All Points West, Day Two
After a good night sleep at my old friend Chel’s appartment, we headed back out to Liberty Park. We hadn’t heard of most of the bands playing this day, so we headed out there late. Unfortunately, we were a little too late. We missed The Arctic Monkeys (whose show I heard sucked) and Gogol Bordello (who I saw at Bonnaroo). We only ended up seeing two bands, My Bloody Valentine and Tool.
Everyone has heard loud things. Rock concerts, airplanes taking off, fire trucks, nuclear explosions. Loud has not truly been experienced until you see My Bloody Valentine play a live show. The best way to describe their set is a full scale assault on the senses. They blast a combination of simple, droning guitars, drums, and vocals as loud as humanly possible. That, augmented with the frenetic flashing lights, was pure intensity. The feeling I got while in the crowd was unlike any other. It felt as if me, the crowd, and the sounds emanating from the speakers all came together as one entity. Kind of a natural high, I suppose. The strangest part was my mind playing tricks on me. It was unclear whether certain sounds I perceived were coming from the band or were just in my head. I thought I was the only one who brushed shoulders with insanity during the show, but one of the guys with me told me he felt the same way. So bravo, My Bloody Valentine, for figuring out how to get into people’s heads: LOUD NOISES.
(this picture doesn’t do the show justice in the slightest)
Next up was Tool. The Tool fans I met in the audience and on past occasions are some of the most dedicated fans contemporary music has to offer. I am not particularly familiar with their music (other than what I’ve heard on Guitar Hero, admittedly), so I asked a random guy in a Tool shirt whether they would be as loud or as good as the previous set. He stared at me blankly for a couple seconds and then started laughing. Then he told me that Tool is and will always be the greatest band in history. OK then, my hopes were certainly high. Then the show started.
Having seen them play, it is safe to say that I just don’t get Tool. It’s kind of like seeing a very deep, complicated movie that tons of people absolutely adore, but after seeing it for the first time, you just don’t get it. Maybe Tool is over my head, or just not my style, but I didn’t like the music. The singer Maynard James Keenan is a charismatic frontman who certainly looked cool. The lighting shrouded him in silhouette, making his spasmodic dancing look awesome. Plus the laser light show was a real spectacle. Unfortunately the music just didn’t do it for me.
Despite my ear injuries from My Bloody Valentine and overall disappointment with Tool, day two was certainly not a failure. I was exposed to two largely unfamiliar bands in their most pure form – live performance. We headed back to the hotel for much needed recovery for day three, which was by far the best.
August 6, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Glad you liked My Bloody Valentine – they pretty much invented the “shoegazing” sound. MBV, the Smiths, the Pixies, and Husker Du were serious influences on me in the late 80′s early 90′s, pre-Radiohead. I’ve heard their album, Loveless, is good, but I don’t have it.
I don’t get Tool either; just isn’t my cup of motor oil. Plenty of die-hard fans, though.
August 6, 2009 at 6:11 pm
By the way, I’m insanely jealous that you’re there — did you see The National? Now that’s a great band.
August 6, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Ooops, nevermind, I just read Day One. When you’re in town let me know and I’ll burn you a CD of The National — it takes a while to grow on you, then they’ll be one of your favorite bands, guaranteed.