Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Mogwai at Pearl Street

Matthew Harrison/Collegian

NORTHAMPTON – Earth-shattering post rockers Mogwai performed their instrumental fare for a packed house at the Pearl Street Night Club in Northampton last Saturday.

The Scottish quintet has kept busy this year touring the world in promotion of its latest album, ‘The Hawk is Howling.’ April marked the beginning of its North American tour, making waves with its heavily instrumental sound all across the nation.

Opening the show were fellow Scotsmen The Twilight Sad. Taking cues from the elaborately tiered instrumentation of Mogwai, they combined lashing guitars with the thick Scottish drawl of frontman James Graham.

The band lived up to its reputation for hard hitting, yet highly melodic tunes that verge on the post-rock categorization. The band has made a name for itself performing its unconventional yet poignant rock with such acts as the Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins and Snow Patrol.

Mogwai’s best know song, ‘Cold Days From the Birdhouse,’ off of 2007’s ‘Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters’ struck a nerve with the post-rock crowd, beginning with instrumental reflection and building to anthemic proportions.

The five-man band performed a fitting intro to one of its greatest musical influences.

Purveying a noticeably more polished sound, Mogwai took the Pearl Street stage to an uproar that rivaled the volume of its music.

The band opened with ‘Yes! I am a Long Way From Home’ from its 1997 debut, ‘Young Team.’ The song served to quietly introduce the band’s fascination with variations on structure and dynamics.

‘I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead,’ one of the more popular songs from ‘The Hawk is Howling,’ was next on the set list. The haunting keyboard melodies from the fingers of Barry Burns serve as the foundation for fuzzy guitar riffs that seem to multiply exponentially as the song progresses.

The merch booth even served up tees with Morrison’s mug and the message ‘I’m Dead’ for fans of the new tune.

While the band itself is not the most captivating of performers, its sound speaks for itself. The addition of aurora borealis-like lighting effects made for what one concertgoer called, ‘a complete audio-visual experience.’

One did not have to take in the lighting or catch a glimpse of the band to grasp of their technical prowess, however. Each song was performed with the passion and precision of Mogwai’s recorded work.

Fan-favorite ‘Auto Rock’ kicked off with Burns drilling sparse melodies to the timely support of Martin Bulloch on drums.

One constant throughout the show was Mogwai’s persistently close attention to dynamics. As evident on the band’s recorded work, it plays heavily on the contrast created between ambience and uproar.

Songs such as ‘Like Herod’ were not for the weak of heart, punishing unwary listeners with explosions of sound bursting forth from near silence. The song was brilliantly performed, though verged on unbearable decibel levels at times.

‘Batcat,’ another new tune off ‘The Hawk is Howling,’ practically brought down the walls of the nightclub with ferociously loud guitar components.

During the encore, Braithwaite broke out the vocoder, an analysis/synthesis system, and performed ‘Hunted by a Freak’ off of ‘Happy Songs For Happy People.’ Undistinguishable lyrics melt into the majestic guitar soundscape, making for an ethereal experience.

Performing 13 songs, including the two-song encore, the set clocked in at a little more than an hour.

The only complaint to be had was from the sheer exposure to such solid blocks of sound for an extended period of time. Even so, the consistency with which the band was able to turn out these overwhelming tunes was something to be admired.

Standing before the virtuosic performers was the musical equivalent of staring down the solid rock face of a mountain, both a terrifying and awe-inspiring experience at the same time.

Mogwai’s music is something of a journey for the senses. As a listener, it is easy to get lost in their hypnotically rhythmic sound. It comes as no surprise that the band is cited as one of post rock’s biggest influences.

Angela Stasiowski can be reached at [email protected].

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