Loud
Very, very loud.
And bright.
I was prepared for the concert (after reading a few blog posts) but nothing, I repeat, nothing could have prepared me for the wall of sound that almost swept me off my feet. I mean which concert have been to where you are handed ear plugs? The band literally bludgeoned their audience into submission. The guy in front of me left after a couple of songs; the person I was with was overwhelmed with the sound and crowd; I saw a couple of audiences hiding behind the pillars holding on to their ears or covering their eyes.
It was very, very loud.
And bright.
I had to leave early because of the afore mentioned friend, but I caught enough of the show to know that it was very good. There was really no need for mics as you could barely hear the words (all I heard was soft whispering from Bilinda and Kevin). In fact just as Come In Alone started, Kevin stopped playing and asked his crew why he couldn’t hear himself. And you could hear everyone in the crowd saying,”neither can we”.
It was very, very loud.
And bright.
I really liked the psychedelic light show which went very well with the whole sound. And just like the sound, the light show was jarring on the eyes. I tried taking a few pictures but it was a futile effort. Either it was too dark or too bright. When the strobes were flashing, most of us could not help but cover our eyes.
It was very, very loud.
And bright.
I used the ear plugs for a couple of songs as the songs sounded quite incoherent. But ear plugs would not really give the listener the complete “picture”. When I put the ear plugs on, I could not really hear the guitar noise very well. And that’s the whole point of going to a MBV concert…..listen to the noise. But they did come in handy because, my poor ears could only take so much of the wall of sound.
Another thing about last night was the opening acts. The first one was Flowers Of Hell. And they were really good. It was only this morning I read that Tindersticks (a band I really like) has played some part in Flowers. Needless to say that since morning I am trying to find a site that will let me download Flowers albums. The other was J (?) Haze (I think – I was not really paying attention). But her songs were quite good. She was supported by another guitarist who would start the song with a smiple chord and end it with a burst of noise. Again, I was really impressed.
I probably will update this post when I remember some other aspect of the show. In the meantime, enjoy this :
Desi In Toronto 