As the last hiss, groan, and shred of so many guitars in maximum overdrive faded into the comforting murmur of C&W at the Concourse – and the buzzing began in earnest in my earholes – I had to admit, those My Bloody Valentines are still fricking bloody amazing.
I remember ’em way back when, among all those hazy watercolor memories of the ’90s, at the Kennel Club, now the Independent. And back then, around the release of Loveless, I remember thinking, they’re good but they’re no Sonic Youth. No mistake, I still love me some SY. But after the last multitextured blasts of “You Made Me Realise” surged first one, then twice with delicious rock ‘n’ roll drama, inspiring a small sea of fists to shoot up at the front of the stage, I had to admit this band has been bloody well missed.
There were a lot of confused looks last night, Sept. 30, at the shed-like venue – right there on the faces of casual listeners and maybe a few older fans who viewed Loveless as the most daring entry in their CD library. Live, the band has lost none of their fury – or volume. The 20-minute-long noise finale – which kept me riveted with its groans, shrieks, and force-of-nature undulations and seismic shifts – doubtless disturbed. Still, the courage and audacity of MBV came through – even to someone who has attended her share of noise shows. Their organic suture of, er, noise aesthetics to pop song structure heaved up a strangely benevolent, animal-like sort of sound – nonhuman, rather than inhuman. Against that wall of distortion, it was nice to see the little bodies lying on the floor, cradling themselves, holding fingers to ears, and studying the stage from across the football-field-sized room, basking in radiating sound and taking in the aural waves coming off Expo Center Beach.
