bl!
bright light ! gigs

mogwai @ phoenix concert theatre, toronto ont 27/05/2001


setlist

(martin luther king - "i have a dream")

  • sinewave
  • mogwai fear satan
  • d to e
  • xmas steps
  • big e
  • ithica 27o9
  • you dont know jesus
  • helicon 1
  • like herod

    encore:

  • secret pint
  • (punk rock sample)
  • 2 rights make 1 wrong

    thanks to jamie regier and jon gage.

    first known live performance of 'd to e'

    support from bardo pond


    reviews/comments

    from jamie regier:

    the show was amazing!!!! bardo pond was good despite feedback trouble with the singer's mic at times during the show.

    mogwai came out to the "i have a dream speech" from martin luther king (new intro for tour i guess). 'fear satan' was awesome with barry kicking ass on the flute. 'big e' was unreal with all members of the band sitting on chairs and really getting into the song - their heads were all bobbing in unison to the music and as always 'helicon 1' was great.

    most of the crowd who was at the opera house show in march and came prepared with ear plugs and even the band needed help. at the end of the encore ('2 rights'), john was kneeling in front of his monitor playing a 12 string with one hand and had his hand over his left ear with his left hand. with just stuart and john left on stage, with two minutes left in 2 rights, stuart gave the roadies at the side of the stage a big smile and then put the hood on his sweatshirt over his head to dampen the volume on stage. he proceeded to play the last two minutes hooded and with a smile on his face and was pretty much laughing at the fact that even he couldn't handle the noise he, john and barry's keyboards (that he left going with reverb on before he left the stage a while earlier) were making for the last couple of minutes.

    a very good show, but i don't think it was as good as the show in toronto at the opera house on march 25. i'm probably saying that though because i was hoping to hear stanley kubrick at the show. a very entertaining night for all - except the people standing in front in the pa who's heads almost exploded.

    from ren:

    a very good show. highlights were a stunning rendition of christmas steps, a fantastic helicon 1, and a very impressive like herod, which i thought had been retired... 2 rights was also pretty fantastic, though i would be appreciative if the song could at least begin with a cleaner sound (as on the album..). as for the two new songs... d-e is rather quiet, short. a nice song though. with some strings, this could be a very good one indeed. big e didn't really overly impress me, but it wasn't bad... puzzling was the absence of jewish hymn, but i suppose like herod took its place for the evening. this was my first time seeing mogwai (i've had bad luck with their shows), and i was not disappointed... very happy with the setlist (although i wish they'd play yes! i am a long way from home or katrien again one of these days...), and a great performance all around

    bardo pond didn't do much for me. there was one longer piece that was droney that was not bad, but overall i found them to be rather sloppy.. not bad, but not too great either...

    mogwai i enjoyed very much. i'm tremendously glad i wore earplugs, as like herod and 2 rights were very loud indeed...stuart's vocals were far too low (almost inaudible) during secret pint...but a very good show...

    it was quite funny having mogwai at the second show (exhaust/hangedup), as they took every opportunity they could get to heckle the guy running the show... at the end of the evening, stuart actually took the stage and talked about the mc, basically stating (in a rather long and funny speech) that although he was a "right c***" as one member of the band shouted at one point), at least he was trying :)

    quite an evening... lots of good stuff. pity the mogwai 10" is gone already... i guess it was to be expected.

    from marty:

    it was the loudest concert i have ever seen by about 50 dbs. my ears are still ringing. the phoenix tends to be quite loud for concerts anyway...this combined with an appearance by mogwai took things to a new level. looking around at the end of 2 rights, i noticed that most of the people in the bar were plugging their ears. it really was that loud. amazing!!!!

    from jon gage:

    the show last night at the phoenix was amazing - much better than their last show back in march.

    we were treated to a blistering 3 minute version of ithica 27o9, as well as mogwai fear satan. haven't seen them play these since '99, so it was a surprise. the show started with the martin luther king "i have a dream" speech, and then the band came on and started playing.

    regarding the split with bardo pond. the merch guy said that they've completely sold out and doesn't expect any more to be available for the rest of the tour. pain in the ass. they didn't have any for sale last night.

    from daniel darch:

    bardo pond - their set was nice, pretty sludgy tho. to me they seemed like a garage band, with a little bit of mazzy star-ishness. i read that they had a temporary bassist filling in for the regular one who was unavailabe for the tour. the bassist was amusing, he seemed to have a good time and managed to rock out on the real slow songs too.

    mogwai - this was my first mogwai show, is this what they usually do? they were soo loud.. i made earplugs out of toilet paper, that helped considerably. they were very energetic and explosive. for the climaxes they'd add so much distortion and delay that the sound would gather into a blistering white noise, and they'd sustain that for quite a while. aside from the insane climaxes, my only complaint is that the bass was so loud that during the soft bits it overwhelmed the guitars.

    then on to ted's wrecking yard for the constellation acts (hangedup and exhaust). mogwai(who were amusingly loud and silly) and bardo pond attended this show as well, it was nice to see them in the audience.

    from clifton tully:

    they could have walked off the stage after five songs, and no one would have been disappointed. such an impact mogwai made from the first strokes of mogwai fear satan. in it's full glory it seemed as though this would be the blistering highlight of the show. but this early into the set, never mind that they're playing at 7:00 at night cause they want us punters out of the facility in time for the clubbers.

    but it went on in full glorious mogwai splendor. each song seemed to get more intense, the complete surprise of untitled bringing a short slower pace to the set early before full on scottish guitar army fury. the surprises never ended when ithica appeared next, a short run through right off the album, but the distortion all different. xmas steps next, the crowd is totally silent, one fool who does shout out during the song is quickly chastised by the crowd.

    then big e is played, a fine song indeed, sounding wonderful already. the band so far appears as they always do, hammering their guitars with unified force. but it is when you don't know jesus is played next do things take an unusual turn. stuart's lead sounds off for some reason, some turn their heads to each other as the first main build begins. he then cuts off all worries taking over the whole venue with a screeching distorted lead of the chorus. it's mind blowing in volume and intensity. this may be the most insane sound i've ever heard them play (and i've seem em at glasto 99 and 3 other times). stuart raises his left fist in the air he liquifies the drums of all us foolish bare-eared patrons. but there's more...

    helicon 1 is beautiful but an expected run through. followed by the "last song of the night" and then to the delight of all true mogwai fans in the packed and never cleared building like herod begins. this version has a gentler build up to the first climax with stuart leading. he then stops and the whole band take a twenty second breather before exploding into the intense attack of herod. a truly great close out.

    the encore seems unecessary, i had just witnessed the greatest show of my life by any band, but no one is leaving the building, there simply must be more. no jewish hymn this time though as secret pint is played. many cheer as stuart steps up to the mic. this is mixed in with two rights make one wrong, which nothing can really describe. fifteen minutes of loud distortion unlike anything on rock action. stuart gives a smile to dominic then throws his sweatshirt hood onto his head to further muffle the chaotic loudness.

    this show was insanely loud, i know now what that blunderous night in paris must have been like during jewish hymn. after two days the ears are still ringing, and a lesson has been learned by many like me. bring no ear plugs for mogwai and ye shall pay in the most glorious of ways possible.