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Drowned in Sound

really fucking good... until the fucking stupid 20 minute long "noise" bit at the end.
They played all the hits really loud and it was brilliant, then they decided to play the same note over and over again, for 20 minutes. I'm sure brainlove would say i "don't get it" and all that, and I was enjoying the prolonged noise even up to the 7/8 minute mark, building up the anticipation and the tension and all that stuff, but 20 minutes of it was just completely uninspired, uninspiring and unnecessarily antagonistic. yes, yes, i'm sure "it was intended like that", but if they intended to almost put a damp squib on the whole gig they achieved it.
Fingers literally didn't move up the fretboard for 20 minutes, maybe clicking on a different effects pedal ever 5 minutes. It was pretty crushing and overwhelmingly noisy at first, which was great, but 20 minutes of that same noise over and over... please tell me somebody else didn't think it was the "best thing ever"?

Apart from that it was amazing, although I would'ave appreciated at least a "hello, thankyou for coming" from Shields. I know, I know MBV, you are a very serious band, but please, I spent £25 coming to see you: appreciate.

yes_ | 03 Jul '08, 01:42 | Send note | Report this | Reply



  • The "20 minute noise bit"

    isn't stupid. It defines part of the beauty and myth around My Bloody Valentine as an entity. I guarantee, you will not see a more engaging performance, or at least twenty minutes worth, in your entire lifetime.

    • are you even kidding?

      I mean are you literally joking? pretty much everyone around me started looking embarrassed after 15 minutes, looking at their watches, doing hand gestures for "let's leave" etc. It was not engaging, it was alienating and completely not special. I admit it is quite a feat for any band to play the same note over and over again for 20 minutes and not be booed off stage, and that certainly heightens the "myth" around MBV, but it was basically redundant after 10 minutes.

    • LOL

      Get o yer bike, son.

    • I wouldn´t go quite that far

      but it only really worked without earplugs. Otherwise it was just noise, but when you could really hear the ferocity of it... it was alright. Nothing on the songs themselves though.

      • I had my earplugs out for about 5-10 minutes

        after that watching some maudlin guy strum the same note over and over again became somewhat sapping. It took most of the energy out of the gig, which had been brilliant before then. Which is a shame.

        • I think the sheer gall of it was hilarious though

          I mean, it wasn´t even IMAGINATIVE noise (but then, what pure noise is, I suppose), it was just loud, and repetitive. And it hurt. And seeing people´s faces was funny. I just went to get my coat so I didn´t have to stand in the queue for the cloakroom afterwards. And then felt like dying when I got out, because listening to it was so exhausting. But in both a good AND a bad way. I think it would have been so rubbish if it had only lasted five minutes, but going on for like thirty minutes, there´s a sick glory in that, like at the end of the first Liars album.

          • Hm yeah.

            I just think it wasn't "communal" at all. I think my only realy qualm hear is the length. People started looking around at about the 10 minute mark but then started getting bored. They just overstepped the mark by a prepostrous amount and left a bad taste in the mouth.

  • you can't review a gig before it's happened!

    (here, i am using malapropism to undermine and criticise the point in question.)

  • i must agree...

    from the early 90s bootlegs i have, the noise bit was limited to 10-12 minutes max. 20 mins is just ridiculous, especially since they're essentially doing fuck all during the entire thing. this is 2008, any tosser with a kaoss pad can whip up a shitstorm of pointless noise not unlike the 'holocaust'.

    MBV's main focal point was that they took noise and turned it into something enjoyable. what i've heard isn't even worthy of being categorized as a metal machine music homage.

    the ridiculous length is ultimately why i won't be going to see them. say what you will about 'sister ray' or 'cop shoot cop', but those at least had maintained some sense of direction and purpose.

    • That noise bit...

      Was incredible, completely enveloping and overpowering which is exactly what MBV are all about. I can understand why some people who are not into noise music wouldn't like it though. My girlfriend had to go and stand at the side it was too loud, the soft cunt. Best gig of the year. Feed Me With Your Kiss is so so SO good live.

      • _yes

        has just reaffirmed my belief that he is a complete idiot.

        The 20 minutes of noise was bliss, I'm considering going back again tonight just for it.

        Best gig I've been to

      • ha ha ha

        "My girlfriend had to go and stand at the side it was too loud, the soft cunt."

        That's the funniest thing I've read all day.

  • hmm

    i thought it was quite interesting, the noise bit was a physical experience. after about 15 mins of them playing drums on my ribcage i chuckled to myself at the sheer gall of it. it didn't piss me off anyway.
    re: thinking about what to eat on the way home, did you see that guy who was walking about with a double roll and sausage during one of the last few songs? in all my days...

  • i think 10 minutes

    of the same note would have been enough for me. maybe i just have a short attention span, but i thought it was the musical equivalent of period pains.

  • apart from the 20-minute bursts of very loud nothing

    the main thing that spoils my enjoyment of MBV is brainwashed dweebs who'd say "delicious!....is it foie gras?" if Kevin pinched a loaf in their mouth.

    • i danced a bit to soon

      but anyway, people who stand at gigs stroking their beards deserve to be shot.

      You dullards.

      • very poor

        the glasgow show for me was alarmingly bad. they played at such mind crushing volume that any kind of dynamic they should have had was completely obliterated. theres a reason why guitars aren't usually turned up that loud and its for that very reason.

        with earplugs out it was too loud and with earplugs in you could only hear the drums. if they'd just got the volume of the guitars down a bit it would have been a much better gig.

        they were very out of shape particularly the drummer - his fills were often sloppy, and each and everyone of them looked bored to tears and quite unbelievably miserable for people who will be getting their mortgages paid off for a couple of weeks of work. i don't expect them to be dancing around but the odd smile or thanks would be nice

        for the sentitively titled 'holocaust' bit it was just so predictable and boring.....once again it was just noise...but not interesting noise and once again no dynamic

        oh well.... you know what they say - never go back

      • crap crowd

        yeah it was amazing how dispassionate most of the crowd were, given the amount of energy the band created

        by the end of 'only shallow' i took the task upon myself to get the crowd bouncing - such a great floor barrowlands has, it had to be put to use :P

  • i reckon taking psychedelic drugs

    and watching this band would be a near religious experience. then everyone would get it.

    • you see

      after the gig me and my 3 mates were all saying how horrendous it would have been to do anything drugs before/during the manchester gig. it'd get about 25 minutes into the holocaust and you'd be on the biggest bad'un ever.

  • I thought the noise bit was boring

    it was amazing to experience something of that volume for a few minutes but there wasn't anything interesting going on to make it justify the rest.

    • thats why

      you need to take some kind of mind altering substance before hand...

      then it will all become clear.

  • the noise bit was amazing

    I managed to squeeze in a visit to the gents and the bar. No ear plugs here

  • i wasnt at the show

    but mogwai did this at the queens hall a couple of years ago, i thought it was a bit unecessary, but they were possibly doing it as a joke...