thanks to vangelis markas and filippos tsichlis. paul poulidakis has suggested that the
first song was 'stop coming to my house', followed by 'hunted by a freak'.
i've been listening to mogwai from '98, xmas steps being their first
song i ever heard. i've heard everything they've made (and i mean
everything), so i was eagerly expecting their live performance in athens....
i arrived at ark no. 6 at around 22:00, having just missed their support
band (didn't matter much to me), went straight to the front, about 4-5
meters from the stage. the venue is a huge warehouse, there were at least 2,000 spectators.
the sound was not all that good though, that became evident as they went on
stage at around 22:20 and played 2 songs from the new album. i hadn't
heard it, so i just enjoyed the new songs, didn't think they were anything
more than expected of them. after the second one ended i thought it was
time they played some old stuff, and so they did, giving an excellent
performance of "xmas steps" - rhythmic, pounding and perfectly executed.
great! everyone loved it.
after that came another new song, and got the
same reaction as the other two : applause, but the crowd didn't get as wild
as with "xmas steps". then they went on to play "mogwai fear satan" more
like their remix on "kicking a dead pig"... it was unbelievable! they
absolutely had me mesmerized the way they played that song, made me realize
what a shame it was for them to play in a place like that.... i couldn't
help but wonder what it would be like if they played on an island by the
beach. shit, that would be great! i was also amazed by the
synchronization of the band, at one point they literally scared the shit out
of almost half of the crowd, and put a huge smile on my face.
after that came another new song, but this time it was great, reminded me of "two
rights make one wrong", but more powerful. i managed to get the new lp,
and found out it was "ratts of the capital", the only new song that really
struck me (although "stop coming to my house" is great too).
then it was time for stuart to get the bass in his hands, as the band started
playing "helicon 1". one of my all time favourites, they played it to
perfection! mellow, soulful, i really wished it wouldn't end. what followed
was two or three songs from the new lp, and everyone was astounded when
stuart said "thank you goodnight"- too soon for everyone. an encore was
certain, as the crowd whistled and cheered for 5-10 minutes, and the band
went out again, to play a new song and then, at last, "2 rights make 1
wrong"
the show ended at 23:50, and i felt overall satisfied, although, as
one of my friends put it, "they sure are scottish"! i heard mogwai played
"my father my king" in thessaloniki,i really wished they had also played it
in athens, maybe next time....
