Mogwai provides Toronto with a straightforward rock show

By: Colin Rabyniuk –

Mogwai in Toronto. June 18, 2012. Photo by Alfred Hermida.

Mogwai’s set last night at the Pheonix delivered on all expectations, except for maybe one.  It was, afterall, Mogwai, the most consistent band of the last 20 years.

The music was loud and chillingly clear; played with a kind of tectonic ambiance. At times it was slow and unconcerned, then suddenly quaking with volume and distortion.

This has always been Mogwai’s MO from the beginning. Their music is simultaneously delicate and heavy, faint and expansive, yet forcefully close. Perhaps it is this gripping dichotomy that attracts Mogwai’s predominantly young and wide-eyed audience; their lives seemingly just as conflicted and beautiful.

While some bands lean heavy on stage presence and crowd interaction, Mogwai abstain from that part of a performance. The Scots rarely spoke during their set and held a stage presence which could generously be described as “contained.”

The band played mostly newer tracks to the sole dismay of one fan in particular. From the end of the first song to when singer/guitarist Stuart Braithwaite told him to “shut the fuck up,” the fan persistently yelled for their early shoegaze track Christmas Steps.

The audience was grateful when Braithwaite shut him down.

Toronto band Odonis Odonis opened the show. They played an impressive, spaced-out surf rock, heavy on distortion and electronics. Imagine a moodier, cooler Metric, inspired more by Sonic Youth and Velvet Underground.

Between their gear and Mogwai’s, Odonis Odonis was pushed to the front third of the stage. Their stripped down drum kit sat perpendicular to the crowd facing the other members huddled on the side. It worked, however, bringing their trenchant performance to the fore.