| My Bloody Valentine @ Aragon Ballroom, Chicago |
[Sep. 28th, 2008|10:14 pm] |
I have a love/hate relationship with show reviews. I often find that when I compile too much information while watching a show it often ruins the experience. The same can be said for snapping photos, I probably miss more visually than I capture. I headed down to the sold out My Bloody Valentine show at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom with no intentions of doing either...yet I find myself sitting behind my monitor wanting to share the experience.
I could ramble on about how amazing I thought the event was but it really wouldn't do the experience justice. While it was complete sensory overload at times, there wasn't a moment that evening that I found myself wishing I was elsewhere. The band tore through a set that featured many of my favorites from Isn't Anything and Loveless plus a handful of songs from their brilliant EP, You Made Me Realise.
While their set list was pleasurable, it's the visual experience that I find myself recollecting about most today though. Imagine living in the Midwest your entire life and never experiencing a natural disaster like an earthquake or a tornado...last night had to pretty close sonically. I've never attended a show where earplugs were being handed out upon entry. It's a damned good thing they were! There were moments that I swear I could feel the hair on my arms moving from their wall of sound. Couple that with a light show that quite possibly could've caused an epileptic seizure to someone on the other side of town and you're still not even close to understanding what a few of the lucky folks that got their hands on tickets enjoyed.
Highlights of the evening were "When You Sleep", which was accompanied by some of the more pleasant video footage of the evening...a lo-res, 8mm-esque looking journey through leaves and branches. The best crowd reaction came when the band launched into Loveless' closer "Soon" (which I've embedded the video above). I was somewhat distracted during the song by a cute blonde who was wearing pigtails and dancing like no one was watching (don't tell her I was).
While I didn't make any attempts to compile a set list from last night's show, I found the following list from a show at Roseland Ballroom in New York City...if anyone remembers the songs being played in a different order, let me know:
I Only Said - When You Sleep - You Never Should - When You Wake - Cigarette In Your Bed - Come In Alone - Only Shallow - Thorn - Nothing Much To Lose - To Here Knows When - Slow - Soon - Feed Me With Your Kiss - You Made Me Realise
If you were in attendance, please take a few seconds and share what you thought about the show. I really hope the band tours the States again. If not, I'll seriously have to think about crossing the pond to see them again.
Download: My Bloody Valentine - "Soon" |
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| Comments: |
From: (Anonymous)
2008-09-29 04:48 am (UTC)
MBV Aragon in Chicago | (Link)
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My man, I didn't think anyone would mention that "lo-res, 8mm-esque looking journey..." I can honestly say it scared me. I'm serious, there was a weirdness to it...made me uneasy. In another song (can't remember which), a girl kept diving off a window it looked like, in black and white. It looked like a suicide or something, and then it would spin sideways and repeat. Also creepy.
The band was great though. I'm not sure who to blame for the sound, one guitar seemed to be drowning out the other. I noticed the guitarist more toward the rear was getting a little pissed at some stage people. Bilinda looked a little like Maggie Gyllenhall up close. Glad I got to see them once. I hope there's no long hiatus after this, would definitely go again. Probably not at Aragon though, sorry to say. | |
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