We Are Scientists at Koko: Club NME 26/07/2013

So I got to see one of my favourite bands twice in 28 hours, lucky me! This gig was very different from the night before at XOYO. Because they were playing a club night, the set was naturally shorter but they played all their hits so that isn't necessarily a bad thing. They finished on 'After Hours' which I've already mentioned is my favourite song of theirs and fortunately all the on stage banter was different from the night before as I was a little worried it might be the same. Another great show but not as intimate as the night before, however We Are Scientists still manage to deliver a fantastic performance at half past midnight to a club full of drunken twats and therefore I am more than thrilled I got to see them two nights in a row. I love them!

Have you been to any NME club nights at Koko x

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We Are Scientists at XOYO 25/07/2013

We Are Scientists have long been one of my favourite bands. I've seen them live countless times and I firmly believe that 'With Love and Squalor' is one of the best indie albums of our time. When I was at uni they used to play gigs all the time but it's been a good few years since I last saw them live. When tickets for the XOYO show originally came on sale I wasn't able to get any so in the weeks leading up to the gig I was keeping an eye out until I managed to score one a few days before.

I'd never been to XOYO and as first impressions go I was pretty disappointed. The place has a random layout and the drinks are ridiculously overpriced. I know it's central London we're talking about but nearly £5 for a small bottle of cider is far from acceptable! The only redeeming quality about the venue is that it has about a 200 person capacity so for a band like We Are Scientists whom I love dearly it was great to see them in such a small and intimate space.

There were two support bands that evening, the first was Paint The Dark and I didn't like them very much. They seemed a little lacklustre and the lead singer awkwardly moved around the stage as if he was doing a bad impersonation of Matt Bellamy by playing lots of different instruments. The second support act were the Glaswegian band (I had to mention that) PAWS and I liked them very much. They're nice and noisy and sound a lot better live than their debut album would have you believe.

There are numerous reasons I love We Are Scientists live, one being their banter (I hate that word but it really is the best verb to describe their on stage chat) and their crowd pleasing energy. A lot of the time I'm not a huge fan of random chat between songs but Keith and Chris do it so well I always find myself laughing and wishing they'd talk for longer. Anyway, on to the music. They played a brilliant set full of old favourites like 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt', "It's A Hit' and 'The Great Escape' that always get the crowd jumping. They also played a ton of new stuff, I'm particularly found of the new album opener 'Rule Don't Stop' plus they squeezed in a couple unreleased songs as well. 'After Hours' is my favourite song (despite not even being on their first album) so I was delighted it was the finishing song pre encore. All in all the gig was fantastic and definitely one of the better times I've seen the band. Stay tuned for my second We Are Scientists gig because I saw them the following night at Koko, keen or what?

Do you like We Are Scientists, have you been to XOYO x

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Mogwai performing live to Zidane at the Barbican 26/07/2013

The tweet I wrote after this gig pretty much sums up this whole experience and I call it an experience because it was like no other gig I've ever been to.

"Holy f ing moly @mogwaiband were incredible. Like absolutely bloody amazing! One of my best gigs in recent times. Wow!"

Now before I launch into the review let me provide you with a little background info. Mogwai are a post rock band from Glasgow and are famous for their dramatic guitar music and ear splitting loud gigs. If you follow me on twitter you are probably well aware of my obsession with Glaswegian bands, that city just keeps breeding amazing musicians (by musicians I really mean singers with sexy accents) but that's really by-the-bye. Mogwai have been on my radar since my first year of uni but I never really gave them much notice as I was more interested in songs with lyrics... Now I'm kicking myself for not giving them the time of day and missing out on what would have been many a special gig, but honestly there is no point dwelling over 8 years worth of missed opportunities because that's just silly.

In 2006 Mogwai wrote the musical score for the film 'Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait' and about a month ago I discovered that they would be performing the soundtrack live to the film at the Barbican. I managed to buy the last two tickets for me and my boyfriend (he's a huge Mogwai fan) and going into the gig on Friday night I remember him saying to me, 'Mogwai and a film about football, this is going to be totally out of your comfort zone!' Oh how wrong he was!

I'd not been to a seated gig in a very long time or one where a film is projected onto the back of the stage for that matter but as the band performed for two hours I was completely and utterly mesmerized. It's actually quite hard for me to describe the gig, watching an entirely instrumental set is something I'm not used to and even though I don't enjoy football all that much the music worked so well with the film that I loved it. The film is basically a football match focused on Zidane showcasing his incredible skill using 17 different camera angels. I didn't even know that Zidane was such a big deal but even a football novice like me could tell he had mad skills. One of the highlights of the gig was during half time in the match where footage from around the world at the same time was shown. As the volume of the music increased to almost deafening levels I was transfixed, I knew this gig was going to be loud but I wasn't prepared for just how much, it was amazing! A band like Mogwai deserve a venue with exceptional sound quality and the Barbican did not dissapoint, even with our terrible seats the band sounded incredible. At times I wasn't even paying attention to the film because I was so infatuated with the noise.

After the film finished the band did a 3 song encore including the extremely loud 'Helicon pt 1' as the finisher. I came away thinking I need to see a proper Mogwai gig as soon as possible but unfortunately they aren't really touring properly at the moment. I am so glad I bought these tickets on a bit of a whim because it really was one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. I like loud music, I like music so loud that my ears want to bleed and Mogwai proved beyond doubt that they can deliver magnificent melodies at stupidly high volumes!

If you've never really listened to Mogwai before I really recommend this Guardian Music playlist x

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