Mogwai & Isis

In the last 35 years, the nearly century-old Fillmore has played host to countless rock bands, billing such diverse acts as Black Flag, Willie Nelson, and of course, flower power rockers The Grateful Dead. The Fillmore is the perfect venue for one to see a show with nearly 1000 other people and still experience an intimate setting.
Arriving early on Monday night, some friends and I milled around outside of the theater to share a bottle of whiskey and wait for a few other friends to show up. While loitering on the corner we heard a low rumble coming from inside the Fillmore. Isis was starting their set. No longer could we afford to wait for our tardy friends, the rock had begun.
Entering the Fillmore, we made our way toward the stage as Isis began their set. For those who have not had the pleasure of listening to Isis I can only describe their music as brooding ambient metal that your grandmother would not approve of.
Isis' set consisted solely of songs from their latest album, Oceanic. Their set was extremely tight and true to the studio recording with only a few instances where they strayed briefly, with the usual five-minute rock epic becoming a nine-minute rock epic. Regardless, those who were there to witness Isis were thrown into a frenzy and they all showed it in their own way. The longhaired metal dudes banged their heads and made the devil rock hand sign, the bros gave one another high fives after each song, and the strangest of all was a random hippie girl who moved around doing some weird hippie dance. I could only assume that she was deaf and she thought she was at a Phish concert.
My only disappointment with Isis was that their hour-long set passed far too quickly, and although Oceanic is amazing, it would have been nice to hear a few songs from Celestial or The Red Sea.
After a short intermission of 20 minutes or so and a five-dollar, seven-ounce Budweiser later, Mogwai took the stage. By this time the crowd had doubled and The Fillmore looked to be nearly at full capacity. The crowd pushed towards the front and Mogwai began.
Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Mogwai has firmly established itself in the post-rock genre along with the likes of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and A Silver Mount Zion. Mogwai creates a tranquil, feedback ridden, predominately vocal-free soundtrack that is perfect for marathon tantric sex or a Sunday morning of hallucinogenics.
Before the show my only experience with Mogwai was their 1999 release Come on Die Young, an amazingly brutal and chaotic, yet somehow soothing album. I was excited to see Mogwai in person and hear what new sounds they had in store for me.
They did not disappoint. The set consisted of a few tracks from Come on Die Young but mainly focused on songs that I did not recognize. These songs I assume are from their new album Happy Songs for Happy People. The newer songs seem to be taking a step forward from the harshness of Come on Die Young to form a melodic, trance-inspiring sound that inherently begs for a more mainstream audience.
Mogwai's set lasted for nearly an hour-and-a-half, including the encore, leaving many in the audience begging for more. However, the lights were quick to come on and the ushers even quicker to push people out of the auditorium.
Overall, the evening was an amazing night of emotional, instrumentally driven music that was well worth the $18.50. Those who get the chance to see either Isis or Mogwai best do so.
– David Watkins
– Photos by Lania Cortez

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