Audience at last night’s My Bloody Valentine show.
UFO watchers from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
(MBV photo via Ned)
In his blog Ned alludes to how this show (especially the combo of Spectrum & My Bloody Valentine together) is a resetting of the clock – both groups effectively being the Year Zero for so many bands that followed in their wake.
However, I can’t help but notice just how many bands who list MBV and Spacemen 3 in their MySpace profiles completely miss the point – as if all you need for shoegaze glory is 250kg of off-the-rack effects pedals, some designer amps, and enough time for a smoke break while everything feedsback. Sure, Kevin Shields has the most complex rig I’ve ever seen on stage anywhere, but there’s a purpose to it and coupled with a good sound system that otherwise non-stop autistic tweaking of sound pays off.
I’ve seen an Apollo Saturn V launch. I’ve seen the Swans. I’ve seen Survival Research Lab performances. I once got to see a SR-71 flyby on full afterburner and that gets pretty close to the total frequency response generated on stage. It’s a structured event with ebbs and flows, an endless acceleration of Shepard Tones, and enough VLF to affect every whale and nuclear submarine on the planet. It’s entirely possible that this was all auditory illusions going on in my head.
Attention any other bands who are contemplating reunions: The bar has been set pretty high here. I can’t think of any other band who’s taken sixteen years off and have come back sounding as vital as the day they left. Maybe they’ll even get around to that third album.