Last Night: My Bloody Valentine at the Concourse
My Bloody Valentine
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
The Concourse
Review by Jennifer Maerz
Better than: Cape Canaveral on ecstasy
What kind of fucked up dreams am I going to have after this show? The whole walk to the car after My Bloody Valentine finished, the insides of my ears tickled. My head felt like my brain was still rattling around in my skull. And now that my hearing has dulled to a low ringing noise, I think I can sit down and write. But man, live My Bloody Valentine enters you like a demon that refuses exorcism until the sound guy flips the house music on at the end of the night.
But I'll back up a bit. Last night one of the loudest, most powerful, and most affecting acts of the early '90s took the stage after a 15 or so year hiatus from the music scene. And despite being booked in one of the worst venues in the city (the way the sound works at the Concourse, you may as well be watching your favorite band from inside a giant tunnel), the crowd was more than decent, filling up a good two thirds of the room by the end of the night. Old school fans hung out by the bar discussing where they saw MBV back in 1992, and one dedicated '90s alt music fan proudly sported his Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine shirt for the occasion.
Spectrum, the recent act from Sonic Boom (of Spacemen 3) warmed up the crowd with the sound of drone, drums, and feedback that peaked, crashed, and swelled again like giant ocean waves. It was good stuff, especially the song that sounded like it a cover of Mudhoney's "When Tomorrow Hits" heard from inside a codeine high. The Spectrum vibe was warm, loud, and enveloping, a perfect display of that whole "shoegazer" sound as it should be performed -- spiked with dark, sharp bits and loud as fuck.
But Spectrum was a lullaby compared to the arsenal My Bloody Valentine had on its setlist. The four-piece came out prepared to puncture the crowd in every format possible. Their strobe lights, pastel lasers, and polka-dotted movies burned corneas. Their voluminous white noise rattled your rib cage. But those intimate female hums and harmonies grabbed your heart, never letting you forget that at the center of this assault was a romanticism beautiful as it is violent.
The brave few attempted their shouted requests ("Only Shallow!" ... followed by "We love you") but their words were quickly buried under the band's handy work. No matter, as MBV went through all their hits... "Only Shallow," "To Here Knows When," "Soon" ... basically a full hour of proof that a decade plus later, these tracks still get in there and affect your bloodstream like no other band.
The physicality of the performance was really unparalleled too. I've have my bones rattled by severely loud acts -- Sunn O))), Black Dice -- but really nothing as fierce as the ending to the MBV show. Between the strobes, the stacks of amps, and all the guitar lines ballooning and backflipping through your brain, plus a drummer whose beats rained down like a hailstorm -- it felt like your organs were getting jigged into your throat. But nothing came close to the finale -- 20 plus minutes of noise upon noise upon noise. I could see the band members playing the whole time, but the sound was like a rocket launch where the spaceship never leaves the vicinity, instead breaking one sound barrier after another ten feet away from you. It was enough to make people uncomfortable (one of my friends even felt nauseous). Just as you thought they'd taken that incredible feedback sprawl as far as it could go, they'd push it further, and even further. An atomic bomb of sound. And light. Blinding white light.
I'm not exaggerating when I say My Bloody Valentine was one of the best shows I've seen all year. Even though it jacked my hearing, my insides, my skull, and probably a lot of other body parts I'll discover have become discombobulated in a bit, I have to give props to a band that simply inhabits you when you see them perform live. And although MBV can be cruel to its admirers (or, I should say to our hearing, even with the free earplugs passed out at the door), that sweet center inside their walls of sound is the drug keeping all of us blissed out -- and making it impossible to ignore the next invitation (if they offer it again) to receive this wonderful punishment once again.
30 comment(s) / Post a Comment
I guess turn it up loud enough and everyone will think it sounded awesome. Reality - it was not. I like loud, don't get me wrong, but loud and CLEAR. What happened last night was a travesty - loud and muddy. No clarity whatsoever. Punishment indeed, but not the kind you want to pay $50 to see.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 8:20AMGreat review. I concur with everything. Amazing show. Crappy venue. Beautiful music that somehow managed to make it to my brain despite being carried on the wings of a world-destroying death angel of sound.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 9:10AMHey KC,
You're right on the muddy sound. The Concourse is a terrible place to see a show in SF. I've never heard a clear performance for any act I've seen play there, and I hate to see that anything good has been booked there. That being said, I moved around and got close enough to the front that the muddy sound was a minor point compared to everything else going on at that show. But I did want to say here that I agree with you, as it's a consideration in buying tickets to a Concourse show.
