ithica 27o9 (featuring barry burns' debut on second drumkit)
support from ganger
review, by joseph canning |
where do i begin? well, let me first say that when mogwai cancelled their gig
here in december (when they finished the album in nearby upstate new york)
there was a massive wave of disappointment. i have no idea how well received
the band are in other north american cities, but here in toronto they are
worshipped. there is no other word. you can imagine the excitement, then,
when it was announced that they would be playing not one but two gigs in a
relatively small venue (the horseshoe holds around 400-500). not many cities
are given that opportunity.
anyhow, to the gigs. i don't really know how to describe them; i can't think
of an appropriate superlative. stunning, perhaps. the first gig began with a
huge crescendo of noise with wee martin just sitting there looking around.
for a minute or two it was impossible to tell what they were playing, but
when martin began playing it became evident that the beautiful noise was
"mogwai fear satan". i felt like crying. i've heard it said that mogwai are
far superior live than they are on record, and as much as i feel like i am
betraying the band in someway, after hearing, watching, feeling them play
"satan" i can't help but wholeheartedly agree. one moment stuart and john
are slashing away at their guitars violently and the next minute barry is
playing the beautifully calm flute bit. they all have their eyes closed and
stuart is tying hard to supress a little smile as he realizes they are the
fucking greatest.
xmas steps was equally as moving, as was the gorgeous "cody" which the
tossers in the crowd who were talking almost spoiled, but just couldn't. the
new tune, "stanley kubrick" is beautiful. it's a more quiet song , in the
style of "cody", and it is surprisingly short. and, dare i say it, it is
catchy. i can't stop humming it in my head.
there are a good few clubs in toronto were "helicon 1" is a mainstay
(wow!! - rob), and
someone must have relayed this to stuart as he introduced it as "the city's
psychedelic tune". every fan knows that this is one of their greatest tunes,
if not the greatest, and they played it as if they themselves think it is
the greatest piece of music ever. dominic can't stop smiling and barry looks
as if he knows he is the luckiest guy in the world, being invited to join
mogwai: the band who play "helicon 1". when stuart plucks the last note
there is momentary silence, as if the entire audience is saying "fucking
hell, you may as well come and get me, god!" it is that fucking stunning.
after the big fuck-off kick in the baws of "like herod" they left us
scratching our heads, rubbing our eyes and strangely glad we weren't wearing
any ear-plugs.
they encored with "rollerball" with john playing bass and dominic sitting at
the side of the stage drinking what looked like vodka and making faces at
martin. martin was trying his hardest to look away or close his eyes, but
every time he looked at dominic he cracked up. people are barely even
listening to the song; it is just so satisfying to see your favourite
rockers enjoy themselves as much as the audience is. martin can barely hold
his drumsticks cos he's laughing so hard, and when the song finally ends
martin hits dominic over the head with a towel and then walks over to him
and boots him up the arse.
"ithica" is the final tune, with martin and stuart cajoling barry into
playing on the second drumkit, with stuart telling the audience that this is
"barry francis burns'" debut on the drums. barry is shiteing himself and you
can hear him tell the rest of the band that he's going to fuck it up cos
he's not good enough. they tell him to shut it and they start the song,
knowing full well that they have blown everyone away and they can afford to
fuck it all up. of course, they didn't mess anything up. the song builds
slowly in the same way a rollercoaster ascends slowly and calmly at its
beginning, before the loud bit takes over and the rollercoaster flies down
the fucking hill. i feel like sticking my arms in the air (for once this
tired musical cliche seems appropriate; natural) and the music, like the
wind, is blowing in our faces and it is overpowering, but absolutley fucking
beautiful.
and when it's over, and the roadie has subdued the seemingly endless
feedback, at least 400 kids exhale and say "fuck me".
i've tried to describe the gig, and on re-reading what i have wrote i
realize that i can't really describe it. to paraphrase a well worn quote, it
really is futile writing and reading about something which you can only
listen to and feel.
thanks joseph! sounds like an amazing show....