Shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine returned for their first UK tour in over a decade. 34 years after the release of iconic album Loveless, MBV are still revered by fans old and new. Playing their biggest headline show to date, the legendary band packed out London’s Wembley Arena.

Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis was the first to take to the stage, enthralling a growing crowd with a set primarily consisting of songs from his band’s discography. Despite being alone at the centre of quite a large stage, Mascis ensured that his presence was noticed. Armed with an acoustic guitar and an extensive pedalboard, the singer performed nine tracks to open proceedings. With great talent, using both his fingers and his feet, which worked the pedals, he played an acoustic rhythm with one hand, using the other to play electric guitar solos higher up the fretboard at times. J Mascis blew away the arena with both his dexterity and raw vocal passion.

If My Bloody Valentine are known for one thing, it is the ear-rippingly loud noise they create when performing live. As the band struck up the first notes of ‘I Only Said’, those in the crowd who had not taken a pair of earplugs before the concert (they were being handed out by security from large sacks in preparation for the upcoming attack on the aural senses) attempted to plug their ears with their fingers before sheepishly leaving the audience in search of ear protection. This introduction was followed by the band’s most popular track, ‘When You Sleep’.

The setup behind guitarist and singer Kevin Shields featured dozens of amps, all of which added to the uproar emitting from the speakers. For each song, Shields used a different guitar, all tuned differently by technicians who worked overtime to ensure each instrument was ready for the beginning of the next track. Each member of the group played through pedals with varying degrees of distortion in order to create their famous “wall of noise,” which was deafening yet provided a solid base underneath the melodies.

Though for the most part, the concert ran smoothly, there were some moments in which amateur mistakes were made. The beginnings of both ‘New You’ and ‘Only Tomorrow’ were botched, but were eventually played superbly once the band were back on track. Performing tracks from across their discography – primarily from albums Loveless and m b v – each song melted into the next in a way that was only occasionally broken by Shields’s guitar changeovers. The lighting that accompanied the concert was ethereal and illuminated the entirety of the arena in purple, pink and green haze.

The crowd were, for the most part, eager and attentive, listening politely throughout, with some even moshing to the heavier tracks! Though younger than expected across the board, My Bloody Valentine are clearly a band enjoyed by fans of all ages. However, there were some individuals who completely snapped those around them away from the music and back to reality. Individuals talking and aggressively shoving throughout the entire gig sadly took away from the awe-inspiring experience on the stage in front, but this became less of a problem as the concert progressed.

Ending with ‘You Made Me Realise’, My Bloody Valentine certainly know how to make noise. The concert culminated in six minutes of pure noise, which was absolutely deafening. Many left the arena during these minutes as their ears simply could not stand it, but this noise was still louder than most gigs when heard from the concourse outside. MBV deafened, but they did it in style.

Images: Ava Manthorpe

The post My Bloody Valentine, Live in London: A Stylish Deafening appeared first on Indie is not a genre.