Sorry this is a long one - I was inspired!
Saw the 'gwai last night for the first time and was COMPLETELY blown away.
And tomorrow I'm 18 what a cool week!
Ligament were good but loud - a problem when you're trying to talk to
Dominic (especially since he couldn't hear in his right ear). Boy does he
look intimidating face to face but was a really nice person to talk to.
He said the band were really enjoying the tour - looking forward esp. to the
barrowlands gig, but well pissed off because Larssen (Celtic forward) had
broken his leg in their match last night. He said that after they've
finished touring the southern hemisphere they'll be back in the studio to
get a new album done. I asked him whether their recent stuff was the
direction they'd be heading and he said that he'd prefer to do some more
loud stuff again (horaay!). Also got his signature the sad tosser I am!
The rest of the band were sited round the small venue - stuart at the front
talking, barry at the bar, john and martin by the stage enterance - john
looking a bit lonely and martin with lady friend in attendance.
As per rest of tour they came out to the beats of BMX which turned into a
beautiful 5 minutes or so of drones plus detailing from stuart.
Barry then squeezed behing the xylophone to play for summer which was
excellent - the 'phone being really clear and bright.
The gentle christmas song followed at which point the non fan student
brigade started talking.
They were soon shut up when small children exploded after it's static build
up. Small children has never been one of my favourite tracks but last night
it sounded fantastic and beautiful.
Stanley kubrick was good, with the 'slide' guitar bits from stuart and good
keys from barry - they didn't have the cool speeded up vocals at the end
though...
Ex-cowboy was next and got very, very noisy - which was cool - the melody
wasn't quite as clear as I have heard it on live recordings but you could
still pick out stuff even at full volume. I was glad they played this as
it's one of my faves. The bass seemed to be out of tune at times though.
Helicon 2 followed - barry was trying to play his flute but it wasn't
working and so he only ended up playing a few notes - which were out with
the rest of the band. The tuning was suspect on this track as well.
Some people were well and truly talking now which was very annoying and i
think it got to the band too. They had been one or two heckles already and
the talking continued as xmas steps started to unfold. They got a rude
awakening when dominic's bass kicked it it was SO loud! The song gained
momentum, exploded and they settled with a shortened outro (no Luke).
Kappa suffered from terrible tuning (possibly deliberately?) Stuart
dissapeared of stage for a bit at the start (I was worried that they might
pull it) and then proceeded to play on his yellow guitar, which was out of
tune, as was the bass. Kappa was loud. At the end he started banging the
guitar head first on the stage - possibly to do with the tuning...
The band swapped instruments and helicon 1 started. a little of the early
beauty was lost by dominic (on guitar) starting the reverb rhythmy bit but
by the time it reached a creschendo the song was heart breaking.
Barry's flute's reappearance signalled Fear satan, although they started
loud and got louded. The drumming was fantastic - the flute solo was great
and stuart joined martin with a second drum kit. During the song a pissed
punter clambered up onstage (to the amusement of the band) and then got
pushed off by (brennan jr.) sound guy.
To hear it live is to believe it. The best song of the night.
Like herod then followed. I now know what noise is. This also was utter
brilliance. Stuart teasing the crowd and band before the first loud bit. The
second loud bit was incredibly loud. The pissed girl got onstage again and
was pushed off again. A guy in a parka took over lead guitar and stuart
played drums and sang (amazing grace?, it was inaudible). One by one the
band left. Stuart, the Dominic, then Parka guy, then john (after making pure
noise for 5 minutes) the martin and then eventually barry leaving his
keyboards to die slowly. It had lasted nearly 20 mins and had wiped
everybody out.
Roll on the next time they tour. They looked as if they realy enjoyed
themselves even with the sound trouble and some pathetic heckeling at one
point: "Sing something" "You're all poofs",etc.
the best bit was the quiet of like herod where someone shouts "play some..."
and is cut out by the sound of 5 men going mental.
thanks for the review, andy!
wake and work and drive to nottingham after getting in and resting for a while. i'm fucking tired right now. i call sarah. drive and see her before the gig tonite, and her dad is just finishing measuring up walls for wallpaper in the kitchen. a quick friendly peck on the cheek as i split and then head home again and get the fender amp to lend barry for the glasgow show.
drive listening to the stanley kubrick e.p. over and over and i get to the town and call simon and get the name of the road. i eventually find the gig which took a while (and a road map) which is in the middle of nowhere. get in a see dom and keith watching ligament (the last few songs) by the dj decks (one turntable one cd player) that are in the middle of the venue by the sound desk.
the place isn't packed but there's a good number and it's just full enough to be comfortable. i say hi to them and then head to the dressing room to say hello to the rest of the guys. they're on pretty soon. stuart asks if i'd like to play tonite. would i? of course. cool. go stand by keith as he spins as they get ready and they're on. i move forward to catch the gig from the middle of the room and nearer the speakers. good volume, good vibe, good gig (they were all good gigs really. it's about the best tour i've even been on playing or watching and most enjoyable experience of the year. and the most inspiring and just plain cool).
watch the show and again xmas steps is just such a good song to listen to. tonight there's a few people talking, just a few though. i wish people would shut the fuck up though sometimes. and just fucking listen to the music. nip backstage after fear satan and nip on during the end of like herod and fuck around w/ stuart's guitar. sounded not too bad, i thought. some woman is on stage going why don't you sing? to stuart. ally throws her off. weird. try some piano after and then offski.
after the gig i realise i'm tired enough as it is right now. better go and all that. tell the guys that i'll see them at the barrowlands, cos tomorrow i'll have to sleep as opposed to drive up north, too tired. i get the amp from the car and put it in the side of the bus (find simon to get the keys etc) and i offer and end up giving usa chris (someone who i really talked to tonight and got on with, kinda connected with and stuff) a lift to his digs in the town. takes a while to find the right street but it's cool in the end.
listen to mogwai again on the way home (i am listening to a lot of their stuff right now, if you couldn't tell. and swervedriver). and get in at 3.00am again. sleep.
http://web.archive.org/....mogwai.clara.net/ukdiary2.htm
