The Return Of My Bloody Valentine

Just got back from a trip to Paris, seeing MBV on wednesday night.

Thanks to all the comments here we got ourselfs a good pair of earplugs, and they proved to be an absolute necessity. We unfortunately missed the first three songs due to heavy traffic, so I don't know whether they handed out plugs or the French are just well equiped concert go-ers. But the 'holocaust'-bit pained those who didn't wear them, for sure. I smiled at one guy putting on his motor helmet when You Made Me Realise dived into the excruciating noise hell it.

The whole concert was like a euphoric dream coming true. It was angelic. Highlights for me were hearing the drumloop of Soon kick in - at which point the whole crowd became one vibrant organism. Feed Me With Your Kiss was particularly beautiful as well, but it was all very majestic really.

It was funny to see how Colm and Debbie moved about constantly (esp. Debbie handled her bass like it was a posessed beast), and Kevin and especially Bilinda stood up front like statues. I hope a crew member lifted Bilinda in the bus afterwards, otherwise she'd still be standing there.

There was a problem during the 'holocaust' bit in You Made Me Realise though. Four or five minutes in, the sound suddenly dropped, and all I could hear was some fuzz, like white noise. The band continued playing though like nothing had happened. I first feared I had somehow lost my hearing completely at this point. It was a harrowing spectacle: seeing the band axe away on stage, but hearing only this white noise like buzz. I thought I'd lost it. But it turned out the amps had suddenly dropped dead.
I read somewhere that French law prohibits any concert to go above 105db, whereas MBV play their closer at a rattling 120db. After a couple of minutes the amps went back up, and the band continued blistering through their feedback assault, but soon after the amps again stopped working. At that point, the band let the sound ring out and walked off.

Apparantly French newspaper Le Monde reported afterwards that the amps didn't simply break, but that it was the engineers of the venue who pulled the plug on the band a couple of times... because of the violation of the French law. Crazy. Kevin was pretty pissed off, and as the rest of the band looked a bit bemused, he apparantly brought his copy of the contract to show the engineers that playing at the harsh level they wanted to was in the contract.

These ongoings lasted about five minutes or so, upon which they did return to finish the song - which I though was brilliant (it included a - perhaps somewhat cynical? - deadly silent, a capella whispering of the "You made me realise" lyric by Kevin).

I've read some reviews online today, and more than a few people seem to be either pissed off by the venue, by MBV being 'too loud' (wtf), and have left the place with an ambigious feeling because of the antics at the end.
Me, I really couldn't be bothered by all this. Ofcourse it was loud, and I'm glad it was. Like Kate said up thread, YMMR was a full body and mind experience. I would curse myself if I'd missed out on this, for it was glorious in every way.

Debbie handled her bass like it was a posessed beast

That's probably what I still remember the most about the 1992 shows, the way she played. If I had ever learned bass I would have wanted to play it like she did (and does).

Are Craigslist and Ebay the best places to find Chicago tickets? If so, ;_;

What happened to the remastered cd's ??

they'll be along shortly after the new album

ha ha. september. you can find the lamo, soon to be redundant plain vinyl reissue of loveless at ridiculously jacked up prices internet-wide while you wait, though. kevin was re-doing some liner notes. there are promos out and stuff (the slightly different tints on the sleeves of which are subject to massive fan debate).

also, to further fill the criterion of naive ever-burning-flame-of-hope mbv fan, i kinda think the next lp will be out sometime soon. they're recording in october and november. recording never took them so long, it was just the months in between doing it ...

So the 2cd loveless was meant to be out today, wasn't it? It is according to Amazon.co.uk - however they don't have it in stock. Anyone got any info?

It's not september already, is it?

play says the 1st sept, my birthday o/

Amazon sez:

"Product details

* Audio CD (18 Aug 2008)
* Number of Discs: 2

Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available."

Were they just bullshitting then? Damn, got my hopes up for nothing.

xpost thanks!

Hey, I have 2 extra tickets to ATP New York I'm trying to sell, if anyone's interested or has friends who are interested/thinking about going, prices for the 2 are negotiable, send me a message. . .maybe we can work something out.

Given up on these remasters :'(

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/2823208850_ca3f68d6e0_b.jpg

is that Louis Walsh immediately to the left of Bilinda in that picture???

That has gotta be photoshopped?

nuh uh; it's a flickr pic that photographer bp fallon commented on, saying he'd invited louis. there's a link somewhere on the mbv board's picture thread, i think.

atp stuff: i've got a spare bed in our room, and i'm going to spend the evening seeing if anyone's driving back to nyc at any point on sunday night ... any help on either much appreciated x

http://www.flickr.com/photos/turgidson/2823208850/

lols

I was nearer the Shields side of the stage at Electric Picnic, so unfortunately I was unable to grind my ass against Walsh's crotch.

Aside from Walsh, I also thought that was photoshopped because it seems a rather unusually colourful-looking bunch in the crowd.

Is that not Jeremy Clarkson on the far right as well?

(lol - far right)

And of course Chris Morris second left of Walsh.

Spectrum just added as openers to the Santa Monica Civic show.

that's kinda cool - hope he gets paid well

"Here you go, Sonic -- a bunch of jellybeans and an original Ed Roth design."

