MBV as Mythology by Ian Mercer

My Bloody Valentine as Mythology

A Dicursive Lecture by: Ian Mercer

MBV is the only band that I would describe as mythical. Let me illustrate this for you:

The group has released only three albums and four extended plays over the past twenty-seven years. The duration of these releases totals no more than 210 minutes. The band’s output is limited and infrequent (the gap between the second and third album totaled 22 years alone), meaning that every second of every track feels valuable. They operate on a truly separate timeline within musical culture; seemingly floating along at their own pace while the world is borne ceaselessly into the future.

On top of that, the band very rarely interacts with the public. They’ve performed a total of 49 concerts in America throughout their entire history as a band. At these concerts they barely speak, and outside these concerts they rarely offer interviews. Thus, their words are comparable in value to their music. This is especially true for guitarist Bilinda Butcher, who has probably spoken no more than 10 words in her trademark impossibly soft voice throughout the past three decades.

The live show exceeds a volume of 130 decibels, rendering all attempts at recording it impossible. Additionally, the ceaseless strobe lights and blurry projections cause all video footage to descend into an incomprehensible haze. The concert truly exists only within its temporal and geographic boundaries because of its visceral volume and irrecordable nature.

With all this evidence at hand, the mythology of the band comes into focus. Their music is of the highest value because of it is both elusively rare and wholly ephemeral. When My Bloody Valentine chooses to release an album, and chooses to accompany that album with a tour, and chooses to tour through your city, and you are able to get tickets, rent a car, make it in time, and actually find a parking space in the madness of downtown Minneapolis, there is no greater music moment than the first note of their set. MBV’s 2013 show in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium is without any doubt the best live display that I have ever witnessed because I have never spent any other chunk of ninety minutes in my life so thoroughly in the moment. The rarity of the music and the difficulty of the journey made me truly treasure the experience. It was even observable in other members of the crowd. We stood like statues in a cathedral, absolutely overwhelmed by the tsunamis of sound crashing down upon our eardrums. The atmosphere was reverent and the band was awesome in the truest sense of the word.

I’m sure they had a green room with chips, bottled water, and other evidence of humanity, and I’m sure Bilinda called home to her husband to check on the kids afterwards. Despite this, I’ll reject that reality and instead believe that they evaporated into a mist after exiting the stage, only to return to this earth once the roadies had set up backline for the next set.