Maybe it’s a new, healthier diet or perhaps he’s just trying to keep his job safe, but this year Santa’s doing the rounds early, treating Glasgow to its most beloved Young Team in its most treasured venue. If that isn’t reason enough for cheer then the transformation of the spacious intro of ‘White Noise’ into a towering wall of tremolo certainly is, freezing Stuart Braithwaite’s face into focused rictus and filling the room with sonic euphoria before ‘Travel Is Dangerous’ offers a more familiar, though no less grandiose, follow-up; a uniquely Scottish moment of tranquil beauty.

Anyone who witnessed My Bloody Valentine’s set here a few years back can testify as to how loud things can get but Mogwai turn the volume up to crowd-control levels, the tarry sludge of ‘Rano Pano’ serving up a healthy dose of tinnitus, albeit wrapped up in a stoic groove and shimmering melody, and the effect is compounded when ‘New Paths To Helicon pt. 1’ erupts with such ferocity that Slayer would be left all a-quiver. There’ve always been two sides to the ‘gwai, though, and the soothingly melodic ‘2 Rights Make 1 Wrong’ counteracts blunt force with Aitchison’s softly accented bass and tightly interplaying melodies.

While the break before the encore is agonisingly long, the eventual payoff is well worth the wait as they deliver one of the greatest encores in the history of sound. Live staple ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ (or “Mogwai Fear Santa”, as one concert-goer festively dubs it) is delivered in inimitable fashion, a titan of noise and beauty, before author and honorary band member Luke Sutherland joins the band for a final euphoric send-off. They could’ve gone the clichéd route and offered up ‘Christmas Steps’ but Mogwai are classier than that; they give the crowd the gift that keeps giving, namely hearing loss, instead and it’ll be treasured just as much as the memories of this spectacular occasion.

David Bowes