My Bloody Valentine SF 2

I know I seem like a lazy f%$! for not posting in almost a week but it’s been a busy week for me. To be honest I wanted to post about the My Bloody Valentine show that I went to last week, and it has taken me this long to really get my thoughts in a coherent fashion. The show really blew me away, and though I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the choice of the Design Center Concourse as the setting for this historic show I managed to get myself a prime spot on the right side balcony.

But, what can I say that hasn’t already been said? Basically you had a band, which hasn’t played on the American continent in almost twenty years coming on and blowing us all away. Old hands are good hands as I usually say in relation to every aspect of music. The support acts were great too, Suzanne Thorpe, an electro-acoustic flutist and composer opened with a set that, in retrospect, set the tone for My Bloody Valentine’s wall of infernally beautiful feedback near the end of their set. She added delicate flute touches to what sounded like a smooth, synthetic drone that glacially got louder through the 20 to 30 minute performance. It was hypnotizing, beautifully crafted, and really set the tone for the night.

Next up was a short set by Spectrum, headed by ex-Spacemen 3 founder Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom. They played a tight, well-received set and at this point you just kinda new that MBV were going to be killer given the quality of the two supporting acts.

And killer they were, opening with “Only Shallow” from Loveless, and closing with “You Made Me Realise,” which incorporated — in my estimation — about twenty six minutes of incredibly loud, mind melding and time stopping feedback which left the entire place (I figure there must have been close to four thousand people in the venue) transfixed. I rate this as the most surreal experienced I’ve ever had at a show or club ever! Stupendous!!!!

I was told that their set at the All Tomorrow’s Parties they curated in New York state just over two weeks ago was also similarly gobsmacking! Plus Kevin Shields chose the line up for Sunday, the last day of the festival and that included Yo La Tengo, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Mercury Rev, Bob Mould, Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and EPMD — I know that me and my buddies in Galway in the summer of ’88 weren’t the only Irish ears vibing hard on these now rap legends.

So Kevin Shields says there’s a new album on the way, let’s hope so, ‘cos I want to see them live again, for sure!

Orr