Mogwai Graced the Presence of the City of Bangkok for the First Time

image taken from www.youngteam.co.uk

December 2011, MOGWAI, among the world-famous band from Scotland made their very first time debut concert in Thailand. The crowd that night varied from students to people in their late thirties, both male and female. And I was among them who had the privileged to witness them as well as the others who were lucky enough to be able to gained a spot there that night. It’s not very hard to feel the intense anticipation in the air for these five-piece Glasgow band they had worshipped since 1995.

Mogwai’s set starts with their latest album opener, “White Noise”, that quickly wash over the crowd and with that, the proceedings 90minutes with the set effortlessly shifted along with its beautiful soundscapes, their intricate layers and harmonic movements syncing on and stirring different emotions in the crowd. The set leaned on their recent album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, with the mover “Rano Pano”, “Mexican Grand Prix” and “You’re Lionel Richie” being my personal highlight, as well as highlights from their back catalogue.

On stage, Mogwai don’t play rock star. There is no stage gimmickry, the fancy customes, or hair whips, they have found their own way to genuinely communicate and they do this purely with music. For a band with a repertoire of songs largely without words, this is especially impressive.

Behind the band were projected images from colourful lights to cityscapes that helps enhance the atmosphere. By the time the main set closes with the epic and familiar “Mogwai Fear Satan”, everyone present have just experienced a trance-like state from a musical journey presented for over an hour. To try and explain the magic with words is almost impossible as a legend had just graced the presence of the city of Bangkok.