By keith valfreya | april 17, 2025
A quiet Monday night buzz echoes along Queen Street as I make my way to tonight’s venue, History. Outside the building, a line has already formed and is steadily entering the building, however, I’m not expecting tonight’s path to exhibit quite such an uncomplicated quality. Tonight’s headliner, known for their winding, post-rock journeys through dynamic soundscapes, is Mogwai.
Formed in Glasgow in 1995, Mogwai have long been synonymous with expansive, cinematic, sonic atmospheres. Over the years, they’ve collected critical acclaim and a loyal global fanbase, with highlights including their 2021 album As the Love Continues, which topped the UK charts and earned a Mercury Prize nomination. Their music has also been featured in numerous film and television soundtracks, including the 2022 true crime miniseries, Black Bird. Currently touring in support of their latest album, The Bad Fire, Mogwai continues to push the boundaries of post-rock, a genre they helped coalesce over two decades ago.
The night begins, however, with an explosive set from Brainiac, whose influence still echoes through the alternative music scene and have been cited as inspiration from the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Muse, The National, and The Mars Volta. And, after ending their set by handing a guitar to somebody in the audience to play around with during the final song, Mogwai finally takes the stage. At this point the energy in the building shifts into something a bit more introspective, “God Gets You Back,” opens their set. Over the course of the night, Mogwai guides the audience on an expedition through a dynamic soundscape. Setting the stage with something brooding and meditative before eruptive into visceral, overwhelming walls of sound. New tracks like “Hi Chaos” and “Lion Rumpus” stretched out seamlessly into a mix of older tracks such as “Ritchie Sacramento” to create an expansive, layered, emotional experience, before finishing the night the night with a towering encore performance of “My Father My King”.
The house lights blink back to life and the final notes of distortion fade away, placing the audience back where the began the night. As I begin to make my way home, I feel as though I’m returning from somewhere intangible. My souvenir, a reminder that journeys don’t always require a map, just an open mind and an experienced shepherd.
Keith Valfreya is a freelance photojournalist for Majestic Music Magazine. See more of his work here
