Mogwai Offer Preview of 'Burning' Concert Film

Posted on Jul 27th 2010 1:17PM by Mike Ayers
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Steve Gullick

Fans of influential Scottish post-rock act Mogwai have long raved about the band's live show, using words such as "blistering" and "epic." Mogwai themselves prefer the word "burning," which also happens to be the title of their first live concert film.

Shot over three nights at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg, 'Burning' captures Mogwai in some rather intense moments, all depicted in black-and-white film. As far as the final version goes, Braithwaite tells Spinner that they gave Moon and Nataniel La Souanec full control. "We chose the songs, but the only entry we had into the film was in the editing," Braithwaite says. "Just really minor things."

Watch Performances From Mogwai's 'Burning' Concert Film

Along with footage shot around New York, 'Burning' excels in showing Mogwai's creative process unfold on stage, where Braithwaite and his bandmates often rely on visual cues from each other to dictate song structure. Having never being able to experience their own live shows themselves, Mogwai wanted to make sure the film conveyed that.

"It gets more of an atmosphere," Braithwaite explains. "We wanted to experience where we're on the side of the stage looking at each other. A lot of times we have to look at each other to get cues and that's one of the things we wanted to show going on. I know from speaking to a lot of people that some would've appreciated something conventional, but most people appreciated that something different was happening."

After premiering online, 'Burning' will make it to the big screen, with special showings running from Aug. 23 to Sept. 23 in the US and Canada. Pre-order the film and Mogwai's 'Special Moves' live album via the band's official website.