oh hi it's NICE-ETC - The blog for Nice.Etsy.com - Vintage & Handmade by Caitlin Holcomb

So on Saturday I went with some friends to see My Bloody Valentine. It was the first show/concert I have been to in a long time. Surely over a year. It was also the largest show I have been to in an even greater span of time. James was in Ann Arbor, Michigan over the weekend dj-ing with a friend, so sadly he wasn't able to make it. It's the first time they've played since 1992, I belive it was. Have any of you ever seen MBV? I'm usually not a huge fan of reunion sort of tours, but I've liked them for so long..and there's something about a shoegaze band reforming that is easier to swallow than other genres..maybe their egos seem smaller...although in Kevin Sheild's case, I don't think that's a valid point.

I discovered My Bloody Valentine when I was in 8th grade due to my love for the Smashing Pumpkins, haha. They brought me to discover a lot of bands that I still really enjoy. Anyway, it's well known that MBV shows are the loudest shows. Nearly everyone brought earplugs, and just in case you didn't, venue employees were handing them out upon entering, courtesy of the band. The show was at the Aragon of all places..always has lousy sound. I wore my earplugs the entire time, and kinda peeked out a few times. It kinda sucks that you have to wear them. The sound is muffled, and call me old, but if they would just turn it down a bit, you could still enjoy it all for what it is.

The show was pretty good. I enjoyed it. The lights and graphics for the first song were pretty neat..glittery and pretty perfect for their music. You can see it in this video from that night (found on Youtube):

It's especially nice in the beginning and towards the end starting at 3:35. It pretty much illustrates why I was inspired to call this light shade the Shoegaze Light Shade:

So everything was fun and fine until towards the end. Their last song was "You Made Me Realize"...which features a 20 minute middle full of noise..pretty much sounding like an aircraft trying really hard to take off. You can see it here (found on Youtube) haha, this is only the last few min..

It was during this that I began to feel really old. The venue was incredibly hot inside. I don't sweat much, but man was I then - as was everyone. I lasted maybe half way through the noise before I had to ask two of my friends if they would go off and get some water with me..however they couldn't hear me or insisted that it would be over soon. I knew they were righ, and I didn't want to have to bail out, so I gave it another shot but finally realized I was probably going to faint if I didn't get some water. So I quickly made my way through the crowd, down stairs, and to a beer stand. I was so thankful to see there were no longer any lines..until somehow a guy and girl beat me to the vendor. I was so close to pleading with them to let me go first- I just wanted, er needed a water! Instead I just clutched the corner of the counter with one hand, held my money out with the other, and lost my vision completely. ha. It was horrible. I had no idea what I was going to do, all alone standing there. My earplugs were still in my ears, but I'm not sure I would have been able to hear even if they hadn't been. I think I stood there like a crazy person for 2 minutes, constantly opening and closing my eyes so tightly, hoping to see again. Then finally, somehow I was swept away by an on site medic. Sooo embarrassing. haha. Thankfully the two gentlemen who helped me were very nice and gave me so much water..as soon as I sat down and had a drink my vision came back. Ugh. So yeah, besides that and the over done noise - which by the way, I have heard now wasn't even technically live, but a 20 minute sample, which feels even more like an f-you from the band.. yes besides all that, it was an ok time, hahah.

Have any of you ever seen them? Or are you going to see them during this little tour? Tonight they are playing in San Francisco.