encore:

thanks, mo.

support from part chimp vs alexander tucker + dj keith cameron. sold out. apparently gwen stefani and beau were in attendance?! seems barry fell off his piano stool at one point, causing much amusement.

ica website

reviews/comments

the observer review

the guardian review

the independent review

london evening standard review

playlouder.com

from mo:

alex tucker kicked things off with looped, effect laden guitars and near chanting accompanied by a duet of clarient players. later part chimp inject a bit of volume to prep the audiences eardrums.

thankfully, 'gwai don't end the set with too much feedback and the band looked in great mood. the brief technical hitches get laughed off (stuart says something about giving us introspection and slapstick after acid food).

other notable moments are graeme helping out on stage, and martin using orchestral drum sticks to belt out the simple rhythm for auto rock. it was also great to see barry up front and singing at times too. the only downside was the guy next to me who'd wolfwhistle after every song - and the night flew by. the peak was definitely friend of the night - much more beautiful with a quivering synth sound instead of piano; and those who hadn't heard it before must surely agree.

from andy:

boy am i hung-over (still, and it's 3 in the afternoon...). was a great night and all the new stuff sounded fantastic, particularly opener 'glasgow mega-snake' and 'friend of the night'. barry looked fairly uncomfortable with having to sing on 'travel is dangerous' but did a grand job of it. definitely one of the most enjoyable gigs i've seen them play despite there being nothing from 'young team' in the set - which i'd have been disappointed about beforehand had i known but as it was didn't even register until i was home.

from 'infinte fury':

went to the first mogwai take control at the ica gig last night with plenty more to come. excellent support from a chap called alexander tucker who basically plays the guitar, sings and pipes it all through a mess of delay pedals and other effects to build quite staggering wall of noise epics. bought the album today and i'd recommend him to any fan of mogwai.

the chimp were, as usual, extremely loud and satisfying although most of the toffee-nosed mogwai brigade had a look on their face like they'd just been handed a warm glass of piss.

mogwai's set was superb and excellent to see them back in action. first of all, unless it's a really big wind up, the album you've downloaded is the same as the one due for release. it's truly an album to be heard live however as it needs the noise.

oh, how could i forget? stanley kubrick - awesome, just awesome have been waiting years for that to get into the line-up and it really is magical live. didn't get tracy unfortunately but i'm hoping to hear it on either thursday or saturday.

very amusing sidenote - barry burns looked pretty mashed all night and at one point he went to sit down on his stool but ended up slipping straight off it and falling over....

bring on thursday!

nme review

photos

click on the image for larger version.

photos by ray shaw.