Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Live Review - My Bloody Valentine


By now, many of you will be sick to death of reading about the comeback of My Bloody Valentine. The noise; just how loud just was it? Or perhaps the epic rendition of 'You Made Me Realise'? Over a week into the comeback tour it seems that all is smooth sailing, apart from a couple of intro takes from Colm O'ciosoig!

The mystery My Bloody Valentine possess has also brimmed prior to this comeback tour (again, what the hell do we call this tour?). This isn't your typical return to the fold that shadows the main objective of covering a couple of overdue re-mortgage payments. This is the real deal. The perfectionist attitude of Kevin Shields wouldn't have it any other way.

The MBV catalogue even shrouds itself in mystery. The eclectic aura of the material Loveless extrudes is a perfect example. It's trajectory is free as a bird, despite the emotion it evokes. Then there's Isn't Anything; an affair that feels like a heart wanting to explode from someones ribcage. The former poses as the baby of Shields and Bilinda Butcher that swathes with tremolo and beauty. The latter perceives Debbie Googe and O'ciosoig to hail one jaw breaking rhythm section, showing their hand with direct prominence. A band that is a tale of two halves; if people needed their arm twisting, then after witnessing this live equivalent to a mangled car wreck, the twisting had well and truly been performed. The two halves, you ask? Well, there's loud, and there's louder. Simple.

'(When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream' and 'Feed Me With Your Kiss' are both like a rootless sea of brutality. Shields's endless number of amplifiers cluttering the stage are put to perfect use during this assault, alongside the pounding snare work from O'ciosoig. 'To Here Knows When' is bliss redefined. Jangling nerves and tugging the heart strings of many, Butcher's cosmic whisper makes you feel like heaven actually beckons sooner rather than later. 'Soon' just may be 'it' and if he had the choice of only one, the song that Shields could well and truly take to his grave. The gliding force, the gut-wrenching moodscapes, the perpetuating shower of tremolo. If ever a track epitomises MBV then this is it.

Then there's 'You Made Me Realise'. Reading about it slightly reduces the expectation level, but reading about it and literally holding an ear to something as chaotic as this presents two totally different scenarios. The longevity of guitars act as lava walls against the World's most catastrophic natural disasters. Bystanders were left in awe. Some were using their paws to cove ears, others were shrouded with fear as eyes were wide as dinner plates. Trousers were shaking, teeth vibrating, with Shields once again conceiving a metal-on-bone feedback assault in terrorising fashion, clocking on 32 minutes. O'ciosoig doesn't let up on the drums, with hissing high-hats and kick drum hammering, while Googe's bass-line adds to the foundation shaking proportions. Then there's Butcher, whose cacophony on guitar could probably have been heard by housewives putting their kids to sleep down in Hazel Grove.

The brooding moments of 'You Made Me Realise' was far from a self-indulging pledge. A statement of sheer intent; a certainty. They're back and this was their message; don't fuck with us. The recent wave of bands knocking out re-hashed versions of the template Shields, Butcher, Googe and O'ciosoig essentially created with Isn't Anything and Loveless were put on notice and swept aside like a minnow. This message was to them. We do it louder; we do it better; we enthrall, you don't! It's as simple as that. My Bloody Valentine conquer on every level. They may not have only successfully pulled off one of the best series of comeback gigs in musical history, but they may have just created one of the biggest musical statements of our time, too.

Setlist:

I Only Said
When You Sleep
(When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream
You Never Should
Cigarette In Your Bed
Come In Alone
Only Shallow
Thorn
Nothing Much To Lose
To Here Knows When
Blown A Wish
Slow
Soon
Feed Me With Your Kiss
Sueisfine
You Made Me Realise

Video:

(When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream


Nothing Much to Lose

You Made Me Realise

Review & Video by Simon K

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