Youngish team fae the south v Young Team fae the north…
It’s a brave move to bring Bdrmm on this tour, those that have seen them know instantly these guys are challengers to the post-rock crown that Glasgow’s finest have paraded around the world for twenty-odd years.
Bdrmm take to the stage with a slow build-up and a crescendo finish – nothing new here, but it’s enough to grip and transfix the slowly-growing crowd trickling through the doors. Next up, the vocals kick in with a dash of The Cure in the mix, preceded by something somewhere between ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Kid A’ Radiohead.
The Hull quartet are shredding it like naturals by the end and it’s hard to tell who’s headlining this gig by the time they leave the stage. But one thing’s for sure – once the new album’s out they will be headlining in here next year.
Mogwai kick off with a stack of new material but it’s ‘New Paths To Helicon’ that grips the crowd like it always has since the early gigs, greeted by cheers like an old friend. The set continues to build until ‘How To Be A Werewolf’ kicks in, the room heating up as it thrashes around to its heavy metal / post-rock meltdown; it erupts like a volcano spewing all over the room crushing everyone in its path under its sheer weight .
We get some light relief with Mogwai having a stab at adding vocals on next track ‘Ritchie Sacramento’ before a double whammy of skull crushers: ‘Old Poisons’ and ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ are unleashed; a double uppercut that’s enough to knock anyone’s fillings out. We’re all on the ropes as they bid good night.
The band quickly return with a couple of encores and the evening ends in a final blow to the head with ‘My Father, My King’. 13 rounds in I can hear the bell ringing, or is that my tinnitus? It’s hard to tell. It’s been some fight but the ‘gwai edge it. My advice to Bdrmm next time: bring tongs, ya bass!