My Bloody Valentine concert @ Hammerstein Ballroom w/ Opening Act Dumb Numbers

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Live review for My Bloody Valentine first concert in NYC this month.

My Bloody Valentine famously end their sets with 1988 single “You Made Me Realise,” with its jet engine, tinnitus-inducing “holocaust” section. Like when James Franco cuts his arm off in 127 Hours, you know it’s coming, and people prepare themselves for it. When they launched into it last night (11/11) at Hammerstein, people held up their arms, wiggling their fingers, like they were about to go over the first big drop on a rollercoaster. It is, admittedly, a hell of a ride. Some people throw up!

We’ll back up a bit first. This was the first show the shoegaze legends had played in Manhattan since 2008, and first since releasing new album mbv earlier this year. While generally adverse to big rooms like this (I hadn’t been to Hammerstein since New Order in 2006), I thought the sound was pretty good, with Kevin Shields and Belinda Butcher’s vocals reaching above the miasma just enough. Shields, who greeted the crowd with a perfunctory but cheerful “Hi,” took up at least a third of the stage with his wall of amps and the same could be said of the sonic real estate.

That tremelo’d “glide guitar” is what a lot of people were there to see (or hear, a lot of tall dudes were in the crowd), but I spent a lot of time watching bassist Debi Goodge and, especially, drummer Colm O’Ciosoig who played with a ferocity that matched the volume of Shield’s amps. (O’Ciosoig is MBV’s not-so-secret weapon.) Butcher stayed still for most of the show, with more time holding than playing her guitar, but her voice is still honey sweet.

It was hard to argue with the setlist, which gave us the lion’s share of Loveless, three cuts from Isn’t Anything (but no “Soft As Snow,” which they haven’t played in eons), choice EP cuts (“Honey Power” from Tremelo was very welcome), and four tracks from mbv. As much as I liked hearing “Soon,” “To Here Knows When,” and “Feed Me With Your Kiss,” the new tracks were the real surprises of the night, taking on extra gravity live, especially “Only Tomorrow” which was one of the night’s highlights. The intense (occasionally stroboscopic) light show and very cool projections added to the sensory overload experience.

Then of course “You Made Me Realize” where the volume went up to 13 and you could feel it in your chest. Don’t know whether it’s age or the need to accommodate new material, but the “holocaust” only lasted about six minutes. But it was long enough for me.

I missed openers Dumb Numbers that featured old tourmate Murph (from Dinosaur Jr.) on drums, as I didn’t get to Hammerstein till about 8:15 PM and had to deal with a line that went all the way to 9th Ave, thanks to some serious security. Arrive early for that coveted sonic sweet spot. (But I did see Dumb Numbers on Sunday night for their surprise show at The Flat where their sludgy doom went over pretty good.) East Village fixture BP Fallon kept the Hammerstein crowd entertained between sets with a DJ set of rock standards. Pictures from the show are in this post.

Tonight (11/12), My Bloody Valentine do it again at Hammerstein with DIIV opening. This is MBV’s last show of their 2013 tour and tickets are still available.

SETLIST: My Bloody Valentine @ Hammerstein Ballroom, 11/11/13
Sometimes
I Only Said
When You Sleep
New You
You Never Should
Honey Power
Cigarette in Your Bed
Only Tomorrow
Come in Alone
Only Shallow
Nothing Much to Lose
Who Sees You
To Here Knows When
Wonder 2
Soon
Feed Me With Your Kiss
You Made Me Realise

My Bloody Valentine adds more dates to their WORLD TOUR, playing 2 nights at Hammerstein Ballroom!

Band members

Shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine who released their first album in over 21 years, mbv, earlier this year, have already done some North American dates since (like LA’s FYF Fest), and though those didn’t include any in NYC, now they are set to return and will play Hammerstein Ballroom on November 11 and 12! Tickets are not on sale yet, but check Ticketmaster for updates.

New North America [US and Canada) and European tour dates have been added. Check the gigs page for ticket details!

