mogwai @ brownies, new york, ny, usa

06/11/1998

set list

??

cmj show, with edith frost, kid silver, prolapse, macha, archer prewitt and sam prekop

reviews/comments

from salon.com [carlene bauer]:

i caught mogwai's 1998 cmj music marathon show on the advice of a friend whose praise of the band was as hyperbolic as malkmus'. i don't know what i was expecting, but it wasn't a bunch of scottish kids grinding out a horrific guitar evil without a climax in sight. when i glanced around the cramped furnace of a bar to see if i was the only one in pain, it seemed that some rock 'n' roll rapture had occurred. those of us who weren't in the know -- or who weren't stoned -- had been left behind on earth to weather some apocalypse brought down by five druidlike soccer thugs shrouded in hooded sweatshirts and hunched over their instruments.

this sight must have been unbearably lovely to the guy next to me, because he was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, a smile on his face, looking very much like he was enjoying the abuse. a girlfriend stood next to him, looking puzzled but still game. we were two of the only females in a room packed with sweaty boys going apoplectic from all the instrumental flogging. which now makes me think that pity, not paranoia, should be the proper response to all those bewitched boys: making sound critical judgments must be awfully difficult to manage when your hands are so full of wankery.