It was a warm, humid night in Nashville, Tennessee, and we all turned out to see Mogwai at the Exit/In. It’s that frustrating time of the year before the club owners give in and turn on the air conditioning to keep the crowd drinking more. Warm night = cold beer.
A young band from Glasgow, called Errors, opened the night with some moody electronic indie rock. Great synths, live drums, and a good mix of organic creation vs. programmed.
It’s a treat to see Mogwai, a band that I’ve enjoyed for more than a decade — I guess that makes me old, right? The crowd was a wonderful combination of folks my age who have been rocking out to the band since Come On Die Young, and younger kids who were introduced to the band by the US success of Mr. Beast. The Nashville date on this US tour had been added late, so seeing such a large, diverse crowd come out on short notice was great. I personally want to support all the international artists I can since visa trouble has become a common theme as of late — I want them to know we’re happy they went to the effort to make it to this side of the pond.
Mogwai delighted our ears with a handful of songs off the new record, Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will, before reaching back into their catalog with “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong” from Rock Action and “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead” from The Hawk is Howling to name a couple. Being the final night of this North American tour they paid their thanks to James Hamilton of Errors for filling in for Martin Bulloch on drums. All in all it was a wonderful night. Mogwai did not disappoint — the thick-layered melodies washed over us and we were sent home happy.