MP3 – My Bloody Valentine – Soon
The much heralded return of shoegazer legends My Bloody Valentine appears to be a bit tempered by the realization that there are an awful lot of people still trying to unload their tickets on such sites as Stub Hub and Craigslist – Chicago at the eleventh hour.
Unlike the return of the Pixies back in 2004, where the band sold out the same venue that MBV are playing tonight in Chicago, the Aragon Ballroom, the MBV tour isn’t generating remotely the same level of interest (the Pixies sold out four nights, seven months in advance). Both were cult favorites in their original incarnations, both were darlings of the critics and both influenced an enormous amount of musicians. What’s different about MBV’s retun from the Pixies? Maybe nothing. Maybe it just has to do with the current economy?
Or, could this be another example of people racing to get tickets to an event/tour that they were certain would not only sell out (Chicago’s show has, the tour hasn’t) but that thousands upon thousands would be clamoring at the opportunity to pay any price for a chance to see legends returning to the stage? If so, it would appear to have backfired on a great many of folks out there, including one individual that is attempting to rid themselves of 9 tickets on Stub Hub for the Chicago MBV date as of this writing.
Frontman for MBV Kevin Shields has said that many different recorded releases are due out in the near future, including the first new MBV album in more than 17 years. Could this over-excitement at the starting gate have an effect on his decision? Will Shields look out into a potentially 1/3 empty hall and wonder “There’s no reason to continue this after the tour”? I certainly hope not.
With so many people left holding tickets that could, by showtime tonight, be found to be more worthless than stock in AIG or Lehman Bros., for a band that was never that big in the U.S. anyways (their seminal album Loveless, despite being hailed as one of the best albums of all time by rock critics in the know – including yours truly – and influencing a gaggle of bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins – has not even been certified Gold – sales of 500,000 – in those ensuing 17 years) could this truly spell the end of My Bloody Valentine’s return? Only time will tell. One thing’s for certain, this ain’t no Pixies reunion. But then again, that one wasn’t all that good of an idea in retrospect.
