Mogwai (Manchester Academy)

As I have been waiting to see Mogwai for many a year- tonight was always going to be seminal for me. We are treating to a fantastic bill of Errors and Fuck Buttons- the latter offer Mogwai-esque post-rock but with a dancier element, which despite an awful crowd turnout, goes down well with the small congregation. Fuck Buttons attract a far more healthier crowd, and whilst I wasn't expecting much- I enjoy the album in certain moods- Fuck Buttons blow me away. First- the volume. Excruciatingly loud- the throat shredding screams pierce your soul, and the beats pound your head into submission. Impressed to say the least. But of course, we are here to see Mogwai...and god they don't disappoint. The next hour and a half is a sonic onslaught of leviathan scale. New songs such as "The Precipice" hold their own alongside classics such as "Cody" and "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong"; and thank every deity known to man...they play "Xmas Steps"- the song that brought me to Mogwai's bosom. I had met one of the guys from Fuck Buttons the previous night at Shred Yr Face Tour, who told me they had played "Xmas Steps" for them as it was one of their' birthdays, but they were tired of playing it- so I was worried...but they played it...and it was all I had ever hoped it would be. If the set was like being attacked by a swarm of brutes- the encore was how you felt the next morning. Returning with "Like Herod" Mogwai continue to force deafness upon you. Your ears hate you, your heart hurts from the pounding bass, but its beautiful- a sick deluded masochistic beauty. They finish with "Batcat" from the new album, and they make the album version sound prudish, and pre-pubescent. Live, "Batcat", is like a lions roar, and seals itself as a classic in the Mogwai canon. I stumble from through the doors at the end, ears ringing, ears glazed over trying to take in what just happened...all I can say is- two days on and my ears are still ringing...