Mogwai - Live
[Glasgow Tramway Theatre]

It’s common knowledge that bands up the ante when playing in their hometown. But when the band in question is Mogwai, what with their already hazardous volume levels and stunning instrumental sounds, there is very little room left for improvement. Yet at this Triptych Festival showcase performance the mighty ‘Gwai were like men possessed laying waste to a venue of expectant punters with what must have been recording breaking volume levels of surging sound.

Playing for an hour and a half mixing classics with a fair amount of new tracks from forthcoming and tentatively titled album 'The Hawk Is Howling', this gig was amongst the best Mogwai performances this reviewer has witnessed. It’s more of the same in regards to the new material, picking up were 'Mr. Beast' left off, the band built wall upon wall of sound to breaking point before unleashing torrent after torrent of distorted fury melting faces and shaking foundations with reverberating bass rumble.

Of the new tracks 'Scotland’s Shame', 'Jim Morrison', 'Batcat' (the first single according to guitarist Stuart Braithwaite) and set opener 'Precipice' were particularly memorable. 'Friend of the Night' again climbed from its sedate recorded version into a live epic, multi-instrumentalist Barry Burns’ astutely performed piano particularly propelling the song. 'Ithica 27-9' gave older fans a thrill and still sounds as fresh as ever while signaling a change in tact from the band, leaving a merely loud sound in favour of an increasingly life-threatening volume.

Like an exhausting marathon, many fans were clearly struggling with the decibel levels and earplugs were selling like hot-cakes. With most in attendance on their knees, either worshipping at the altar of Mogwai or trying to protect themselves from the ‘assault’ the band broke into a stunning rendition of 'Like Herod', a timely reminder of the 10th anniversary retrospective release of the seminal 'Young Team'.

With gigantic waves of guitar slicing through the crowd, probably shattering teeth and glasses, the Glaswegian quartet later launched into a closing duo of '2 Rights Make 1 Wrong' and 'We’re No Here' rounding things of spectacularly with the now obligatory 10 minutes worth of oppressive feedback. Having once penned a track called 'Mogwai Fear Satan', it is clear they are now the devil’s own house band, channeling his spirit to into such a monumental sound.

An awe-inspiring experience, I am just praying that the high-pitched tone/drone I am currently experiencing in my ears passes and clears very soon. Perhaps I should have bought earplugs?