Mogwai @ Danforth Music Hall (Toronto, ON) on December 5, 2017 [Photos & Show Review]

The only thing better than seeing Mogwai live in a calendar year is seeing Mogwai live twice that same year. In the same venue, no less, Mogwai laid waste to eardrums twice over, performing the Atomic soundtrack live in January, and then coming back last week touring Every Country’s Sun (on Temporary Residence).

Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchison, Barry Burns, Alex Mackay and Cat Myers delivered another amazing 100-minute audio assault upon this Toronto audience, performing 6 of the 11 new songs on Every Country’s Sun, Mogwai’s 9th studio offering. Each of these new songs fit right into their repertoire of trippy space-rock like songs long established as touring classics.

Right out of the gate they opened the evening with “Crossing the Road Material,” the longest (and best) song on Every Country’s Sun, setting the tone for the evening as something special. “Party in the Dark,” the closest thing I’ve ever heard to a radio-friendly Mogwai track, was also well-received tonight – with Stuart singing. It’s one of only a few Mogwai tunes that feature vocals.

“Cody”, “Rano Pano”, “I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead”, and the mind-bending live presentation of “Mogwai Fear Satan” along with the encore of “Remurdered” and “We’re No Here” kept the Mogwai zealots very happy this evening. “Mogwai Fear Satan”, the crushing highlight of any live Mogwai performance tends to run past the 15-minute mark when performed, boasting an earth-shattering crescendo that would have even Kevin Shields covering his ears for the sonic part of the song. It was phenomenal, as always. I saw a few people leaving minutes before the song reached its apex, and went to grab one of the guys to tell him he was going to miss the best bit. Dude was walking out with his phone up in front of him, and thus, he didn’t deserve to see it.

Mogwai is a band that you see once, and tend to keep going back to. I don’t think I’ve missed a Toronto show in the past decade, and my life is so much more enriched because of this. They are truly an inspirational band, with top marks for tonight’s performance, which ranks amongst the best I’ve seen from them.

Mogwai Setlist:

01. Crossing the Road Material
02. Friend of the Night
03. Party in the Dark
04. Cody
05. Rano Pano
06. Battered at a Scramble
07. Killing All the Flies
08. Don’t Believe the Fife
09. I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead
10. Every Country’s Sun
11. Mogwai Fear Satan
12. Old Poisons
Encore:
13. Remurdered
14. We’re No Here