Scottish Post-Rock Stars Mogwai to Play Beijing, Mar 14
One of the world's most influential and popular post-rock troupes is set to hit the stage in Yonghegong this spring. Yes, six years after their sold-out concert in Shanghai, Glaswegian band Mogwai are back on the Mainland for a Mar 14 Beijing concert, courtesy of concert promoters New Noise, at the Lama Temple-adjacent Tango 3F.
Local outfits like Future Orients and Wang Wen hail the Scottish band as a key influence, which shouldn't really come as a surprise. Though nearly all their songs are instrumentals, Mogwai's music doesn't need lyrics to speak volumes (frontman Stuart Braithwaite addressed this in a 1999 interview saying: "I think most people are not used to having no lyrics to focus on. Lyrics are a real comfort to some people"). One need only hear the steadily moaning guitar riffs on "Remurdered", or the euphorically high pitched, vibrato rife guitar solo on "Simon Ferocious", (both from the band's 2014 LP Rave Tapes) to become instantly immersed in Mogwai's distinctive sound.
When I interviewed Mogwai keyboardist Barry Burns circa Rave Tapes' release he called it the band's "happiest LP yet". Three years after that album opened to rave reviews, Mogwai followed it up this past September with their ninth studio LP, Every Country's Sun. Unlike its more joyous predecessor, this year's release has a more restless vibe that better reflects the current dire social climate in the West. Opening track "Coolverine" features percussion and guitar riffs played in staccato punches that are powerful enough to knock the figurative wind out and listeners, while "Party In the Dark" is one of the band's few songs to feature vocals, all of which are sung in yearning, melancholy tones, and lyrics searching "hungry for a piece of mind." Popular music blog Pitchfork praised the LP as Mogwai's best release in years because it "contains the same bratty conviction that defined their greatest records, like there’s something truly at stake."
Finally, bilingual Beijingers will recognize the band's moniker is derived from Chinese term for "demon," though they use the Cantonese spelling rather than the Mandarin one, and were inspired not to use it not by Sinology but rather because of their love for the creatures in the '80s cult classic Gremlins. That, of course, won't deter Beijing gig diehards from what's sure to be one of the best shows of 2018.
Mogwai will perform at Tango 3F on Mar 14 at 9pm. Tickets are RMB 360 presale, RMB 450 at the door. For more information, click "Read more".
Photo: Pitchfork
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