live debut for 'sinewave', 'dial:revenge', 'secret pint' and '2 rights make 1 wrong'
mogwai were joined onstage by super furry animals vocalist
gruff rhys at a one-off show in iceland last night (march 13),
where the band premiered songs from their new album, 'rock action'.
the band performed to an awestruck icelandic audience, at the idno
venue in the centre of reykjavik, as a prelude to their us tour.
rhys performed vocals on new track 'dial:revenge', and, as a
bonus, fellow super furry cian ciaran also appeared, to treat the
nordic (? - rob) nation to a spot of singing, and a dj set at the after-party.
prior to their performance, mogwai had promised a good mixture of
old and new, but on the night they delivered a ten-track set, including seven of 'rock action''s
eight tracks.
five songs in, stuart braithwaite delivered the first vocal offering: the somewhat
melancholy 'take me somewhere nice'. the band were complemented by four string players from
the royal academy for music and drama brought over especially for the gig, who gave
added girth to the breadth of a carefully constructed set.
mogwai arrived in reykjavik on monday (march 12), and took the
opportunity to label fellow scottish bands runrig, deacon blue and simple minds "a national
disgrace" in the local paper.
speaking exclusively to nme.com, stuart braithwaite explained the band's new direction.
"there was one song that we sang on the last record, and i think that it kind of worked. we
didn't really have committee meetings about what we were going to do. we just went
through it all and went, 'good, good, shite, shite'!"
as to the collaboration with gruff rhys, the band joked they employed him because stuart
"couldn't sing high enough".
mogwai are en route to the us, where they will start a tour in
austin, texas, on march 17. the band will play a handful of us shows, before dates in japan
and europe.
