It’s been only hours since the festival ended, and I’m already ready to re-live it. A huge debate has been going on inside my head on how to properly enunciate Fuck Buttons‘ name. After watching them this Wednesday it became clear that emphasis belongs on the ‘Fuck’, as in ‘fuck that’, or ‘fuck you’. Fuck Buttons. What brang me this clarity is the sheer abrasiveness of the pair’s set. Sure, at times they just stood in front of their respective instruments, but even then the music was enough to cause comotion. To those not familiar, this may have seemed like an exhausting affair; but anyone with respect for their album would agree that it was a near flawless recreation, and a great start for the festival.
On the easier side of things was Mogwai, who headlined the set at the Roseland on Wednesday. While Mogwai are a force to be reconed with on record, the crossover comes across as sort of a bore. Such a cohesive set of songs can seemingly only transfer over if preformed in its entirety. To pick a few here and there becomes distracting and incoherent. Song by song though, Mogwai played perfectly. I guess when watching a band who’s been together for so long it should be no surprise that the preformers play tight together. In the case of instrumental music though, this is the true measure of talent when it comes to playing live. Mogwai nailed it, and although I’d still rather sit at home and listen, I can now check Mogwai off of my list of bands I’ve always wanted to see.
Unfortunately these two acts were all I managed to catch Wednesday night, but you’d sympathize if you had stepped into berbati’s that night. From what I’m told, the Old 97’s rocked the house.
Posted By David Hutchinson
[...] year’s MusicFest NW differed quite a bit from last year’s. 2008’s festivities showcased a number of old favorites, but the focus seemed largely on some burgeoning [...]