Mogwai @ Corn Exchange, 21 Oct

Due to an electrical glitch, a subsequent lack of a proper soundcheck and a tight schedule, Errors (****) are practically playing before most punters have been allowed into the cavernous Corn Exchange. The four-piece gallantly overcome such obstacles, with the feeling of ‘let’s just fucking do it’ bravado pouring out of their many seams. By the time Mr. Milk scatter-guns sci-fi bleeps and strangled laser buzzes across the venue you’d barely blink if a War of the Worlds tripod cracked through the floorboards, glanced stagewards, then broke into a robo-boogie.

Fuck Buttons (***) are a little more onerous but full marks are given for the brave opening gambit of Sweet Love for Planet Earth, which pays off after its protracted build-up erupts into a joyous cacophony. It’s quickly thwarted by some unashamed dross recalling Suicide at their most unlistenable, but there’s plenty more where Sweet Love came from, their seamless set furrowing a similar vein of twinkling jewellery-box mechanics, austere electro and ‘singer’ Benjamin Power shouting incomprehensibly into a Fisher Price microphone. As entertaining as two blokes and a suitcase full of electronic gadgetry can be.

A gig on home territory always seems a bit special for the ever-patriotic Mogwai (***). Not even a Celtic drubbing can spoil proceedings as Xmas Steps elicits a spine-tingling silence even from those attempting to gaud Stuart Braithwaite with a bit of fiba’ banter. For those who’ve fully digested new album The Hawk Is Howling, its material is a little light tonight, favouring a comprehensive overview of the back catalogue instead. The unexpected and sublime Stanley Kubrick fishhooks neck hairs from 50 yards whilst the funereal-paced Scotland’s Shame snaps them back into place, sending a quiver down the spine. The double-whammy of Like Herod and the terrifying Batcat finally sends the decibel needle to ‘Mogwai-Loud’, leaving heads spinning and eardrums throbbing. A pick’n’mix approach for sure, but there’s no doubting the quality sweeties on offer.