bl!
bright light ! gigs

mogwai @ le spectrum, montreal, canada 08/08/04


setlist

  • yes! i am a long way from home
  • you don't know jesus
  • killing all the flies
  • may nothing but happiness come through your door
  • summer
  • kappa
  • hunted by a freak
  • ratts of the capital
  • 2 rights make 1 wrong

    encore:

  • cody
  • like herod

    thanks to ryan


    reviews/comments

    from philip jamieson:

    true story: so i was crossing the border up into canada and talking to customs. they asked me the nature of my visit and i said i was going to see a band called mogwai in montreal. right then the customs agent started cracking up and said something to the extent of "expect them to be pretty hung over". apparently they had rolled through a few hours prior completely trashed. i found it funny.

    this was the 3rd time that i have seen mogwai and it was by far the most tremendous experience yet. the spectrum seemed sold out and the crowd was awesome. i saw stuart outside before the show and asked him about possible hearing 'bmx' to which he replied in the negative, saying they didn't bring the backing drum track with them making it impossible. he also said that john was still pretty ill but that he was going to fight it out.

    everybody inside was really into the show, with lots of loud applause and random shouting. 'long way' started things off nicely, with a seated john adding his bass skills to this masterpiece. 'summer' was worth the price of admission alone. the energy and finesse was something i could never have imagined and i was floored with the whole piece. 'jesus' seemed more than just its usual self - the song was mind blowing this evening. although 'kappa' was a nice surprise and sounded fine, its obvious why they don't play it that much. i would have preferred helicon 1 or 2 in its place but i can't complain. 'killing all the flies' featured some tasty bass work from dominic. i was standing about 2 ft. from him and i gained a new appreciation for his work. he really seems to float along with his precise and powerful bass lines. i thanked him after the show and he was a really nice guy.

    the most unbelievable moment of the show though came with 'ratts of the capital'. i don't know if its because i was right directly in front of the band leaning on the stage in front of a gigantic speaker stack or what, but this version of ratts was probably the most spectacular live song i've ever witnessed, from any band at any concert. it was totally huge. the lights, the sound quality, the presence - it was mind blowing. they made a quick transition into '2 rights' and it brought the house down, especially towards the end with stuart totally going off and martin helping out barry on the beats. beautiful.

    stuart sounded excellent singing 'cody' (which was not on the printed setlist). 'like herod' was fierce and disturbing, with all of the lovely noise, presence and power that mogwai is known for. the ending noise/effects session lasted at least 5 minutes, with the strobe lights creating an atmosphere that made me feel like i was in the middle of a nuclear blast.

    mogwai finally showed me why they are my favourite band on the planet with this performance and i'll probably never forget it. ever.

    from dan galucki:

    this show blew some minds for sure. haven't heard anything that loud since last year's shows on the east coast. i had forgotten how the sound just sort of envelopes you. this show was strikingly different from last year's shows in a lot of ways, one being that they didn't play the songs note-for-note to the record, which was a very cool change. especially stuart, who was definitely changing a lot of the higher parts on songs like 'summer' and 'like herod'. keeping it interesting i guess. there were also a lot of songs from 'come on die young', which i never thought i'd see, like 'cody' and 'kappa'. first time seeing stuart sing too, amazing, confident. from the audio rubble that was the end of 'ratts of the capital', they cut out and without missing a beat went right into '2 rights'. jon sat down for a good part of the show, looked like hell. i'm sure these off-dates from curiosa must be nice for them to stretch out and play a longer, more varied set.

    from john:

    just got back from the montreal show, was amazing. the venue was terrific and uniquely setup. anyway i would say highlight of the show for me was 'ratts', as well as them playing 'cody' to begin the encore (it wasn't on the setlist). i remember reading that the band liked this venue so i think when there was technical difficulties on '2 rights' (barry's mic wasn't working) they decided to throw in cody to make amends.

    from ryan:

    great show as usual. i think barry's mic was working, you could kind of hear it but it was just a bit lower in the mix than usual... i found it that way for all of his vocoder parts, the whole night. not really a problem, though. and yes, that venue was great. too short as usual, i guess they are a bit hurting at the moment. still fantastic.

    from atlasladder:

    it seems like the fellas are really fighting this one out by playing to the best of their abilities. the montreal show i was at was absolutely unbelievable. they're also changing up the sets a lot, probably in an attempt to quell the daily monotony. i spoke with their road manager in montreal and he said that things were rough but that the curiosa tour was going great. he said robert smith loves hanging out with the band and that they are all enjoying themselves. he did say that the one day where he had to get a massage therapist to heal martin's back while john was throwing up everywhere was a tough day, and that there have been many curveballs thrown their way. all in all it seems like the band is really stepping up to the plate this time around. i am immensely proud of them.


    links

    le spectrum website


    photos

    photo by john.