Mogwai / English Teacher, Victoria Warehouse. 28th March 2025

English Teacher warming up for Mogwai seems like an odd pairing, but I love both bands so perhaps it’s not that odd and it certainly makes the ticket feel like a bargain. Tonight is part of the 6 Music Festival, variation across the vast British musical spectrum seemingly being the theme. You can’t miss this fact with BBC logos everywhere and a camera on massive crane sweeping over my head. It’s also being broadcast live I learn as the BBC Sounds notification pops up on my phone. It does feel like more of a showcase than a gig to start. Perhaps due to the careful radio friendly introduction from English Teacher. This Leeds band have risen rapidly. I last saw them in Night & Day not that long ago, yet here we are with them easily holding a large crowd in their palms. Break out single ‘The Worlds Biggest Paving Slab’ sounds pretty mega. I still think they sound better in a smaller room, but that’s not their fault. Victoria Warehouse can be hit or miss on the sound and with what’s to come later, the walls might be happy with something a little more contained to warm up. Anchored in an indie sound you might think you’ve heard it all before, but Lily is the magic spark. Her voice is sublime. As suited to matching squalling guitars as it is to ‘You Blister My Paint’, with just her voice and the piano, recently vacated by the girl playing it as she swaps to the cello, while the drummer takes her place at the piano. You’ve got to love a bit of stage craft, especially when the cameras are rolling. ‘Broken Biscuits’, an already unconventional song is pretty wild live. Lily taking to the piano herself, it’s an avant garde tour de force. Richard Hawley is then brought out for a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’ which I must say is pretty bloody marvellous. As is his pearly white jacket. What do you follow that with? “Would you forgive me if we played a hit?” Lily asks before ‘R&B’ is delivered with some vitriolic venom. They’ve clearly grown in confidence, a Mercury Prize winning record will do that I guess. The set cracks on with ‘Nearly Daffodils’ which is pretty stunning. They may be indie but they are pushing hard on all four walls, the ceiling and testing the floors foundations. Closing with ‘Albert Road’ after a little under 45 minutes. It sounds pretty phenomenal and I’m instantly looking forward to seeing them again this summer. As support bands go, you really couldn’t get much better.

I’ll admit though, I bought the ticket for one of the loudest bands I’ve ever heard, probably the loudest anyone’s heard in here, unless there are some fellow SunnO) fans in the building. Mogwai though bring the noise and melody. There’s some stunning stuff to wrap your ears around, but if like me you’re right down the front, you’d better have the ear plugs ready. After a 45 minute wait (honestly that’s pretty shit. I know this is billed as a festival, but there’s no need for such a long break between bands, we could’ve had longer sets), they finally take to the stage and ‘God Gets You Back’ from the latest record calms me down. Those warm dreamy synth flecked vocals wooze as the guitars soar. The Bad Fire is a brilliant record and we continue with ‘Hi Chaos’ as the earplugs go in and I see a few people heading away from the speaker stacks, realising just how much clout Mogwai pack. Some fat pissed fuck starts dancing and stumbling around during ‘Richie Sacramento’ so it’s time for me to move too, except I move closer to the stacks. You forget how many layers there are to Mogwai. ‘Autorock’s building piano underpins the fabric for all those dirty guitars and that solid single pounding drum. It’s utterly primal, mainlining deep inside you. The teasing menace of ‘Remurdered’ is them at perhaps their most cinematic, but boy is it a bouncy bugger when that synth kicks in. ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ is stand back in awe sort of stuff. Those drums are insane. Martin sounds like a full military regiment. It’s tender as it drops in the mid-section before detonating in a tsunami of guitars. It’s mind blowing and can really only be appreciated when in the room. A prefect display of pure power, although I bet it sounds decent on the radio too. ‘Lion Rumpus’ (they do have some great song titles) takes us into the break. All set there’s been some large drums, percussion, music stands and chairs teasing at the back of the stage. As the band return for the encore, so does a full brass band! “I fuckin love brass” declares the excitable woman next to me. Honestly don’t we all. Their warm sound is gorgeous on ‘Ether’. The brass does calm the band slightly on ‘Burn Girl Prom Queen’. A blast from the past that I’m not sure I’ve heard live before. It’s a lovely gentle hug of a song and they let the brass breathe with wonderful effect. Mogwai take control again for the finale of ‘2 Rights Make 1 Wrong’ which seems to weave a little bit of everything we’ve heard tonight into one satisfying conclusion. It’s a funny set though. Not the best I’ve seen them. Radio friendly perhaps, but certainly distinctive and Mogwai are always nothing less than stunning. Well done to the crane operator too, you got some lovely sweeping shots and didn’t knock anyone’s head off… although I suspect Mogwai took a few clean off.