years ago, when we saw mogwai's drunken guitarist falling into the front stage at 11 o'clock in the morning at pukkelpop, we didn't really expect this band to get into torhout/werchter (as it was called back then). nowadays, the noise of our favourite scots sells amazingly well, so rock werchter invited them with a good spot in the programme.
it wasn't clear how the festivalgoers would react to the slightly 'strange' sound of the band. that is, because mogwai is mostly about instrumental noisescapes, mixed with rare silent or deformed singing. the first songs kinda flew over the heads, but when the ten year old 'ithica' unleashed its power, we became one with stuart braithwaite and co.
'glasgow mega snake', the most wild and intense track from their latest, mr. beast, and the very cure-like 'skeletons' even got along the remaining sean paul fans. although it was all a bit quieter than we're used from
mogwai, the band didn't make give in: even at werchter, their superb 'mogwai fear satan' proved to be indispensable.
too bad that during the more intimate parts, live was to be heard from the main stage. guitarist john cummings must have been bedazzled by this, because he accidentally stomped his noise-pedals a tad too early. you see, even the greatest make mistakes.
where 'hunted by a freak' sounded a bit poppy for a short while, 'helicon 1' and especially the closer 'we're no here' exploded into huge bursts of guitarfeedback like rock werchter hasn't encountered in a hundred years.
thank you, come again. on 27th september in the cirque royale, for example.
christophe demunter
