Pitchfork

[Posted Thursday, September 4th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Everyone's favorite ironic Scottish merry-makers are touring North America (that includes Canada, people), spreading the joy that can only be experienced by listening to more than sixty minutes of intricately layered instrumental dirges. Which is to say-- Mogwai is on the road. They've recently announced a spate-- nay, a plethora-- of new tour dates via their website in support of their recent release Happy Songs for Happy People, and we'd hate to be found lacking in laying them at your proverbial door. They're starting up in Canada in September, and then heading, well, pretty much everywhere, before getting back to the comforting moors of home. Are there any good venues in the moors (or is it moops)? Who the hell knows?

They've also got, like, fifty bands playing with them over the course of the tour, though the supporting acts for Florida, Portland, and Vancouver haven't even been announced yet. Whatever happened to good old labelmate pairings-- Mogwai/ Cat Power 2003? Mogwai/ Solex 2003? Mogwai/ Aereogramme 2003É now that'd be a show. Anyway, here are the dates, with all applicable support acts noted:

09-03 Montreal, Quebec - Le Spectrum *
09-05 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street *
09-06 New York, NY - Irving Plaza *
09-07 Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw (w/ Chris Brokaw)*
09-08 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre Of The Living Arts *
09-09 Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club *
09-10 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle *
09-11 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
09-12 Orlando, FL - The Social
09-13 Tallahassee, FL - Beta Bar
09-15 Austin, TX - Emo's (w/ Dalek) $
09-16 Austin, TX - Emo's $
09-18 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre +
09-19 San Diego, CA - The Scene +
09-20 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory +
09-21 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory +
09-22 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore +
09-24 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall +
09-25 Seattle, WA - Showbox +
09-26 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
09-27 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
09-30 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue %
10-01 Milwaukee, WI - Modjeska Theatre %
10-02 Chicago, IL - Metro (w/ Boas)
10-03 Newport, KY - Southgate House %
10-04 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom (w/ Boas)
10-16 Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
10-17 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Queens University
10-18 Manchester, England - Manchester University
10-19 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
10-21 Birmingham, England - Sanctuary
10-22 Bristol, England - Academy
10-23 London, England - Astoria
11-05 Tokyo, Japan - AX
11-06 Tokyo, Japan - AX
11-08 Fukuoka, Japan - Logos
11-09 Hiroshima, Japan - Quattro
11-10 Osaka, Japan - On-Air
11-11 Nagoya, Japan - Bottom Line

* with Part Chimp
$ with ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
+ with Isis
% with Papa M

Also, in keeping with the noble mission of any independent band worth their salt-- namely, to fill the worlds used record bins with musical ephemera, Mogwai have also announced the upcoming release of the first compilation from their Rock Action Records imprint. The comp will feature two exclusive Mogwai tracks and will be available during the aforementioned tour (see how this all fits together?). Although the Rock Action website (and the rest of the world, excepting Mogwai) seems to have no knowledge of this, we'll assume they're not pulling our legs. Did we mention they're Scottish? The comp will include the new track "Star Wars" as well as an early version of "Tuner," which turned up in a later incarnation on Ten Rapid, itself a compilation. And yes, of course, both songs will end up on (another) Mogwai collection at some point, but can you wait that long? I think we both know the answer to that.