My Bloody Valentine – 3Arena – 22/11/25 – Review
by Killian Laher

MBV mania has visited Dublin in recent days, with a ‘secret’ rehearsal gig a few days ago in the National Stadium, a pop-up merch store in the Grand Social (with a long, Oasis-style queue for entry) and then this gig in the 3Arena, their first Dublin headliner since 1992.  While everybody was given a set of earplugs on entry, those who arrived early were treated to a high-quality support set from Maria Somerville.  Somerville has released one of the albums of the year in Luster, but it was feared her immersive sound would be a little lost in the vast 3Arena.  Her set, largely drawn from the aforementioned album, was noisier and more experimental than on the album, with the likes of Projections and Garden being played at considerable volume, hitting the audience in the sweet spot.  The set was punctuated by passages of ambient noise, where Somerville and her bass player crouched down, creating waves of noise.  The likes of Halo and Corrib were rockier than on the album, and the set culminated in a stretched-out version of All My People.  Here, the experimental side of the trio came to the fore, with the drummer scraping his cymbal back and forth with a bow, while the other two conjured up floor-shaking feedback, which continued for a time after the band left the stage.

MBV opened with two of the more uptempo songs from Loveless, in I Only Said and When You Sleep at a serious volume, so earplugs were a must.  New You allowed Bilinda Butcher to take centre stage and the rest of the band to take a bit of a back seat, with bass player Debbie Googe remaining right at the back of the stage for the entire gig.  Dedicating the gig to the late Mani of the Stone Roses, there was plenty of pre-Loveless material played, with Butcher also taking ‘doo doo’ duty on Cigarette In Your Bed.  But it was Kevin Shields’ guitar work which took centre stage, sounding particularly strong on Only Tomorrow and an imperious Come In Alone.  While there was no new material played, Shields and co played highlights from My Bloody Valentine’s key albums.  Only Shallow saw Colm O’Cíosóg pound the drums into oblivion.

The crowd responded in different ways, some going crazy, some dancing, and some just hugging each other through it all.  To Here Knows When was a beautiful noise to get completely lost in, and as if the gig wasn’t loud enough, they seemed to get even louder for a glorious rendition of Soon that hit you right in the gut.  Wonder 2 was possibly the most ‘out-there’ song of the night, and a definite highlight.  You wondered how the band could even make such a hallucinogenic noise, accompanied by excellent, trippy visuals.  Anyone who knows anything about My Bloody Valentine knows that they habitually finish their sets with You Made Me Realise, featuring an elongated section of noise mid-song.  Everyone knows it’s coming, yet it’s thrilling to experience, and the audience was carried away on the tidal wave of distortion.

A deafened yet blown-away crowd disappeared happily into the night.  Let’s hope this is a prelude to some new music from the band…