21 June 2008, still suffered from dizziness and jet lag, i rushed to roundhouse, a venue which made me think of emir kusturica's underground, oh, what a night, what a thrilling night.
dreamy and brutal, gentle and violent, its music was as contradictory as its own name, my bloody valentine. melodic whispering beneath layers of noise. 16 years of procrastination do not wear off its magic (and shields/butcher's youthful coyness). free earplugs were distributed at doors, a friendly reminder / factual warning of what kind of band mbv really was, albeit romanticised by its own myth. we were fed not only with kisses but also with those fierce and beautiful songs like "only shallow", "when you sleep", "i only said", "when you wake", "soft as snow", "come in alone" and "thorn", volume kept turning up. at last we were all pushed to the limit, with the last song "you made me realise" -
white light white heat, 20 minutes of sheer white noise, dazzling, i saw many put their fingers to their earplugged ears, in agony, struggling to remain, or being pushed to the wall by the noise like those being attacked by mysterious chinese kung fu, some were hypnotised, danced with their eyes closed, hands up, worshipped in awe. thanks for my already impaired hearing and my jet-lagged mind, i was among those hypnotised crowd, "don't fight it, feel it", or i didn't have to feel it, it's so overwhelming, just let yourself to be swallowed, visions and illusions, or just brain disorder.
the noise stopped. it finished. mbv left the stage and the shell-shocked crowd without any words. great. i wonder if i will ever have such sensational experience again.
you want to fall to the abyss of noise?
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