Jennifer
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 9:12AMI was very hesitant about the show, but it blew away my expectations. My spot was right by the sound board and all the songs came through mostly clear. So Powerful was the audio assault finale. that i could not move.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 10:12AMI thought the show was fantastic. It blew my mind that they were able to make such rich counds with just a few instruments. Hearing Spectrum that loud was also amazing. Wow!
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 10:19AMThe comment I wrote right after the show to friends about the show.
"My Bloody Valentine was one if not the only concert that has ever effected me emotionally. Noise became meditation, meditation become question about life and what it means to be free. There was no where to escape but within yourself and confronting it head on."
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 10:37AMUgh. I have been to hundreds of shows ranging from closets (literally) to the Untied Center in Chicago. Never before have I heard such a terrible sound. The Lit Lounge in NY (a literal cave) sounded ten times better. I tried up near the front (within 50ft), the soundboard, the sides and the back...nothing sounded good. I vow to NEVER return to the venue. MBV probably was awesome if you were standing within 5ft of the stage but anywhere else sounded muddy and unorganized. I am a huge fan of MBV and most of my favorite bands produce the "wall of sound" but comeon, that was horrendous. I left around 11:30 because it was pointless to subject myself to that sort of audio torture. I hope they do a proper tour sometime in the near future; I would like to see them in a real venue.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 10:56AMI thought the noise was beautiful... been saying it for years since the 92 show in Minneapolis at First Avenue (where I happily planted myself in front of a speaker stack sans earplugs- ah, youth).
True, the sound at the Concourse was less than perfect, but has anyone here seen them play in a room that could actually provide acoustic justice to the lovely roar?
+1 to KC. Love the band, love loud music. This was over the top. You could hardly hear either Kevin or Bilinda's vocals at all. And all of that beautiful guitar distortion got lost in a harsh noise - barely making it out. It sometimes took a minute to even tell which song they were playing. The lights were spectacular at first, then it just got to be too much. I can't even honestly blame just the venue - I've seen a couple of shows there that haven't had such bad sound (the Strokes in particular sounded great). We left halfway through the 20 minute "suck on this" finale...originally just to watch it from the back...then as we left, we could hear it droning on while we walked block after block. We could still hear it on 5th St.
Crying shame.
People whining about the Concourse acoustics completely missed the point, and I certainly hope that nobody who stuffed foam in their ears is complaining about the sound quality.
Last night's show shook me to my core. Maerz's use of the word "inhabits" was very appropriate. I felt like the Amazon was diverted into my bathtub as I was washed away by the tremendous cataclysm of sound and emotion.
Yes, I am deafer now, but I am also stronger, better, renewed.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 11:53AMextremely loud and low vocals is pretty much MBV's style. if you didn't see them back in the early 90s you knew what to expect and would have brought your own earplugs. hopefully this means kevin shields will finally finish the new album, but don't hold your breath.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 12:18PMNo, I haven't missed the point. You listen to the CD and expect to hear a very, very loud version of that, or something at least approaching it. What happened last night was pure, unadulterated mud. You can have very, very loud music and still have it clear. Where I was standing it should have been about as close to a 'sweet spot' as you can get. I've been a FOH mix engineer for a long time and I would never take credit for having mixed that show. I guess you can get away with just being loud mush when you have the rep of MBV. It could have been done a LOT better and the venue was only partially to blame. My 2ยข. Over and out. (I still love MBV!)
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 3:04PMThe ambience of the venue, the band, the sound, and all the pretty people made for one unforgettable experience. All the nit-pickers complaining about the sound and the muddy mix need to step back and think about what they were witness too last night. This was nothing less than a magnificent, triumphant return by a band who will go down in history as one of the most influential artists of the late 20th century.
I had never seen a show there, nor the band, but if you're a fan of their records, where do you get off complaining about "pure, unadulterated mud"???
You obviously hadn't done your homework there KC. The band is KNOWN for that.
The venue was fine. In fact, i think the setting and sound what were made it an EVENT and not just some boring rock show at the same ole same ole... Can not wait for the new record!!!
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 3:25PMNot interested in the back and forth, but the band is NOT known for "mud*". I believe if most MBV fans heard that said about the band, they'd stop gazing at their shoes long enough to kick someone in the shins.
*as a synonym for muck and mire; thick and unclear
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 3:51PMMy Bloody Valentine? No, My Bloody Eardrums.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 4:19PMLast night fully flippin' ruled (thanx Mr. Ricky for the extra ticket)! I can't believe all my internal organs are still in tact! At one point I was like, "How do I know that I'm NOT peeing my pants right now?"
