Mogwai @  iTunes Festival, Camden

There is a general rule with the iTunes Festival; namely that a lot of your enjoyment will depend on your imagination (with a few exceptions). Unfortunately for Errors and Mogwai, neither of whom are especially 'all about the stage presence', at times you can't help but be sharply reminded of the fact you're surrounded by 1,499 people, none of whom are moving.

But as the mood evoking music cranks up, so too does the magic. Like entering into the turmoil at the centre of a beehive, the Roundhouse comes alive as Mogwai whisk up a blend of noise for I'm Jim Morrison And I'm Dead': guitar wails and thrumming bass, both indelibly their own.

'I Know You Are But What Am I' begins with a piano wrapped in what sound like volcanoes erupting into circulatory drum snaps and a cacophony of guitar effects. The visuals collide purple
over blue, but it fizzles into a slower temperament once more.

As the cityscape backdrop to ‘How To Be A Werewolf’ rolls out it perfects the building energy of the track and, despite a few waifs disappearing into the night, it reflects the venue’s stance as “transfixed to the last”.

Dedications tonight include one especially to the people of Norway – ‘2 Rights Make 1 Wrong’, with softer synthesized vocal and gentle, returning riff – a stark reminder that the world is mixed
with darkness beyond these four walls. A second – ‘Rano Pano’ – goes to the drummer's baby son Leo, where the mid-set presents more of a rockin’ tempo just as we had begun to be lulled into a
world of shoegaze and starry skies.

For the encore the band sheepishly thank iTunes before sweeping into 'Hunted By A Freak', a track whose shrill organ sounds ebb and flow making us drowsy. Destroying any reflection of the
previous track's synthy vocals, 'Auto Rock' begins with a steady drum pound (doubly played) and as if to form a brisk night air wake up call, closer ‘Glasgow Mega-Snake’ is unforgivingly loud. Dreamy.