DJ Tom Ravenscroft warms up the crowd with a dance heavy DJ set but Mercury Prize winners English Teacher are the first live act tonight. They are a tricky band to get a handle on. One moment they're mathy post-rock, the next they're jaunty indie pop like the Kaiser Chiefs then the next minute they're dynamic and noisy indie rock. The drummer seems to be at the heart of all the good stuff as he injects the dynamism into the songs. He switches between the drums and keyboards and the songs where he plays the keys aren't anywhere near as interesting. The soulful ballad 'Albatross' is fairly decent. Richard Hawley joins them on stage for a great cover of Joy Division's 'Transmission'. I do find myself wondering why they are so lauded though as some of the material doesn't really connect with me. In fact, some of it is positively boring.
Mogwai's synth heavy opener 'God Gets You Back' is suprisingly tuneful, lacking the usual quiet/loud dynamic (no bad thing) although there is still an ominous rumble in the background. The build and payoff for 'Hi Chaos' is glorious, climaxing in a swirling maelstrom of noise. The towering, cinematic rock of 'Ritchie Sacramento' is euphoric. The brooding, keyboard led 'Auto Rock' is firmly in what I would now describe as Nordic Giants territory although Mogwai were undoubtedly there first. It is excellent. The crushing synths towards the end of 'Remurdered' are amazing. The peaks and troughs of 'Mogwai Fear Satan' are epic. It starts off with delay laden guitars and builds to something seriously heavy. The quiet yet ominous mid-section is spine tingling and this gives way to another ear bleedingly loud section. The vocoder heavy 'Lion Rumpus' provides a little light relief after this but not much as it is still dynamic and super heavy. They end the set here and a full brass band sets up for the encore (weirdly, whilst 'Crockett's Theme' plays over the P.A.). 'Ether' starts off as playful and magical (reminiscent of Yazoo's 'Only You') before the cacophopny of brass kicks in. The slow build and use of brass on 'Burn Girl Prom Queen' make it feel like American Football amplified tenfold. The euphonium (or possibly tuba, I couldn't quite tell) during the final track, '2 Rights Make 1 Wrong', is earth shaking. You think that Mogwai can't get any louder or heavier than 'Mogwai Fear Satan' but the encores with the brass band make you realise 'oh, that's how they get louder'. Magnificent.
Mogwai *****
English Teacher ***
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