You Made Me Realize (My Bloody Valentine)

MBV fans... what was it actually like when they played that song live? A recent thread about loud bands piqued my interest in the Bloodies and I read some crazy things about this particular number.
Thanks!

 

The 'holocaust' section of 'You Made Me Realise' is certainly an experience. It's not possible to find a youtube video that does it justice. If you ever get the chance to see the band you should probably wear earplugs.

 

Sensory assault would be putting it mildly. But in a good way!

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin Shields has more than his share of hearing loss having to perform this at every show

 

I saw them play this live in 1992 at Whitley Bay Ice Rink on the Rollercoaster tour.
I distinctly remember when they went into the white noise section, and for the first few minutes the people in the crowd were digging it. Then after about six or seven minutes boredom and discomfort set in and many folk went to get a drink or go to the toilet.

A good song on record but the extended white noise stuff live to me was very dull.

 

I was there too! I know I saw all 4 bands that played, but my only memory of the night is of The Jesus & Mary Chain.

 

It was great when you didn't know it was coming. There was glaring white light all through it too, so it was incredibly intense. Wasn't the same when they repeated it on the reunion tour, it was like a party trick you'd already seen.

 

It’s the most I’ve ever physically felt a piece of music. It’s like standing in a jet engine. Wear earplugs and zone out. It’s incredible.

 

This brings back memories. That concert was my last big-noise event and it was possibly the loudest I ever experienced. I was at the front of the stage when they let loose on "You Made Me Realise" and each band member was totally in his or her own groove making as much noise as possible. Deb was really into it, pounding at her bass fairly roughly and Colin was hammering at the skins. Kevin spent a bit of time playing with his electronics, but of course, he was probably loudest. The most quaint part was watching Bilinda strumming her guitar the entire time as if it were a folk song. She was like that after the show, too—quaint, that is. It is still nice to reflect on how nice and quiet they are as people when away from the music.

But it was very loud. Thank goodness I had earplugs. After that concert, I decided that it was time to opt for less enthusiastic shows.

 

I didn't see My Bloody Valentine back in the day, but did them once in 2013 on the US mbv album tour (front rail in front of Kevin Shields), and twice in 2018. "You Made Me Realize" is definitely an experience. I was prepared for it.....(I love stuff like Metal Machine Music).

YouTube doesn't do it justice (as mentioned above), but here's a short one anyway. The 2013 New York City show I was at.

 

Wish I had not missed that tour, one of my friends accidently hit record on his phone and captured about 20 min and I still loved what I heard despite the less than optimal quality from his pocket recording.

I have never seen My Bloody Valentine but I did see Whirr, the mbv worship band on the infamous smoke machine tour. They made great shoegaze music but they had the frat boy 4 chan sense of humor. They filled the club so full of smoke you could not see and pissed off a lot of people at every date and they were so loud with ear plugs my ears still rung, their goal was to be louder than mbv. Still wish I had grabbed the /150 grey vinyl in hindsight and Nick was actually really cordial we corresponded via email. Several months later they got into a social media fight with the transgender punk band G.L.O.S.S. and got such backlash both labels they were working with dropped them, and they have broken up so they got their comeupins for all their ****ty antics, too bad great shoegaze band, them and The Fleeting Joys are probably the 2 closest sounding bands I've heard to mbv

 

Saw MBV in 2009 - one thing that struck me: we were handed earplugs at the door, provided by the band. THAT was a first. Eating in the attached restaurant before the show, they had signs up warning diners about tonight's expected extreme levels of volume. This was in Richmond, VA, about 2 hours from where I live, and I only found out about it the night before, so I hadn't much time to mentally prepare. Having read a lot about their '90s shows, though I knew the holocaust section was coming when they played "You Made Me Realise."

Kept my earplugs in during most of the show, however they came out for a bit of the holocaust. My recollection was it did feel like waves of sound washing over us somehow. Audio levels were not painfully loud, but definitely far more than the National theater had seen before. It wasn't painful, though I may be attuned to louder shows at this point.

One thing that later occurred to me is that their gear in the '90s was likely not as sophisticated in terms of technology as what they have now - and maybe technology has caught up so they're far more likely to achieve the intended effect now. I suspect the gear then might've been more prone to cause a painful experience as it was pushed to extremes. (This certainly is conjecture on my part, I don't know anything about their gear.)

I seem to recall different reports of 'the holocaust' lasting from 4 to 45 minutes back during their '90s shows. Sounds a bit much!

 

I saw them in 91-92, but spent most of the time in the lobby where I could hear everything just fine.

 

I've read an interview where Kevin says he has 'mild to extreme' tinnitus, although he argues that it's become an ally when he's making records. Not quite sure what he means there...

 

I’ve gone through the experience twice.
Both times without the free earplugs.
The 2nd time was at the 3000 capacity o2 Academy in Birmingham ( England) in 2018.
It’s awesome. Makes your head spin and your stomach churn.
My wife walked out. She blamed it on the light show but I’m not so sure......

 

I went to a few 2013 shows but kept the plugs in for YMMR as I experienced it without in 2008 when they pumped the volume up even further (it made me very disorientated). Kevin talks about it in this interview...

My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields: 'I play through the pain'