Encore:

Thanks Andrew

Apparently Christmas Steps and Friend Of The Night were reversed from their positions on the setlist - seems Stuart started into Christmas Steps early?

Support from The Twilight Sad

Academy

Reviews/comments

From Andrew S:

Right, first of my 4 planned shows & wow, i haven't been in the old Town & Country Club in Leeds (now part of the O2 chain) for a good ten years. Slow burner this one to a good 3/4 crowd. Calm 1st half hour then finally kicked in when Stuart played Xmas Steps earlier than on set-list, to Barry's amusement. This was just the kick the show needed and the last 1hr was a joy to watch & listen to. 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong surprised me along with Cody.

Lovely to see Luke used so much, but I've never seen Barry stay on keyboards as much as he did (get back on that Gibson SG of yours). Good chat from Stuart with the usual shout outs. Roll on Edinburgh tomorrow.

From Tom:

Just got in from Leeds too. Awesome set - sound quality superb, crowd REALLY good. Was so quiet during CODY it amazed me. Strange set, in that it relied so heavily on new stuff, but in my view that's no bad thing at all. Another brilliant show in my view.

From Andrew B:

"Come on! Rip it up! I want to bleed from my eyes and my ears", comes the shout from a punter stage right, much to the amusement of Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, before piling into a superb three song encore at the 02 Academy in Leeds. The rapt, silent, reverential audience (rare for a gig at this venue) gave Mogwai the platform to deliver a stellar set, heavily featuring songs from the new album; Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Ably supported by Luke Southerland on the violin / guitar and vocals.

For me the key moment of the gig was in You're Lionel Richie, where you could literally hear a pin drop, prior to the devastating volume unleashed at mid point in the song. I wore ear plugs for this gig, and even with them in use, the sheer volume unleashed was beyond belief. The bass especially had my entire body shaking from the third row.

This was only the second time I've seen Mogwai (though I *think* I saw them at a festival in either 1997 or 1998), the previous time being as a support act to the Manic Street Preachers way back in 1998 at Bridlington Spa Pavilion. Quite honestly I am gutted I've not made the effort over the years, because this was a sublime show. Hardcore is a great album, one that I'm loving more each time I play it, the final encore Mexican Grand Prix, is a real stand out for me.

One other amusing moment came after the bleeding ears/eyes comment, when a wee Scottish lass shouted out "play Friend Of The Night", to which Stuart responded; "we did that one 30 minutes ago, must have been a very subtle version". Staurt wore his retro Celtic shirt throughout the gig, and Digger commented to me afterwards what the gig would have been like if Celtic had lost the Glasgow derby, well they didn't and we proffered with a belting Mogwai performance, bring the noise indeed.

Rating 9/10 (would have got a 10 if they had played Like Herod).

Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannypaynephotography/sets/72157625972798381/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bartpettman/sets/72157625979226519/