Mogwai | Forest Swords
The Great Hall, Exeter
19th February 2026
Landing at Exeter University’s The Great Hall (in support of last year’s The Bad Fire LP), Mogwai deliver a seismic overload to the senses, supported by acclaimed electronic composer Forest Swords.
Warming up the hall ahead of tonight’s headliners, Forest Swords (Matthew Edward Barnes) steps up to a desk laden with electronic tech. Having composed several scores for TV, Films and video games, it’s evident that the music produced by Forest Swords is less a collection of songs, more a presentation of cinematic movements.
Projections are used throughout, enveloping the artist, back wall and stage equipment, starting off with a slowly animated concrete-like figure, then moving into more abstract shapes and flashes. The visual aspect adds a vital layer to the minimalist dub beats and looped layers, where lines are blurred between the genesis of each sounds organic or electric birth.
Often, higher synths float above complex, sometimes disjointed passages like a choral call from the dark. At other points, especially during the last two tracks, beats lead the charge as we get locked into a dark trip-hop groove.
Come the end, visuals take on a more geometric theme, reminiscent of the end of the movie Interstellar, before we are drawn back to a field of motionless upright figures. A moody and memorable start to the evening.
Mogwai begin with the first two tracks off The Bad Fire. God Gets You Back lulls us in with its gentle keyboard intro – two of the band sitting face to face on a pair of synths, their minimal vocal lines masked by vocoder, as the song reaches its slow and steady climax. Hi Chaos follows with its minor-key guitar lead, giving way to stamp-on-the-pedal distorted peaks truly showing off the bands volume and lighting production as one.
Let’s talk about that volume for a second. Mogwai can slip down to a quiet murmur, as displayed tonight on songs like Pale Vegan Hip Pain and I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead. Having honed their craft for the last 30 years or so, this Glaswegian troop boast a deft knack of holding back, sonically building expectation, before crashing back in with a wall of sound. Loud, yes, oh yes, but also crystal clear (props to their engineer), where you can hear heavy guitar, driven bass, crashing drums and keys melding together in all their glory.
Another tool in their kit is when Stuart Braithwaite hits his overdrive pedal. Already in a flux of distortion, this additional layer, often paired with strobe lighting, adds further fire to the pit. At times sounding like an ensnared wild beast has been let loose to unleash its lightning tongue over proceedings.
Treating us to half of The Bad Fire, Mogwai close their set with recent single Lion Rumpus, a rather succinct, uplifting number that cleverly displays the bands full dynamic in just under four minutes. With one heck of a back catalogue, from a band that don’t tend to replicate setlists, it’s almost like a lucky dip as to what else we are treated to.
Most of their discography is represented by at least one song. The furthest back they go is served up last, during their two-song encore – Mogwai Fear Satan from debut LP Young Team. Over 15 minutes long, their final song of the night treads lightly, hits epic crescendos, rises further, then drops back to a gentle kiss-off as the bands final notes are met with a huge wave of applause.
A galactic return to the south west from Glasgow’s post-rock pioneers.
~
Mogwai’s UK tour continues throughout February.
Dates can be found on the official Mogwai website here. Socials: Facebook | Insta | X
The official Forest Swords website is here. Socials: Bandcamp | Facebook | Insta
All words by Chris Perkins – his author profile is here
Photos by Charles Derry @ Capture Photography
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