Slowdive

It was fortunate Slowdive decided to tour again after all these years. Now that I’ve seen them, I can hardly imagine I might never have had the experience.
White noise. Dream pop. All the clichés and over-used terms apply. Yet, Slowdive have serious real estate here. This is their turf, and they showed exactly why a “shoegaze” internet search turns up their name behind only one other. The bright, noisy bliss of “Morningrise,” “Catch the Breeze,” and “Souvlaki Space Station” threatened to overtake the venue, often sounding like something between massive beauty and high-pitched screaming. Slower tunes like “Dagger” and “Rutti” gave the senses a break but were just as engaging. And with “Blue Skied an’ Clear,” a trippy dirge drenched in equal parts melancholy and radiance, one might think this is how it sounds when an angel dies.
Shoegazers can, and do, rock out. Make no mistake about that. However Slowdive create their sound in the studio, they brought it with them to the stage - only on a grander scale with more echo, more reverb, more noise, and more bliss. Their sound was often heavy, but it nonetheless washed into every corner of the venue. Psychedelic lights only suggested that nobody should have come sober. The whole experience was like noisy, gorgeous fireworks that exploded and then dripped down the walls.
Through all this, the band acted as if they were doing nothing extraordinary. No bravado – just cool confidence. Yet, for a band that was so derided back in the day, Slowdive should have had nothing but “we told you so” looks on their faces. With their return to the stage, apologies from the British press (and any other naysayers) should reverb longer and louder than “Golden Hair.” I hope, behind their stoicism, Slowdive know how important they are.
Loud lights and bright noise, swirls of color and washes of sound. It was a psychedelic assault for a now grown-up generation with kids, mortgages, and other problems of their own. How nice to forget all that … just for a day.