Emotionall Compressed
Sixteen years is a long time. An especially enduring time for a band to fail to play a single gig but when you release a timeless album like Loveless all can be forgiven. As far as comebacks go such was the impact that My Bloody Valentine made in the early 1990s their status as headliners was justified before they even played a single note. The demand was palpable to see the quartet merely on the same stage again, let alone play. Earplugs at the ready? Then they shall begin.
As the first track from Loveless, the opening should be familiar to the thousands in attendance and you can almost sense the relief extending to excitement when they convincingly storm into Only Shallow. Not only does this sound assured but fresh; as if the sixteen year gap has given the songs room to breath and a tangible power, maybe too much power. Not only have they managed to drown themselves out but anything else within a kilometre radius. Though the open air alleviates the intensity, those at the barrier are truly there at their own risk. Just as with their recorded material, voices tend to admit defeat amidst the substantial guitar distortion but who needs lyrics when the music is so emotionally compressed already. With words barely audible, visuals are used in the form of looped images of country lanes and smudged paint that appear on a screen behind the band and render each song a conceptual illustration of its own. When Come In Alone finally permits some vocal influence it lends a calming hum atop the protruding melodies and crashing drums, bringing a welcome dimension to an otherwise lenient track.
Whilst the songs largely still retain their potency; chemistry between the band has evidently dispelled as lead singer Kevin Shields hardly even glances at guitarist Belinda Butcher. This could be interpreted as distant but one could argue they spent most time onstage concentrating on their guitar pedals anyway. No other band puts in quite the effort for atmospheric guitar noise and Soon takes on a life of its own with Shields’ distortion for once leading the set into a lighter, funkier overtone. This quickly diminishes as concerns of ominous, punishing white noise interludes are realised in force as the band begin to tie up their now almost apocalyptic set. Whilst many flee for the sake of their own hearing ability salvation occurs when it appears there is still time to finish with a quickfire version of You Made Me Realise. Then they depart, with hardly a word to address their public but then who needs words when you are My Bloody Valentine