Yeah, the sound was muddy in some spots - but here's a tip for anyone who loves music but doesn't play music - always stand next to the sound engineer! Best sound in the venue every time, guarenteed. I've seen MBV a lot and of course last night wasn't half as rad as seeing them at Slim's but it was actually way better than seeing them at the Whorefield that one time when Colm's sequencer busted mid song. The Verve sucked ass, btw. Can't wait for the RIDE reunion....how 'bout it, science?
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 5:39PMOH MY GOD! That was easily the greatest show I have ever been to. That was beyond my expectations. MBV are one of my favorite bands and I never thought I would get to see them. And to everyone who said the mix was bad, you are very wrong. The mix was not bad, it was great, it was that damn barn that they mistakenly call a concert venue. I was up front on Kevins side. I expected the worst for the sound, but to a great surprize it was pretty amazing. It was not only loud, but sooooo powerful. Being close to the stage is the only wasy to go for the Concourse. I was pretty surprized to see how many people were not using earplugs(I was not surprized, however, that they were the ones who had their fingers jammed in their ears) It was just a shame that the concourse was the only place in the city that could handle their PA system and volume/
I saw them in Chicago, and the show was just as phenomenal as what you are all describing. Strangely enough, the venue they played in Chicago (Aragon Ballroom) is notorious for being the worst as far as acoustics go, too. It's a very echo-ey barn of a joint, but despite that, I can only guess that I found a decent place near the front. I was able to hear as much as my earplugs would allow, and actually went it without plugs for five songs.
My full review is at http://www.gloriousnoise.com .
I'm jumping back in for a second just to get behind dr who said:
"extremely loud and low vocals is pretty much MBV's style. if you didn't see them back in the early 90s you knew what to expect"
*I think he meant to say that if you didn't see them back in the early 90's you didn't know what to expect"
I commented to my friends that the vocals were mixed perfectly in the style of MBV just below the music where they were supposed to be.
It was intentional.
Kevin Shields is an amazing sound designer, and has never been overtly focused on making his lyrics be completely audible in studio recordings or live shows.
Whether or not you enjoyed last night's show -for whatever reason or predisposed idea of what you were going to hear- it truly was a momentous occasion in music...and you were there! I hope you can find some joy in that.
p.s. I won't go into specifics, but this morning I had a healthy physical reaction to the sonic assault on my organs. Now MBV has medicinal magic too.
I think we may have all been programmed to kill on command. Not sure.
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 9:45PMWhat an life changing and difficult experience.
I was the small kid in the blue shirt running around the whole venue. I started near the front
They were not correctly mixed. Specifically it sounded as if the bass guitar or (more likely) the bass drum was WAAAY too loud. I mean they were like tank shots blasting into my ears every few seconds. These perpetual sonic blasts covered up the electric guitar and vocals, which I know to be better mixed with the vocals intentionally lower in the mix because Kevin Shields is a musical genius.
I am 5''6' so I had wishful thoughts that the sounds was really on and that I was just getting too much of the lower end because I am horizontally challenged. I evacuated the front of the audience and wandered to the the left/right upstairs areas and even the back area, and while the mix was overall better (I could hear vocals and electric guitar much more clearly), that cursed the bass drum / bass guitar persisted to dominate the mix.
Conclusion 1: Concourse sucks never go there again it's a BARN that you have to be 6'' tall to see anything.
Conclusion 2: MBV's volume while impressive and very much a part of their "genre-defining" sound will at times compromise the musical ideas they are expressing.
Now, I know that the point of shoegaze may be to have incredibly loud volume, but there comes a point when the music begins to be sacrificed for the noise. Also, the quiet interludes on Loveless were nonexistent. I love these interludes because they are simple and repetitious (in a good way), also because they bring contrast to the music in dynamics (volume). MVB failed to contrast their loud sound with quieter sounds that they were so successful in doing on their magnum opus, and I had anticipated this but still hoped for the best. The volcanic eruption of sound that was their 20min closer, "The Holocaust," was impressive, but less so than it would be if they could have a decrescendo right before it. Instead of going from loud to loudest. They could go to very quiet to loud, louder, then loudest. Again, maybe I am missing the point of shoegaze...
On a somewhat related note. Why did only 2-4 people (including me!) in the entire audience of thousands of "beautiful" people decide to dance? To me live music necessitates dance. No matter how artistic/beautiful/etc, I find that dance has always been an ESSENTIAL component to live music. Perhaps this is why shoegaze is effectively dead (or at least unpopular with the mainstream). Or maybe this is again the point of the shoegaze genre, and I'm just bitter because I didn't have any friends at the show, I am under 21 so I can't drink in this country, and I didn't hook up with any hot babes that night (although I got some glances).
