OMFG!!!!! I FORGOT MY EARPLUGS!!!!!
but then again it wasn't that bad of a mistake. my ears still ring of course but i'm happy i got to experience it to the full.
the opening band, called uncle john and whitelock, was of five people with a singer who was a cross between 50s rock'n roll stars, 60's punk and nick cave, with a pinch of post rock. he sang and kicked about - usually the screens - as he played. i spend a good 20 minutes in risk of getting slapped by his guitar's keyboard as i was right at the front. then he ended up throwing himself (falling? i'm really not sure) on the audience. and it was over.
mogwai... mogwai... need i say how much they mean to me... need i say all those tiny things their music makes me feel... need i recount every little incident that took place as i was listening to their songs over the years... would you like to know about the first ever time i heard 2 rights? or may nothing but happiness come through your door? or even small children in the background? shall i tell you about an entire summer i listened to nothing else but happy songs, killing all the flies to be more precise? so when barry walked on the stage, i knew it was real and we were safe because i think although i bought my ticket months ago, i didn't really comprehend that i was going to see MOGWAI. not any other band. so stuart was there too and they started to play. play? what mogwai used to do to me was to shake me or crush me or mess up the beating of my heart. but it turns out when live, mogwai "touches" you. not metaphorically. the music literally touches you. every cell in your body gets to feel it. the bass shakes the floor under your feet and the guitars embrace you that you get goosebumps. it is the most physical thing. so i was almost wanting the song to end when they played a mellow piece so that they would be loud and i'd feel that thing again. when the songs rose i found myself taking random deep breaths because i felt like i had to make sure the music wasn't occupying that much space, that there was still some more in me for air in case i want to fill my lungs. it's intense but not over emotional or sad or happy or nothing i know the word for. the closest thing to it i can tell you may be sex. it is purely physical, purely sensual. it's not for only one specific part of you, it's for your entire being. i was smiling because i was fulfilled and i was keeping my eyes closed in order to feel it all over me to the fullest.
in the end stuart was left alone on the stage and he tore all the chords of one of his guitars and left it/us hanging there on the microphone stand while we all made strange noises. and another one of his guitars had a sticker that read "i'm overrated".
so this was my birthday gift to myself. it's nice to be 27.