Mogwai live in Kuala Lumpur

Mogwai's first ever Malaysian concert last Wednesday (21 January) was a blast. No, seriously. It literally was a BLAST. As in "Mummy, where can I buy new ear drums?" kinda blast. The 1,200-odd people present were subject to a guitar-grunting wall of sound from these five Scots that could probably withstand 12 plasma cannons being fired at it.

For gig-deprived Malaysians who endured hours of congested traffic and dinosaur-sized rain to get to the venue, being sonically assaulted was the least we could ask for. A select few purists might gripe over the fact that the set was heavy on material from the band's weaker recent albums or that classics like 'Cody' and 'Ex-Cowboy' were skipped (the band played both songs two days later in Singapore). Others might whine over the band's general lack of melodic catchiness or the fact that crowd interaction rarely went beyond Stuart Braithwaite saying "Thank you very much" every few songs.

But heck, this kind of stuff is for steroids on steroids. Some of the new piano-centric stuff actually translated very well live, particularly 'Thank You Space Expert'. There was also 'Christmas Steps'. Oh, and 'Helicon Pt 1', which is the soundtrack to heaven's gates. And suddenly, going to bed with ringing ears sounds like a very worthwhile proposition indeed.

Special props go to Tuborg for sponsoring the event and for giving three contest winners Denvin, Bob and Ben the chance to meet Mogwai in person. Additional kudos to Soundscape Records for organising the event.

Mogwai set list:
1. The Precipice
2. Scotland's Shame
3. Friend Of The Night
4. I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School
5. Hunted By A Freak
6. Mogwai Fear Satan
7. I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead
8. Christmas Steps
9. I Know You Are But What Am I?
10. Thank You Space Expert
11. Helicon Pt 1
12. 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong

Encore:
13. Like Herod
14. Batcat

For those of you who went for the Singapore gig, tell us how it went!