Mogwai, Edinburgh review: 'epic riffing, chiming keyboards'

Mogwai rounded off their European tour with an air of end-of-term celebration at this sold out Usher Hall date. Much of that party energy was down to their giddy special guest Kathryn Joseph, making no effort to suppress her glee at her situation on a bill with her Rock Action label bosses and her much mellower labelmates Cloth. The latter’s set was as unassuming and soothing as Joseph’s was intensely mesmeric. The warm tones of her electric piano softened her unrelenting arpeggios and added a sinister twinkle to her siren spells.

Headliners Mogwai have a new album, The Bad Fire, to play out and hit the stage with a couple of taster tracks. The Barry Burns-led bliss of God Gets You Back combined Radiohead-style synth propulsion overlaid with some epic riffing while the guitar frontline took the lead on Hi Chaos, with chiming keyboards cutting through.

The material from the new album showcased the varied sonic palette of a band now 30 years into a career they never sought to have. They have even almost written some pop songs. Fanzine Made of Flesh was a big melodic bruiser with cute vocoder vocals from Stuart Braithwaite, previous single Ritchie Sacramento a pleasing slice of shoegaze pop and Take Me Somewhere Nice a delicate reflection backed by Luke Sutherland on violin.

Fans of the old quiet-then-loud dynamic were served well with the bare opening then searing assault of early single Ithica 27 Φ 9, the encroaching juggernaut of Christmas Steps, topped off with a slow air from Sutherland, and the athletic drums and deafening jolt of Mogwai Fear Satan.

There will likely always be a place in their set for this consistent showstopper and the devotional behemoth that is My Father, My King but the headlong gallop and copious whammy bar action of another new track, Lion Rumpus, was a lot more fun.

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