Pitchfork

Photo via Shokographic at Flickr

Believe it: As of this weekend, My Bloody Valentine are once again an active band that performs live musical concerts! The shoegaze demigods played a pair of previously reported "warm up rehearsal gigs" at London's relatively tiny ICA on Friday and Saturday, and the response was-- unsurprisingly-- overwhelmingly positive. The Friday gig marked the first MBV performance in over 15 years.

First, to answer the big questions: Was it the classic MBV lineup (Kevin Shields, Bilinda Butcher, Debbie Googe, Colm O'Ciosoig)? It would appear so. Did they play any new material? Nope. Did they close the set with a 20-minute "You Made Me Realise" white noise rampage? You bet your arse they did. Um, were they any good? Reports seem to suggest as much, and the live recording of Friday's gig floating around sounds pretty damn hot. That said, this was just a "rehearsal," as Kevin Shields was quick to point out before the gazing began.

As reports on NME.com and Xfm.com (and this setlist) note, the reemergent Valentines treated the stoked crowd to 15 songs on Friday night, including some Loveless staples ("Only Shallow", "Soon", "To Here Knows When"), some Isn't Anything scorchers ("You Never Should", "Feed Me With Your Kiss"), and a few EP tracks ("Honey Power", "Cigarette in Your Bed"). Here's the complete setlist:

Only Shallow
You Never Should
Honey Power
I Only Said
Cigarette in Your Bed
Thorn
Nothing Much to Lose
To Here Knows When
When You Sleep
Slow
Blown a Wish
Soon
Feed Me With Your Kiss
Sueisfine
You Made Me Realise

The NME.com report noted "delirious cheers," "huge cheers," an "ecstatic reception," and, oh yeah, "a psychedelic backdrop and...fierce strobes."

Xfm, meanwhile, was all gush, declaring, "Despite one or two minor technical wobbles, My Bloody Valentine were as powerful as they were in the days of the early 1990s," and insisting that "those fans holding tickets for any of My Bloody Valentine's [five] Roundhouse gigs this weekend are assured an evening of white noise, extreme distortion and-- dare we say it? Yes, we dare-- sonic cathedrals of sound."

If you can stomach a shoddy audio track, video footage of My Bloody Valentine performing "Only Shallow" can be found here, while "Cigarette in Your Bed" rests here. A pretty solid live recording of the whole show, meanwhile, resides here for the moment-- though you may want to act fast on that one. I'll say this much: the white noise blizzard on "You Made Me Realise", even on this recording, sounds unreal.

And hey, photos from Friday's gig have begun appearing on Flickr. Not the most amazing quality or anything, but it's amusing to consider how several of these shots, however accidentally, approximate the aesthetic of MBV's record covers and music videos, no? Have a look below.

As for those Valentines, they officially kick off their reunion tour on Friday, June 20 at London's Roundhouse. Stay tuned for Pitchfork's official report from that gig, complete with photos and a review.

Photos via Shokographic at Flickr:






Photos via jeremyk2007 at Flickr:














Photos via mariowry at Flickr:





Be My Bloody Valentine:

06-20 London, England - The Roundhouse
06-21 London, England - The Roundhouse
06-22 London, England - The Roundhouse
06-23 London, England - The Roundhouse
06-24 London, England - The Roundhouse
06-28 Manchester, England - Apollo
06-29 Manchester, England - Apollo
07-02 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
07-03 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
07-03-06 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-09 Paris, France - Zenith
07-18 Benicàssim, Spain - Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
07-19 Benicàssim, Spain - Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
07-19 Madrid, Spain - Saturday Night Fiber
07-25 Naeba, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival
08-08 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival
08-30 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic
09-05 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09-19-21 Monticello, NY - Kutshers Country Club (ATP New York)
09-22 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
09-23 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
09-25 Toronto, Ontario - Ricoh Coliseum
09-27 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
09-30 San Francisco, CA - The Concourse
10-01 Los Angeles, CA - Santa Monica Civic
10-02 Los Angeles, CA - Santa Monica Civic