The whole thing started with poor judgement on my part. My high school friend introduced me to My Bloody Valentine by playing Isn’t Anything and my gut reaction was that it sounded like his record had been left out in the sun and become warped. It took me a few more listens to appreciate the album and the band. When Loveless arrived, I felt more tuned in to their wavelength. I was fortunate to see them in June 1992 at the Spectrum in Toronto with Mercury Rev and Buffalo Tom opening (still one of my favorite line ups for a concert ever). They were astoundingly good, ridiculously loud and the whole night was incredible. My hope is that the younger crowd who might have been seeing them for the first time at Wembley Arena were able to have a similar experience.
My Bloody Valentine have returned for a short run of shows after an absence from touring (not played in UK since 2013, last tour in North America in 2018 and most recent one in Dublin in 1992). The excitement was febrile within Wembley with the people in the crowd discussing the recent gigs in Manchester and Dublin and swapping stories about when they last saw them. There were a lot of younger people in the crowd who might not have even been born or were too young to see the band before. The excitement across the generations that were at Wembley was evident and made for a lovely communal feeling of a smaller gig. The advent of Setlist and similar social media outlets meant that anyone who wanted to find out what they were likely to play were able to. Perhaps taking away from some of the element of surprise but also allowing people to make timely trips to the bar during less favored numbers. Reports from the earlier shows were that this would be a very special gig as long as the band’s equipment held out as there were some issues in Manchester.
Opening for My Bloody Valentine was J Mascis who entertained us with a too short set of Dinosaur Jr and solo songs. As he ambled onstage and said “Alright then, let’s go” and with his distinctive drawl played ‘Thumb’ from Green Mind we knew we were in for something special. Performing without the rest of Dinosaur Jr let us focus on his phenomenal guitar playing. J Mascis’ seems so laid back as he effortlessly moves through the gears playing ‘Little Fury Things’ with the crowd providing additional harmonies. ‘Drifter’ and ‘Heal the Star’ solo tracks from J Mascis’ album recall Neil Young. ‘The Wagon’ (another Green Mind track) invited more singalongs especially to the “and you won’t see me.” bit and is fun to hear although I miss the pounding drums on the original. J Mascis signs off with ‘Alone’ from Hand it Over and the epic guitar sounding like a cross between Led Zeppelin and Slint. If I left after he finished his set I would have felt like it was worth the ticket cost for this alone.
Building up to the concert I felt like I was about to meet up with an old friend and wondering if they would still be good company. Would their music make me feel the same way it did in 1992? Would I still feel the same sense of awe that I did then? Can you ever return to the same feelings you had when you first heard something so incredible or is this just a nostalgic trip down memory lane? So many questions which were quickly answered from the first notes of ‘i only said’ followed by ‘When you sleep’ which were absolutely beautiful. I had some misgivings about seeing the band in an arena but the sound throughout the night was top notch.
The set included songs from all of their 3 albums and EPs and apart from a few false starts (one of which was blamed on “old age”) was everything I hoped it would be. Bilinda Butcher’s vocals sounded clear- floating beautifully in the mix, Colm O Ciosoig’s drums were brutally good, Debbie Googe is one of the most underrated bassists around and Kevin’ Shield’s guitar effects as loud, woozy and stunning as you’d expect. When playing tonight it seemed at times that they went from mono to stereo to nuclear as they did on ‘Only Shallow’ and set closer ‘You Made Me Realise’ with it’s rib rattling extended middle section. The MBV album had four tracks played from it with ‘only tomorrow’ being a highlight for me with Belinda’s gorgeous vocals like treacle while the band sound warm and fuzzy. Similarly ‘to here knows when’ is a soothing slice of melancholy and beauty towards the end of the set.
The question always arises about how loud My Bloody Valentine are when they play live. At Wembley they were handing out ear plugs to mitigate hearing loss and possible tinnitus and only the foolhardy went without. Having said that I think that although very loud it might not have reached the same levels are previous concerts. Although it is possible I’ve damaged my hearing in the intervening years. They seemed to have more of balance finding the sweet spot between making your chest feel like it is being held in a vice and making your ears feel like they are going to bleed. When they play together their sound could be the physical sensation of what it fees like being born and entering the world – confused, stunned and amazed that you are here. The sensation of being carried along in their musical slipstream and being suspended until the song ends and you find yourself coming out of a trance.
My Bloody Valentine have always kept to their own schedule so it is hard to say when their might be new music released. Hopefully their very welcome return to playing live will be the start of the next wave of activity and that they don’t stay away so long next time. Like the prodigal son they will always be welcome when they return and inspire another generation of music lovers.
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Reviewed by Jason McDonald
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