Hot off the release of last fall’s The Hawk is Howling, Mogwai finally made their way to the Grand Ballroom of San Francisco’s Regency Center Sunday night. Los Angeles’ Dead Meadow joined Glasgow’s post-rock gods for what promised to be the perfect Bay to Breakers hangover cure. Review, photos and MP3s after the jump…

Dead Meadow

I’ve never been to the Grand Ballroom at the Regency Center before and within the first two minutes I was cursing myself for not bringing ear protection. Seriously, the sound bounces big time. But for Los Angeles’ Dead Meadow, it worked to their advantage. Their deliberate fuzz was at home in the echoes of the Grand Ballroom, creating an atmosphere worthy of a few bong hits.

As a three piece, the band relies heavily on guitarist Jason Simon to lay down psychedelic delay, auto-wah and other various effects during jams. Bassist Steve Kille and drummer Stephen McCarty keep it steady for the most part. That’s not to say the haze they produce is too alienating – as you start drifting into daydreams, they reel it in with a tight lick that gets your head nodding again. If you’re a fan of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, I highly recommend checking them out.

Mogwai

Mogwai is just a beautiful band. Sure, I understand that there are people who yawn at the idea of post-rock, a genre that is sometimes mocked as “movie music.” Repeating lines that inevitably dissolve into dramatic crescendos aren’t for everyone. But at the same time, I feel sorry for you if you’re never able to experience its emotional pull.

For the lovers, Sunday was an amazing night. Being at their live show is to stand in awe of the wall of sound they so expertly produce. It was so thick, so heavy, you could literally feel your rib cage shake with every bass note. Like snake charmers, Mogwai so enthralled me that it took a sudden burst of strobe lights to break my trance. Ok, maybe I was still drunk from Bay to Breakers…

But even the day’s hangover can’t deny the fact that Mogwai’s music expertly captures the complexity of modern experience. Mixing plucked guitar strings with sterile computer hums, they capture the facebook generation’s duality – both menacing and transcendental, it’s hard to really know how exactly to interpret their brooding catharsis (especially without vocals). In fact, I’m still trying to figure out if 2003’s Happy Songs for Happy People is a “completely” ironic title.

Were you at the show? Let us know what you felt by leaving a comment below.

MP3s: