My Bloody Valentine at The Austin Music Hall - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by Harrison Davis - club kingsnake staff
Despite the fact that their latest release came out 18 years ago, My Bloody Valentine has managed to retain all the relevance they held back in their heyday in London, and managed to give an absolutely mind-blowing performance at the Austin Music Hall.
A big part of the legend of MBV is their sudden disappearance from music. They released Loveless, their second of two albums, in 1991, they played a few shows and then went right back into the studio for the third record. That was the end of it. The third record was never released and the band did not play together again until 2008, when they reunited for the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in New York. They’ve played a handful of show since and Austin was lucky enough to be part of a 5 city tour following their appearance at Coachella.
Needless to say, I was beyond excited to see My Bloody Valentine. It was because of this that I really couldn’t remember much about the openers. What I do recall though, is that they were very good. The first band, Lift to Experience, had a shoegaze/bluesy sound that I really enjoyed. Then singer-songwriter Kurt Heasley took the stage. He played some nice little pop songs on a 12 string guitar, but I think the only reason I could hear was because I was close to the stage. The rest of the crowd was not into it at all and Kurt was mostly ignored through his set.
My Bloody Valentine quietly took the stage armed with massive pedal boards and wall of amps. Following an extremely short hello from guitarists Belinda Butcher, who was looking very good for her age, and Kevin Shields, the band tore straight into one of the many classic Loveless tracks, “When You Sleep”. For the rest of the show the band continued to hit the back catalogue hard, generally sticking with cuts from Loveless and the prior EP’s.
My Bloody Valentine at The Austin Music Hall - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The two guitarists stood still on stage for most of the show, or when they weren’t changing guitars between every song, but the rhythm section gave a full out performance. Drummer Colm O Ciosoig and bassist Debbie Googe were high energy in every song, Googe practically strumming her bass to produce as much noise as possible.
There were clearly 3 hits with the crowd. The obvious one’s were “Only Shallow” and “Soon” from Loveless. Both sounded different than they did on record, but were just as good. In “Only Shallow”, Ciosoig’s snare didn’t have the effect it did on the album, but the song didn’t lose anything as a whole. “Soon” sounded the same on the surface, but held a different vibe with the audience, the opening making the place feel almost like a rave until Shields guitar tore the whole thing apart.
Finally, the band played their traditional closer, “You Made Me Realize”. The reason it’s the closer is because of the notorious noise freak-out known as the ‘Holocaust’, a solid 15-minute block of the most powerful noise that could possibly be produced. I was worried before that I would be bored by the ridiculous amount of white noise, but I wasn’t. It was one of the most incredible musical experiences of my life. The sound washed over the audience in a very oddly soothing manner, like new age music, but turned up to ear splitting levels. I loved every second of the show and hope that one day MBV goes for a full reunion tour.
My Bloody Valentine at The Austin Music Hall - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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