Finally writing about seeing My Bloody Valentine in San Francisco 9/30/08(my birthday & my gift to myself). The concert was at The Concourse At San Francisco Design Center which is south of Market Street. I hadn't been to a show there before, let alone knew the venue existed. So I didn't know much about the place. Probably a good thing too, since I didn't want to color my concert experience with what others thought of it.

So, ALOT has been said about MBV's U.S. performances here on Mog. And although I enjoyed the performance since they sounded fantastic, ultimately I was disappointed. I'm sure it has much to do with the fact that I wasn't feeling too well due to a caffeine overdose which was my dumb mistake(forgot to ask for a single & got a double w/o realizing it. I'd already had a single shot latte earlier, so I was on edge). But it also had quite a bit to do with the venue.

Basically The Concourse is this huge warehouse that is basically a humongous trough which is 4 feet below the two sides running through the structure. So unless you were front & center(which I was not due to not feeling well) or on the side railings up close, the view wasn't too good(there were also these big wood pillars that got in the way of the view). I moved around alot to get better views though.

'When You Sleep' at The Concourse in SF:

The thing that I was most disappointed about was the fact that the set list was pretty much the same as what others have posted on prior shows. Even up to the very last song 'You Made Me Realise' with 'the holocaust' wall of sound guitar attack of 15 minutes. I guess I figured they'd change up the set list some & do the holocaust on different songs. It's not like it would be difficult for them to do since it would fit into any number of their songs.  Also, I was surprised they were so inanimate. Granted, they are shoegaze, the genre not known for putting on much of a show, but after 15 years you'd think they'd put out a bit more of an effort since they are no longer the disinterested youngin's they once were. They had a psychedelic light show going on which helped to an extent.

Kevin Shields circa '03:

So all this to say, I really felt MBV was phoning in their performance. Maybe I would've felt differently if I was right up front watching them play up close. But I think even then I would have gotten bored quickly. We're talking no emotion shown & only a few words spoken inbetween the songs, which is truly what shoegaze is about I suppose, being very minimal & not interacting much with the audience. I guess my expectations were probably way too high. But they did SOUND amazing even though the acoustics in the venue weren't all that great, but for shoegaze I don't think it's really necessary to have great acoustics. Of course, they were fucking LOUD & I wore the earplugs I brought(even though I'd heard they'd be handing some out at the show)which helped to make the show enjoyable & not ear bleeding.

Oh & D2 Affinity opened the night with their one song long drone with flute & computer. Unfortunately I was at the back of the venue & thought it was just the sound guys playing music. I eventually realized it was the opening act when I walked up to the front & saw two people on stage just as they finished up. Spectrum(who has some Spacemen 3 members) played next & they were shoegazey but poppier, more accessible and rather enjoyable compared to the previous group.

All in all I'm glad I saw them live, despite the drawbacks(& my mindset). If I didn't go I would have regretted it for the rest of my days. They proved that they are so much more than a studio band & can recreate their sound convincingly in a live venue.