Monday, September 29, 2008
My Bloody Valentine at the Aragon
Holy living fuck.
I didn't really know what to expect walking into this show. I'd heard that their shows were very loud, and I'd heard reviews saying that they were christ-handing-you-a-chocolate-shake good and your-mildly-retarded-daughter-has-full-blown-AIDS bad.
The good news was that we didn't have to see the opening band. I don't know what the issue was, but they didn't even set up their equipment. My Bloody Valentine came on at about 9:15 and played for about an hour and a half. They were very good.
They played most of Loveless, which is what I really cared about. Their mix was interesting. It definitely focused on their dissonant guitar noise, as it should have. One thing that may have been accidental was the high mix of their drums. On some of their slower songs, the loud drums gave an almost Shadow-esque hip-hop effect. It was a pretty unique way to hear their sound, if nothing else.
One thing that everyone at that show will remember for the rest of their lives is the fifteen to twenty-minute noise jam at the end of their set. This was pure noise with no melody or rhythm. Simply put, it was probably the loudest experience of my life. I'm not just talking in terms of music. I've seen an AV-8B Harrier II take off vertically. It was that loud. At the door, there were guys with boxes of earplugs saying "compliments of the band." It was so loud that my jeans were literally shaking.
Being around something so loud was interesting for a few reasons. One, this was noise like a jet taking off and it was generated by guitars and drums. My Bloody Valentine's real strength is writing haunting music with guitars that sounds nothing like the instruments with which it's performed. This part of the show illustrated just how versatile the guitar can be.
Two, the sound was simply an awesome force. I bet this is what God sounds like when he wants to rock. It was so loud that it became a physical force. This may be a little gross, but I was kind of sick at the show. I'd had a cold for a couple days. The sound was so loud that it shook the goo in my sinuses loose.
If you're not into My Bloody Valentine, I highly recommend that you get your hands on a copy of their record "Loveless." It's probably my favorite rock record of the '90s.
I didn't really know what to expect walking into this show. I'd heard that their shows were very loud, and I'd heard reviews saying that they were christ-handing-you-a-chocolate-shake good and your-mildly-retarded-daughter-has-full-blown-AIDS bad.
The good news was that we didn't have to see the opening band. I don't know what the issue was, but they didn't even set up their equipment. My Bloody Valentine came on at about 9:15 and played for about an hour and a half. They were very good.
They played most of Loveless, which is what I really cared about. Their mix was interesting. It definitely focused on their dissonant guitar noise, as it should have. One thing that may have been accidental was the high mix of their drums. On some of their slower songs, the loud drums gave an almost Shadow-esque hip-hop effect. It was a pretty unique way to hear their sound, if nothing else.
One thing that everyone at that show will remember for the rest of their lives is the fifteen to twenty-minute noise jam at the end of their set. This was pure noise with no melody or rhythm. Simply put, it was probably the loudest experience of my life. I'm not just talking in terms of music. I've seen an AV-8B Harrier II take off vertically. It was that loud. At the door, there were guys with boxes of earplugs saying "compliments of the band." It was so loud that my jeans were literally shaking.
Being around something so loud was interesting for a few reasons. One, this was noise like a jet taking off and it was generated by guitars and drums. My Bloody Valentine's real strength is writing haunting music with guitars that sounds nothing like the instruments with which it's performed. This part of the show illustrated just how versatile the guitar can be.
Two, the sound was simply an awesome force. I bet this is what God sounds like when he wants to rock. It was so loud that it became a physical force. This may be a little gross, but I was kind of sick at the show. I'd had a cold for a couple days. The sound was so loud that it shook the goo in my sinuses loose.
If you're not into My Bloody Valentine, I highly recommend that you get your hands on a copy of their record "Loveless." It's probably my favorite rock record of the '90s.
# posted by Andrew @ 10:42 AM 
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