believe some people foresook this to go and see Blondie. I pity them - Nick was truly a force of nature on the main stage.
I'm From Barcelona - Scala
Is it possible to see a more fun band? Confetti and singalong songs and fun by the bucketload.
Mogwai - Hammersmith Apollo
The loudest band on this list, possibly the loudest band I'll ever see. Batcat was brutal, a full-on assault on the eyes and the ears.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Brighton Centre
I make no apologies for including Nick Cave again, this is a man at the very top of his form as a songwriter and performer.

I could almost do a second 8 for this list, having missed out the likes of Mercury Rev, Okkervil River (twice), Fujiya and Miyagi and the Mae Shi to name but 4. 2009 will have to go some to beat 2008, here's hoping!

Mogwai - Friday Night Part 3

And so we finally come to the headliners - Mogwai. Pretty much veterans of the post rock scene now, this year saw a tenth anniversary of their debut album, Young Team. Despite their age they can still cut it live as they proved in a close to two hour set that included a healthy sprinkling of early favourites from Young Team and Ten Rapid amongst more recent material. I've always preferred the full on LOUD stuff over some of the quieter material and for me things really kicked off with Friend of the Night, the lead single from Mr Beast, the last-but-one album. Other highlights included Scotlands Shame, one of the best tracks on the new album.

The set closed in spectacular fashion with Like Herod being followed by Batcat. The latter was a trully brutal experience with thunderous bass and a punishing light show.



The worry with instrumental music is whether it can hold the attention for 2 hours - well Mogwai managed that, and I doubt there would have been any complaints if they had played for another 2. Just a word on the encore as well - Helicon 1!!! Excellent.

Tonight...

...I'm back on the gigs again after a break for a month or two. It's back with a bang as not only am I seeing one of my favourite bands - Mogwai - the support is pretty excellent as well. On first are Errors who were one of my highlights from this year's Latitude. Then it's F*** Buttons whose Street Horrrsing album is excellent. Can't wait!

What a week...

... it has been for new albums. So far I've bought the new Mogwai, the re-issue of Otis Redding "Live in Europe", the new TV on the Radio and the new one from Brightback Morning Light. Go and sell your firstborn to raise funds for a visit to HMV, and I'll be blogging on all 4 albums later in the week.

Out on Monday...

The album from Mogwai. You know you want it:

Forthcoming Attractions

With the summer festival season now over for me, it's time to look ahead at what the final third has to offer...

Gigs
Well so far as gigs go, I've got some real beauties in the calendar. Things are quiet until October when Mogwai are playing London. It'll be the second time I've seen them, reports have been good about the new album, and the supports are pretty special too, Errors (one of the highlights of Latitude) and F*** Buttons.

Then into November which is just outstanding gig-wise. Okkervil River and Mercury Rev inside 3 days in London. Okkervil River were brilliant at Great Escape, and I'm really looking forward to a full length set from them. Mercury Rev are one of my all time favourite bands. I saw them last at Latitude '06, and will be interesting to see how the new material comes across live. Watch out for a piece to mark the 10th Anniversary of Deserters Songs in September...

After then it's down to Brighton for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. As previously mentioned, Nick Cave's slimmed down band, Grinderman, were amazing at Latitude this year, and the full Bad Seeds line-up is a mouth-watering prospect.

Then to round off the month it's I'm from Barcelona who I missed at Latitude 2007 and have regretted it ever since. By all accounts the new album is more "serious" than the first, but I'm still confident off balloon-bouncing fun!