Ned, you going to ATP?

Good lord no. Just the second LA show.

Ned, I have an extra ticket! Book a flight!

Is that not Jeremy Clarkson on the far right as well?

(lol - far right)

― arboreal gatorade (I am using your worlds), Friday, 12 September 2008 16:23 (5 days ago)

LOL bloody looks like him, bet if it is him he aint enjoying himself :P

I'll be at the Oct 2nd show myself.

Yay, Spectrum! In any form really! Sonic on just marimba! Fine! Thumbs Up! :)

i have 2 tickets for oct 1 but turns out i need to be somewhere else that night. does anyone want to trade a pair of thursday tickets for wednesday ones?

Did she cut her hair? How marvelous!

Our flight to Newark International Airport leaves in four hours and I haven't slept a wink.

So that was fucking awesome.

The band spent £200,000, about $366,000, on equipment for the tour, and Mr. Shields laughed when asked how many effects pedals he owned. “Hundreds,” he said. He only uses 30 onstage, he added.
from Jon Pareles NY Times review of ATP

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/arts/music/23bloo.html

i'll be @ the oct 2nd show too, sleep-deprived and slightly skeptical that it's actually going to happen

haha, yeah i saw that and did a double take ... do the rolling stones spend that much on equipment?
xpost

Monday night the speaker stage right kept cutting out during their set. It was annoying as all hell.
The show as a whole was still amazing though.

I went last night ... fuckin awesome

Only MBV could spend $360,000 on gear and then sort of casually say "it'll be nice to play the songs the way they were meant to be played."

I've always been a Loveless appreciator more than a Loveless fanboy, but damn that show was incredible (I went on Monday)--never do live bands make me want to close my eyes and just listen. There was something excellently unpretentious about it too--Colm and Debbie just rocking out, Bilinda placid with a faint smile, and Kevin totally calm, hitting every chord perfectly. They're doing something special, and they know they are, but they never for a second got self-conscious about it.

Colm and Debbie just rocking out

I admit I might be looking forward to that the most. Debbie attacking the bass is my overriding memory of the 1992 shows.

Bilinda placid

that's one word for it; she's definitely the weakest link

What made the 1992 shows legendary is the conflation of all the juxtapositions. MBV really lived up to the term shoegaze -- specifically Kevin and Bilinda... so many people probably thought the show would be little on energy. People just didn't know there would be a LOT of energy but coming from anyone BUT the expected suspects.

The juxtaposition between the still and low-key Kevin and Bilinda, the far more energetic Debbie and Colm, the strobe lights, and the jet noise in 1992 just broke a lot of boundaries in people's brains on what a live show should be.

While I'm kinda bummed this is, as an ILX celebrity put it, "the third leg of the Loveless tour" and nothing more, I'm happy that people who are seeing MBV for the first time are apparently getting a very accurate represenation of what it was like in 1992, YouTube, iPhones, etc. be damned.

I was there last night. It was fucking amazing, it felt really really good to be just completely engulfed by noise for like an hour and half. one of the best bands I've ever seen play in my life.

however, the crowd was the biggest bunch of pussies in any show I've ever been in. I was embarrassed. people were literally running away from the stage holding their hands over their ears.

xxxpost Debbie was incredible!!! besides shields I was most mesmerized by her.

however, the crowd was the biggest bunch of pussies in any show I've ever been in. I was embarrassed. people were literally running away from the stage holding their hands over their ears.

A bit rude. I can't say I'm surprised at those reactions but they were the case back then. To quote myself:

They kept playing at twenty-five minutes. I swear I saw people literally staggering towards the exit, just having to leave, not being able to stand another second of it. But then I also saw people moving forward, almost as if they couldn't be controlled -- moths to the flame.

people were literally running away from the stage holding their hands over their ears.

no

The anger and exertion in Colm's face was quite astonishing to behold at electric picnic. I recall Debbie seeming quite restrained though.

The NY crowd was predictably full of retards, such as amateur photog in front of me who captured just about every lighting change but may have not heard any music at all. He would focus on Bilinda for about 10 seconds before taking a picture--dude, she is not moving or changing expression.

Then there was the crew of idiots next to me who spent half the show shouting "Don't be afraid to dance, New York" after every song and dancing like wannabe ravers while this out of control girl kept on bumping into me and stomping me with her heel. "You Made Me Realise" shut them down pretty good. God I am sick of the "ppl at indie rock shows are scared to dance" trope.

Whatever, small distractions during an amazing night.

i was slightly surprised at the jock-ish percentage in the audience, maybe including the dudes who kept shouting "louder!," plus tiny girls who pushed upcrowd as aggressively as meatheads, but in large part people seemed to stay in place and respectfully appreciate what they were seeing. the clapping/cheers seemed fairly muted - maybe it just seemed that way because of the earplugs, or maybe it was because everyone was wearing earplugs (around me, at least).

I am sick of the "ppl at indie rock shows are scared to dance" trope

i'm not - i think indie rock crowds suck - but being really vocal about it is poor form

On the clapping thing I noticed that too--I think for me it was a combination of being totally overwhelmed and not even thinking that it was time to clap/cheer, and then when I did think of it, it seemed like it was going to be hopelessly QUIET compared to the band.