A band of gremlins has ravaged Barcelona tonight. The Scots Mogwai, who decided to call themselves that after the mogwais or “evil spirits” from Joe Dante’s 1984 film, have performed at Razzmatazz on the tour celebrating their thirty years of existence.
Read more Florentino counters Riquelme by announcing Mourinho as his coach
They performed this Wednesday as part of the Primavera a la ciutat program, prior and parallel to the main days of Primavera Sound, which start this Thursday at Parc del Fòrum. Half of Scotland filled Razzmatazz, packed to the brim. Not a single eardrum remained intact.
Unlike other concerts on this same tour, which just brought them from Australia, this Wednesday they started with Yes! I Am a Long Way From Home, from their sensational first album, Mogwai Young Team, from 1997, and continued with Hi Chaos, from the latest, The Bad Fire.
Mogwai has shown why they have been filling venues for thirty years with a proposal not always easy to digest. Framed in post rock (genres are always relative) (and they don’t like them), they have chewed the label until making it popularly digestible: in 2025, The Bad Fire reached the top among the best sellers in Great Britain.
Mogwai show why they have been ambassadors of post rock for thirty years
Three of the songs this afternoon were from this work. On the current tour they rely on God Gets You Back, Hi Chaos, Pale Vegan Hip Pain, Fanzine Made of Flesh or Lion Rumpus, the most repeated. This afternoon, however, the most celebrated were the colossal Ritchie Sacramento, where they apply vocals (uncommon for them) to their intimidating sound, and the past Helicon I, with a devastating crescendo. The end of the world.
The rest of the setlist is a sampling of songs from their albums: with 11 albums in thirty years (almost double if soundtracks are included), they have plenty to choose from, and they rarely repeat the list or order.
In total, nearly two hours of apocalyptic melodies and very few words. The gremlins speak little.
Read more Ukraine advances in its EU accession process after Hungary withdraws its Hungarian veto
Between songs, mostly four words: “Thank you so much”. They were “delighted” to return once again to Barcelona, of course, where their fans are a horde, they said after the second song.
Model and actress Cara Delevingne presents at La Nau a gentle pop that will surely soon have its legion of fans
The guitar storm of Mogwai (they have songs of twenty minutes) has had good popular acceptance: their second work, Come On Die Young, from 1999, took them to number 29 on the British charts, and in 2003 they entered the American charts.
Just a few streets away, the scene was radically different. At La Nau, model, actress, and celebrity Cara Delevingne performed, who is taking her first steps in the music world.
She has released two singles –I Forgot and Out of My Head– and officially gave her first concert on Monday in Berlin. Wednesday’s at Poblenou was barely the second, and the third is scheduled – big deal – this Friday (2:30 a.m. Saturday) on the Schwarkopf stage at the Primavera Sound Forum venue.
She certainly has acting skills and stage presence. And also a gentle pop that will soon have its audience. She appeared like a diva, with a flashlight on her chest that prevented seeing her face, and soon engaged with the audience, which was not, let’s say, massive. Perhaps about a hundred people. She finished at 9:55 p.m. with British punctuality.
Here the crowd, however, moved more. More than with Mogwai, where generally they just nod their heads while thinking about humanity’s woes.
Read more David Sánchez speaks out after the alleged scheme of the Leire plot to stop his trial is revealed
