Mogwai: 5/11 @ Starlight Ballroom

"Loudness is the distance you come from being quiet." I once read that somewhere, and I can't remember who said it, and I wish I could, because I think it's brilliant.

By that standard Mogwai might be the loudest band on the planet. Few musicians in the world harness the power of dynamics like they do. Of course, they might be the loudest band on the planet anyway, measured in decibels. The bass often had me thinking about those super secret weapons in development at Area 51 that can dissolve a person's organs with a high-amplitude frequency or something like that. I felt it in every part of my body, is the point.

Anyway, some back story: I waited something like five years to see Mogwai. Unfortunately, every time they were in town I seemed to have some excuse why I couldn't go. I had to work at 5 am the next day; I had a choir concert that night; the show was an expensive festival and I wasn't about to shell out $40 for a half hour set, and so on. This was made especially painful by the fact that everybody says a Mogwai show is to die for, and they're the greatest live band on the planet, etc., etc.

Are they the greatest live band on the planet? I wouldn't say so (the Flaming Lips might hold that title forever, as far as I'm concerned), but they're pretty good nonetheless. I expected to be blown completely away for an hour and a half or so, and they managed to do that about 2/3 of the time. The other 1/3 were songs from their new album, which, as you may recall, I didn't like that much, one amazing song excepted (which they pretty much had no choice but to play, and did they ever).

Aside from the abundance of new songs (which is to be expected), it was a pretty good set. They hit all my favorites from Happy Songs for Happy People, and did a couple old nuggets from Young Team (no "Like Herod" though). One of the favorite Mogwai tricks is their ability to be playing at what seems like top volume, and then kick it up another notch into death metal territory, and this is especially effective in a live setting, even when I knew it was coming. The big explosion of noise in "Mogwai Fear Satan" kicked me in the gut even harder than it does on record. And that song is generally amazing anyway, despite its repetition.

Was it worth the wait? Who knows? It sure as hell was worth the $15, though.

ONE COMPLAINT:

I'm sick and tired of bands who end their set with 10 minutes of noise and feedback and crap like that. It's boring, people! It's disrespectful to the audience too. I could have left and gotten out of that hot room last night 10 minutes earlier, except I had to stand around watching an empty stage and listening to an uninteresting noise session waiting to make sure Mogwai weren't going to be playing anymore. Unless your name is Brian Eno, there's a 99% chance that you suck at making "soundscapes" or whatever you want to call it (or in the case of many bands, a screeching wall of feedback, in which case your name better be Jimi Hendrix or Lou Reed). The remaining 1% is Boards of Canada, the Future Sound of London, and Aphex Twin. When you're done playing, turn your amps off, and get off the damn stage.