My Bloody Valentine Comes Alive!

Return of the twenty-minute guitar solo? Someone call Alvin Lee!

Fred Mills

Friday night the original kings/queens of shoegaze, My Bloody Valentine, played a 15-song set at London’s ICA venue as a warm-up to their residency that starts this week (Friday, June 20) and the much larger Roundhouse. The sold-out show marked the British group’s first public performance in 16 years; a second warmup was scheduled for Saturday night.

According to a report by the NME, guitarist/founder Kevin Shields announced to the crowd, “Welcome to our rehearsal” and then launched into “Only Shallow” (from 1991’s Loveless). Material for the evening was culled from the 1987-91 Creation era and finished off with a 20-minute version of “You Made Me Realise.” None of Shields’ post-MBV compositions were tackled, however, nor were any new MBV songs, although anticipation has been running high for a new album from the group ever since the reunion gigs were announced.

The web is already a-buzz with audio and video of the concert, including a decent-looking but horrid sounding clip at this YouTube spot — see our screen shots above and below, now that’s some kinda fuzz and distortion to go with the music ! — although it’s a fair bet that the reunion shows proper will be officially recorded for some form of future CD/DVD release.

Coming up will be five more shows in London then two apiece in Manchester and Glasgow:

• London Roundhouse (June 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
• Manchester Apollo (28 and 29)
• Glasgow Barrowlands (July 2 and 3)