My Bloody Valentine Brings The Noise

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 5, 2013 10:00PM

So we are here to report to you that My Bloody Valentine isn't quite as loud as rumor would suggest.

They're louder, but it sneaks up on you.

As we arrived at the Aragon Ballroom, security was handing out earplugs at the door and signs everywhere strongly suggested you wear them during the set. Upon entering the main room of the venue the mountains of amplifiers on stage—in stunningly diverse varieties—only helped inflate the fear of eardrums everywhere. So when the lights went down and the band ambled onto the stage we dutifully inserted our earplugs … and were immediately met with an incredibly muddy sounding version of "Sometimes." Instead of the volume punching through the foam it was deadened by it so we decided to take our chances and listen with ears unencumbered by safety devices. And it sounded glorious.

We stood to the side of the soundboard so we were far assay enough that the sound wasn't overpowering, but judging by the meters behind the barriers constantly in the red that didn't mean things were any quieter. The relatively subdued "Sometimes" was followed by "I Only Said" and the volume steadily went up. By the time the band hit the pleasantly funky lope of "New You" the mixture of volume and swirling visuals over the stage was coming together, causing us to lurch from dizziness to bliss. And while much of the set was pulled from their groundbreaking album Loveless, the new songs from this year's long-delayed follow-up m b v fit right in. On record those songs come across as quieter and more demure but on stage they exploded; it was like watching a beautiful black and white illustration turn itself inside out and paint itself in colors of much greater intensity than you would expect.

Live, My Bloody Valentine isn't much to look at as most of the band stands stoically still with only the rhythm section really thrashing about much. But you still want to study everything the band is doing because, even when they are standing there right in front of you, you have no idea how they are pulling the sounds they are making from a bunch of guitars. It's as if Kevin Shields and his merry band of noisemakers has access to an interdimensional portal and their shows open that doorway just wide enough to usher in an unearthly squall for the duration of their set. And as that set moved along it got more and more difficult to keep our bearings in the non-stop assault.

Even in a song as familiar as their almost-hit (closest thing they have to a hit?) "Only Shallow," we had to fight the urge to swoon. It was a glorious if slightly frightening feeling, to have sound remain that consistently overpowering. [And this correspondent admits that the sound ultimately got the better of him, forcing him to leave his fellow reviewer to wrap up the show with the following thoughts.]

Not one to shy away from theatrics, the band ended their set with the crowd pleasing "You Made Me Realise" that contained an extended constant wall of feedback. For 12 minutes the band focused on manipulating one chord, making the sound distort in your brain to a whole slew of different pitches and noises. Like a constant jackhammer against your skull, you couldn't escape the roar even with earplugs in. The best option was to ride the noise and see where it took your brain and ears. Apparently during their last show at the Aragon, the wall of feedback lasted for 22 minutes. Maybe the band is going a little soft on us, but we're happy they stuck with a shorter version because we aren't sure we would have been able to make it much longer. As the instruments and notes strained across the crowd all the noise came to a head before crashing down into silence. No need for an encore, you can't top that experience and we can't imagine ending the show any other way.

Additional reporting by Lisa White