I've experienced this. It ain't no picnic. (It hurts.) But it also is kind of enjoyable. (I'm not a big fan of the sub-name, though.)
[www.youtube.com]



Post Edited (04-19-09 20:59)

I watched the MBV YouTube video. It sounded like five minutes of grinding a cold chisel on a bench grinder, accompanied by a so-so light show. I'd take a pass on that concert.

I saw MBV (and Superchunk and Pavement) in either NYC or Philly. I wanna say New York. Belinda Butcher was rockin' out in a long skirt. Whoa. My Bloody Valentine ended the set with at least 20 minutes (it felt longer) of white noise. People were stuffing their fingers in their ears and looking about furtively for a way out ("Call For Escape Route?"). I was high as all get out, so I was digging it. Then again, give folks enough drugs and they'll even follow the Grateful Dead for decades at a time.

You'd never know it from the way it sounds live, but "To Here Knows When" is a Top 10 "Songs to Trip Your Face Off To." Seriously. Either version.

Still got the ticket stub and the shirt. Superchunk was superb (but their CDs do next to nothing for me), while Pavement was totally lame (but their CDs are acceptable listening to me). The drummer just HAD to go ... even if the rest of the band wasn't set to make a career out of it. Pretty sure he was drunk. Handstands? Puh-leeze!

I think he showed up a few years later dressed up like a plant. In fact, I'm sure of it.

I saw MBV last night here in Austin. Either I have really good earplugs, or the band isn't nearly as overwhelmingly loud as reports portray it. I could hear the actual melodies very well. The vocals were muffled, but that's OK - they're really just another texture anyway.

And the white noise segment of "You Made Me Realise" was, in context, quite enjoyable. It was 15 minutes almost exactly - just long enough to be interesting without becoming annoying. Feeling the hairs on my arm vibrate for a while was a pleasant trip, especially for a teetotaler. And the earplugs cut out the harmful stuff - my ears weren't ringing after the show.

All this happened, by the way, in the Austin Music Hall, which is a big, concrete block that has the worst sound in town as far as music goes. I was worried that I'd get the experience Nile describes just because of that. But it actually sounded surprisingly good. (Well, MBV and Josh Pearson, who is sort of a cross between MBV and Will Oldham, sounded good - Kurt Heasley, who played a solo acoustic set, sounded like shit.)