There have been a few concert going events in my life that I value above almost anything else in my life. Sonic Youth at the Wiltern, the Who at Irvine Meadows shortly after the death of John Entwistle, Arcade Fire at the Greek, and now My Bloody Valentine at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
For those unfamiliar with the band, they were a shoegazing quartet based out of the UK in the late 80′s and early 90′s. Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher on guitar, Debbie Googe on bass, and Colm O’Coisoig on drums. They played loud, furious music that influenced such groups as the Smashing Pumpkins. After two critically acclaimed albums, Loveless and Isn’t Anything and a break-up between Shields and Butcher, the band dissolved amid a mix of apathy and procrastination. They were all quiet until Shields contributed the soundtrack to Lost in Translation in 2002. A reunion was in the air.
The Santa Monica Civic is not really a place where a lot of concerts take place. The last time I was there was for an antiquarian book show, where a man that looked like David Crosby gave my brother and I a lecture about California history books. To think that I’d be seeing a shoe gaze band there less then a month later was a little confusing. But I did find out, by talking to a guy wearing a Sonic Youth t-shirt in line, that it was the place of a legendary David Bowie show in the early 70′s. The show was recently released after years of bootleg copies to rave reviews.
The show itself was a triumph. When you walked in the door you were greeted with complimentary ear plugs. I’ve never been to a show where I was given ear plugs before, or even been to a show that was so loud that I needed ear plugs. But from the first drum beat, it was clear that ear plugs were a neccesity.
They tore through their well known songs, opening with I Only Said, the classic off of Loveless. Shields and Butcher almost whisper their lyrics into microphones that are turned down. The lyrics are very hard to discern, I only picked up a line here and there unless I knew the song by heart, which in many cases I did. Shields, looking like he just rolled out of bed onto stage, stood tall at stage right with Butcher on stage left. The band said very little to the crowd, thank you a few times and a thanks for coming before the last song.
After tearing through my favorite song, Feed Me with Your Kiss, they started You Made Me Realise. I read in an article about the legendary wall of sound that they used to created in the middle of the song. Sure enough, the wall of sound emerged. During the 10 to 15 minute wall of sound section, in which all the band played the same chord repearedly, the sound got louder. It was rumbling the entire room. At one point I closed my eyes and let my hands fall to my side and I noticed that my clothes were shaking. I was litearlly vibrating on the ground. It’s hard to describe the sound other then saying it was heavenly and also unsettling. I would probably say it sounded like an satanic orgasism with angelic undertones, but as my friend Vanica so eloqently put it, it sounded like her ears were being raped, but in a good way.
This is one of those shows that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’m sure the final noise must seem strange to those of you who weren’t there. I’ll end with this thought, once when I was playing music with some friends, I hit an especially loud chord that caused a wall of feedback. My friend Clark famously said, “Play something that doesn’t hurt.” But I’m reminded of what poet emeritus John Mellancamp said, “Hurts so good, come on baby make it hurt so good.”
Now, for the first time, you can read K. C. Wilson‘s powerful new novella completely for free, presented by Faraway. By Florida-based author K. C. Wilson, Doing the Dead – 1983 is a superb piece of writing about a man turning thirty and recognizing the entanglements that made him who he is. Along the way an unforgettable cast of characters deals with murder, betrayal, love, friendship, music, and loss.