 

My Bloody Valentine — 2013 Tour Dates
06-09 Budapest, Hungary – Club 202
06-10 Prague, Czech Republic – Archa Theater
06-13 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
06-14 Hultsfred, Sweden – Hultsfred Festival
06-15 Oslo, Norway – Norwegian Wood Festival
07-07 Belfort, France – Eurockeennes Festival
07-13 Balado, Scotland – T in the Park
07-26 Niigata, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival
07-27 Ansan Daebu Island, Korea – Valley Rock Festival
08-04 Katowice, Poland – Off Festival
08-06 Vienna, Austria – Vienna Arena
08-08 Sibenik, Croatia – Terraneo Festival
08-10 Helsinki, Finland – Flow Festival
08-16 Austin, TX – Austin Music Hall
08-17 Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Theatre
08-19 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
08-21 Seattle, WA – WaMu Theater at CenturyLink Events Center
08-23 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
08-25 Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
08-30 Laois, Ireland – Electric Picnic
09-05 Cologne, Germany – Cologne Live Music Hall
09-07 Berlin, Germany – Berlin Festival
09-08 Munich, Germany – Munich Tonhalle
10-31 Eindhoven, Netherlands – Effenaar
11-03 Lille, France – Aeronef

Kevin Shields of MBV upset over his band’s lack of nomination for the Mercury Prize – A Bias Against Indie Artists

Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine –

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Independently released ‘m b v’ didn’t meet nomination qualifications

My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields is awfully upset over his band’s lack of nomination for the Mercury Prize, the annual award for best British album. In an interview with the Guardian, the frontman aired his grievances after the group’s first album in 22 years, the Essential m b v, failed to get a nod thanks to what he claims is a bias against indie artists.

“Isn’t Mercury a phone company or something, anyway? What’s that got to do with music?” he said. “We’re banned by them, and do you know why? Because we’re not on Amazon or iTunes. That’s one of the qualifying criteria. You have to have major distribution or be on iTunes or Amazon.”

Either way, Shields is still rankled by the snub. “It’s interesting to learn that to be as independent as we are is … virtually illegal,” he said. “It’s not a real record. Our album’s not a real album because it’s independent. The corporate-ness has got to such a point where we’ve essentially been told that we don’t exist. So, technically, that album doesn’t exist.”

Perhaps the most conspicuous omission was My Bloody Valentine‘s much-lauded MBV. Whether you think it was an awesome comeback or not, it is the kind of record that normally at least gets nominated (see Bowie’s The Next Day). The reason it’s not, claims glide guitar maestro Kevin Shields tells The Guardian, is that the album is too independent:

“We’re banned by them, and do you know why? Because we’re not on Amazon or iTunes. That’s one of the qualifying criteria. You have to have major distribution or be on iTunes or Amazon.”Shields may be correct. According to the terms and conditions on the Mercury website, qualifying albums will have “a digital and physical distribution deal in place in the UK”.  My Bloody Valentine, who self-released their album, only sold the digital version of mbv through their own website. This may not be considered a “digital distribution deal”.

“We released our record, mbv, independently,” Shields said. My Bloody Valentine didn’t even rely on an indie label such as Domino or Alcopop! Records. “It’s interesting to learn that to be as independent as we are is … virtually illegal,” he said. “It’s not a real record. Our album’s not a real album because it’s independent. The corporate-ness has got to such a point where we’ve essentially been told that we don’t exist. So, technically, that album doesn’t exist. OK? It’s not allowed to exist according to the Mercury prize.” – [The Guardian]

Shields goes on to say he has no regrets about self-releasing the album. The CD of MBV is currently available to buy on Amazon (who allow third-party sellers), but not digitally. The Mercury Prize, which looks to be a race between Bowie and Arctic Monkeys, will be announced October 30 in London.

My Bloody Valentine, meanwhile, are set to hit the East Coast in November, including two shows at NYC’s Hammerstein Ballroom. Tickets for that show go on sale today (9/13) at 10 AM.

The short list for the Mercury Prize includes David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg, Disclosure, Savages, and more. Shields said “god help” the eventual winner, saying that the award negatively impacts an artist’s career: “Seriously, there are sinister forces at work.”

Shame on the Music Industry!

Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2013 shortlist nominees: 

Arctic Monkeys, AM
David Bowie, The Next Day
Disclosure, Settle
Foals, Holy Fire
Jake Bugg, Jake Bugg
James Blake, Overgrown
Jon Hopkins, Immunity
Laura Marling, Once I Was an Eagle
Laura Mvula, Sing to the Moon
Rudimental, Home
Savages, Silence Yourself
Villagers, Awayland