Live review: My Bloody Valentine

Published on Thursday 3 July 2008 20:18

MY BLOODY VALENTINE *** BARROWLAND, GLASGOW

THERE are complimentary packets of earplugs everywhere – by the front door, on the bar, at the crisp stall – so no-one can say they weren't warned. Word on the My Bloody Valentine reunion shows so far has centred largely on the punishing volume – with good reason, it transpired. But fans old and new were willing to risk their hearing for a long-awaited chance to witness a trailblazing band whose reputation has grown in their lengthy absence.

In the early 1990s, My Bloody Valentine succeeded in extorting new sounds from guitars at a point when it seemed like everything had already been tried several times over. More than 15 years on from their last utterance, these shows constitute probably the most eagerly awaited comeback since the Pixies.

Ironically, the first sound to come from the stage was a whispered "hello" from frontman Kevin Shields, but soon enough the audience were girding their ears for battle, as if preparing to head out on some extreme sports expedition.

Initially, there was the thrill of the distortion and the many insidious riffs and hypnotic melodies laced through their sound, though the novelty of ruining your hearing wore off after a while in the face of a lack of conviction and charisma from the band. At times the beautiful harmonies of Shields and his co-vocalist Bilinda Butcher were all but inaudible under the squall of guitars.

Soon was as heady and irresistible as ever, but Feed Me With Your Kiss lacked urgency and the vocals on the closing You Made Me Realise sounded totally enervated in the lead-up to the main party piece, consisting of the song's notorious one chord white noise breakdown distended to a brutal 20 minutes, which left audience members clutching their ears and me with one question – was there really a need for such stunt torture?