Finally, I am happy to say that despite all these difficulties the night was worth it for me. MBV is living history in the flesh, and the chance to see them live is priceless no matter the venue/mixing. Yes, I would live that night again, just to have my heart explode when I saw MBV take the stage and hit those first notes.
I love MVB and Spectrum and sincerely apologize to anyone I offended in this post. Shoegaze on. :D
Posted On: Wednesday, Oct. 1 2008 @ 11:24PMamazing show. those who got to seem them in the early 90's know that what you got last night IS MBV. sounded WAY better than expected, may have had something to do with being 30ft from the stage in the center. brand-new soundsystem was stellar, particularly the low end. the 'apocalypse' was stunning, sound as physical force. one correction, ms. maerz alluded to this in the preview as well, but Spectrum is not a 'recent' act - it's been Sonic's band since Spacemen 3 broke up (and Jason Pierce formed Spiritualized in its wake) and the bulk of their recorded output was released in the 90's: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Spectrum+(4)
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 2 2008 @ 12:47AMDo people know that MBV live and on record are completely different animals?
I love the polarizing comments on here, live they are clearly a band you "get"(and revel in it) or you dont (and complain about muddy sound, lol).
Shoegaze music doesnt necessitate dancing at all, I would say the most annoying thing about were the handful of people lollapalooza moshing like it was 1994.
This show was a challenge, its more than music its an experience, "it inhabits you" - great quote from the author.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 2 2008 @ 8:39AMI loved the show. I saw MBV twice in 1992 and both times they did that noise chaos for 20 minutes or so and I have remembered it all these years as one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Others have been far more eloquent and poetic in how they describe it, so all I'll say on that note is, ditto. It was noise -- ugly, churning, but there was beauty in the chaos as I could occasionally discern cymbals, or a squealing guitar, and more, important, the sense of this powerful sound thumping through my body, shaking every part of me and of everyone there. Having the opportunity to experience that again, with the man I love -- there's nothing better.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 2 2008 @ 11:46AMThis will be my last comment on this.
Just to know where I'm coming from - I saw them back in the 90's and this show did not compare. The were just as loud back then, but the sound was clean and clear. Jaime summed it up - even MBV would probably not like to be called 'mud'.
I'm also a musician (27 years) and mix engineer (15 years), have been on several tours and know many, many people in the biz.
I talked to a friend, who knows someone (one of the sound techs) on the tour and THEY were not happy with the sound that night.
What does that say about all those claiming it was 'just the way MBV sounds'?
Sorry, but I'm calling b.s. and questioning your ability to differentiate 'good' sound from 'bad'.
Over and out.
Posted On: Thursday, Oct. 2 2008 @ 3:40PMI dont think those complaining were at the same show that i saw. I was completely overwhelmed and blown away by the sound. Anyone who doesnt agree needs to have their hearing looked at as they may already be completely deaf.
MBV live were the musical equivalent of an orgasm. I felt energy rising through my feet and blasting through my body and it even kicked in some serious lsd flashbacks.
I was deeply impressed and moved by the show and i will easily do it again.
ian
Posted On: Friday, Oct. 3 2008 @ 4:38PMMBV were one of my favorite bands, and their shows at Slim's and the Warfield in the early 90's were incredible. Those shows were loud, but you could actually hear the songs, and seeing them played live was a great experience.
So my husband and I plunked down the $50 each to see MBV at the Concourse. As many have pointed out, the sound was appalling, so much so that for at least half of the show (and we left before the encore) we couldn't hear anything other than undifferentiated white noise. That's NOT what MBV sounds like. I'd prefer to stay home and listen to the vacuum cleaner and save $100.
I'd see MBV again in a heartbeat if they were to play at a decent venue. But I'll definitely never see a show at the Concourse again -- it's too frustrating to not be able to hear the great band that you came to see.
Posted On: Friday, Oct. 3 2008 @ 8:54PMI wonder why Another Planet couldn't have booked 2 nights for MBV anywhere besides the Concourse?
Anyways, after seeing Belle & Sebastian there, I've vowed to never again darken that venue's door, so I didn't make it.
Instead, I listened to this board recording of the New York City show for free. Enjoy!
Posted On: Friday, Oct. 3 2008 @ 9:30PM
The finale was amazing. For some reason, I decided to take out my ear plugs, and for the remaining ten minutes, I was literally hypnotized. It wasn't until they finally broke back into song that I was able to come out and wipe the drool from my chin.
Posted On: Sunday, Oct. 5 2008 @ 10:47AM
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