Get The Hell Inside

The one and only time I saw My Bloody Valentine live in concert was Sunday 2nd October 1988, supporting Pixies at the Bierkeller in Bristol.

I was there for Pixies and I'd not heard of MBV until this night. The benefit of hindsight and all that, but little did I realise what a pivotal moment this was the band. In August, My Bloody Valentine had released their third single - their first on Creation Records - You Made Me Realise, which marked a shift towards the now-familiar wall of noise associated with the band. At the end of October, fourth single Feed Me With Your Kiss would serve as a precursor to their debut album the following month, Isn't Anything.

 

I'd like to say the 17 year old was so switched on that I realised I was watching something quite special. I didn't. What little I recall is that it was a short, cacophonous set, ear-splittingly loud and with little in the way of discernable vocals...or instruments, for that matter. 

 

According to Iffypedia, My Bloody Valentine's performance of You Made Me Realise was frequently performed as an ultra-extended piece, usually around the 15-minute mark, the band stretching out a single chord "for as long as they felt bearable". Drummer and founder member Colm O'Ciosoig's quoted as describing the audience reaction as,

"We hate you. But we have to keep on watching you. Because we can't believe what you're doing, that you're bringing this torture upon us!"

 

This may well have been how I was feeling. The Bierkeller was a low-ceilinged, claustrophobic venue with a trademark in smoke machines and poor ventilation, so it may have felt that there was no escape from the band. Black Francis' screams and Joey Santiago's squalling guitar solos must have seemed like sweet relief following My Bloody Valentine.

 

I didn't go back to My Bloody Valentine for a long time, many years after Loveless had been released and there was a thought that the endlessly promised third album would never see the light of day. Then of course, I realised how brilliant they were.

 

The setlist for the Bristol gig isn't available online but seemed to be pretty consistent on other nights during the same tour so I've co-opted them for today's selection. The first half draws heavily on the pre-Creation releases and doesn't convey the sonic assault of the live performance but it does demonstrate the shift in sound and promise of greater things to come.

1) Lovelee Sweet Darlene (1986)

2) Emptiness Inside (1988)

3) Kiss The Eclipse (1987)

4) Paint A Rainbow (1987)

5) Thorn (1988)

6) Sueisfine (1988)

7) Cigarette In Your Bed (1988)

8) Slow (1988)

9) Feed Me With Your Kiss (1988)

10) You Made Me Realise (1988)

11) Clair (1987) 

 

Get The Hell Inside (32:00) (Box) (Mega)