Review by Jake Thomas

When I walked in the door the place was awash with the heavy sounds of Isis. I saw them a year or so ago with Dalek and wasn’t terribly crazy about them, but this go around I liked them quite a bit more. They sound like metal plus Mogwai at their most rocking, which makes them a smart choice for an opener here. While they don’t sing all that often, when they do it’s those gruff black-metal type of vocals that I’ve never been able to get into. Other than that, they really piqued my interest into checking out some of their releases. The crowd wasn’t nearly as full of white Boks-wearing metaller dudes as I expected coming in, but there were a few of them thrashing around here and there.

The very prospect of getting to see Mogwai twice this summer really makes me happy. They are without question one of my very favorite bands, both live and recorded. I’ve seen them a number of times, and this was probably the second best show I’ve ever seen them play. An amazing selection of songs both old and new, including ‘Helicon 1 and 2’, ‘You Don’t Know Jesus’, and most importantly, ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’. And as an added extra bonus, they played “my Father, My King’ during the encore. I am growing a bit concerned though – this is the second show in a row that Stuart hasn’t been wearing his Batman t-shirt, after a bunch of shows where he was wearing it every time. Perhaps it has met an untimely demise? As always, our thoughts and prayers here at Playing in Fog are with the Batman t-shirt in it’s time of struggle and need.

Mogwai


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