My Bloody Ears…er Valentine
The following is a reprint of review that I wrote in the Chicago Flame’s arts and entertainment section called Inferno a few weeks back.
Last week, My Bloody Valentine, late 80s/early 90s noise-pop-rock aficionados, came to the Aragon Ballroom as part of their first US tour in 16 years. Unfortunately, MBV has not aged like a fine wine, but rather an aged cola. Flat, tasteless, and seemingly outdated, MBV “performed” songs in front of an audience largely consisting of nostalgic old fogies who remember them from their first go round and a multitude of indie rock/shoegaze/heroin rockers.
Despite reuniting and saying that they were finishing up a new album that was being worked on in 1996, MBV stuck to what they knew best. While the band seemed to stick to its usual routine of ignoring the crowd and staring off into space or their shoes (hence shoegaze), their setlist seemed as if it could have come from the inside of a dusty guitar case from their last tour. MBV only played songs from previous releases, including the renowned Loveless (1991), Isn’t Anything (1988), and their 1988 EP You Made Me Realise.
For the majority of the show, the audience seemed to collectively sway their heads to the rock, noise, and reverb of the music. MBV braintrust Kevin Shields occasionally struck his strings so hard that it pierced the ears of the audience, despite the free earplugs that were dispensed before the performance.
With layers upon layers of reverb and delay mounting on top of guitar loops, MBV blew through each song, stopping only for the occasional guitar tuning. This, matched with the inescapably powerful lights that the band brought with them, forced the audience into a submissive role. MBV performed song after song, recognizing the audience briefly only before what ended up being the longest and last “song” of the evening. Seemingly reminiscent of what a teenager might do when they join their first rock band, MBV ended their set with “You Made Me Realise.” Enveloping themselves and the audience into a noise/feedback/ear-piercing and excruciatingly long twenty-five minute “jam”, the band went supersonic, and not in a good way. Combined with lights that could make a dog go blind, MBV tested their guitars and amps to their limits, as well as the audience. This may have been the point, however, as they seemed to care less about the how it was perceived from the audience viewpoint than most other bands would even attempt.
For the most part, the unusually compliant audience at the Aragon stuck around for the entirety of the “jam” only to be rewarded with less than two minutes of a coherent and listenable song. By this point it didn’t matter what the band played because the audience was damned near deaf. Naturally, the supple listeners applauded once the music stopped and the ear buzzing began, showing their appreciation to a band that had nearly stripped them of their hearing and their dignity.
Although some people don’t mind listening to feedback and walls of sound, the audience seemed as if anything that MBV would have crapped out, they would have gladly shoveled up and smiled.
Perhaps the audience felt this way because they realize the relevance and importance of My Bloody Valentine in the history of rock and roll. Undoubtedly they deserve much credit for breaking boundaries and limitations and have paved the way for many bands today. Unfortunately, fans of MBV may be better listening to the albums and longing for yesteryear rather than attending a live performance where you may go deaf and wish for yesterday’s audible capabilities.
Tags: Aragon Ballroom, Kevin Shields, Loveless, MBV, My Bloody Valentine, shoegaze
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