thanks to ken.

festival info

'curiosa' touring festival, put together by the cure

stage 1 - the cure / interpol / the rapture / mogwai
stage 2 - cursive / the cooper temple clause / head automatica / scarling

home depot center (capacity 27,000)

reviews/comments

from kevin:

after tromping across some cal state campus area, i can hear mogwai starting their set in the background. grumbling ensures, as i really want to see their set and i have no idea how close we are. but sooner rather than later we arrive at the gate and make our way in as mogwai plays hunted by a freak.

mogwai was a band introduced to me through their presence on the curiosa bill. initially, i was geeked on seeing the cure and interpol, but didn't know much of the rapture or mogwai. well, i actually didn't know them at all. that was easily remedied (thanks, itunes music store!) and i soon became a big fan of mogwai. something about their album 'happy songs for happy people' really stuck the first couple of times i listened to it, probably the ebb and flow of the songs (soft/loud) and the melodies. so by the end of summer i had bought 2 more cds and an ep, and was looking forward to them. i don't know what they played prior to 'hunted by a freak' (thanks, la traffic), but that song wrapped as our seats were located (facing the setting sun, yikes!).

it was cool to see that quite a few people had turned out to see their set. i didn't recognize the next song, but the crowd was into it. knowing that it was already close to the end of their set (short set + long songs), i found myself hoping to hear 'ratts of the capitol', which seemed to be a likely set closer based on previous shows i read about. sure enough, that was their next (and final) song. they crushed it. the song is amazing to hear live, the guitars building and building over time, the piano playing alongside, ending up with a powerful crescendo when the piano is abandoned and the guitars take over full-time. it seemed apparent even in the short time i watched them that mogwai is a powerful live band and that an effort should be made to them at their own full show soon.