Mogwai live at South Facing review - shaking the Crystal Palace Bowl. Plus dates for 2026 gigs for your diary

Alex
11 minutes ago
2 min read

There’s something quietly exhilarating about a festival line-up that blends earnest intimacy with thunderous grandeur—and this South Facing evening delivered just that.

First up, The Twilight Sad, this time bolstered by Grant Hutchison, the late Scott Hutchison’s brother from Frightened Rabbit—now anchoring the band with thunderous, heartfelt drumming. It was touching to see that familial bond ripple through the rhythms, giving the brooding, layered post-punk an extra heartbeat. Their sound tonight leaned into post-punk and post-rock, with gloomy yet cathartic guitar walls and James Graham's gravel-toned vocals that felt like honest confessions. A highlight: the reverb-drenched catharsis of a song in the vein of “Fourteen Autumns…”—classic Twilight Sad emotional surges, intensified by Grant’s distinctive percussive drive.

The Twilight sad band performing at South Facing festival Crystal Palace — The Twilight Sad, Brooding beautiful Post-punk.

Lankum followed, sweeping across the stage with a shimmering folk-toned palette: think wind-kissed acoustic guitars, mournful fiddle accents, and then—out of nowhere—the unmistakable medieval drone of a Hurdy-gurdy. Moments later, the electric bagpipes kicked in, managing to sound both ancient and surprisingly punk at the same time. It was the sort of glorious curveball that made the crowd grin mid-song. Their stand-out track? “Woven Shadows” (not its real title but you get the drift)—a softly hypnotic song that wove traditional motifs with modern hush beautifully. This is modern, yet in-your-face, but beautiful folk that is a long way indeed from the kind of folk you thought your grandparents might have listened to.

Mogwai band, thunderous Post rock. — Mogwai, the Behemoths or Post-rock. A band you must see live at least once in your life.

But the true seismic event of the evening? Mogwai, whose set was—without exaggeration— loud. This wasn’t just volume, that would be pointless and not what Mogwai is about, it was a full-body experience: sprawling, instrumental post-rock arrangements that ranged from glacial ambience to volcanic crescendo. They wielded delay-soaked guitars, shimmering synth drones, and thunderous distortion like alchemists. Mogwai’s jagged dynamics—quiet then apocalyptic—were spellbinding. Stand-out tracks might have included the dramatic “Young Team” era climaxes or newer compositions with sprawling titles from As the Love Continues, cinematic and expansive.

On a separate note, Mogwai release their music through Rock Action Records, their very own Glasgow-based label—an independent bastion founded and run by the band, giving them full creative control. It’s a fitting backbone to their fiercely uncompromising sonic explorations. As a band they are not beholden to any outside influences on their craft unlike many others.

This was a night defined by warmth and intimacy, punctuated by the occasional ground-shaking roar. The Twilight Sad stirred souls (especially with Grant Hutchison’s rhythmic drum work providing the link to their old friends and colleagues in the scene), Lankum enchanted with their genre-bending bag of musical tricks, and Mogwai pulverised eardrums in the most magnificent way. If you ever have half a chance to catch The Twilight Sad or—better yet—Mogwai live, leap at it. Both are unforgettable on stage.