Friday, August 01, 2014

Slowdive


This is one of those obscure little bands that the man listened to as a teenager and got all emo. Well, I don't even know them at all. o.O Might of heard of them, but nothing registered when I was told tickets had been bought for Slowdive in Singapore. Oddly, I've heard the songs of the band in their incarnation as Mojave 3. Saw the name Slowdive when I scanned the line-up for Primavera 2014. I didn't listen to any songs they have, didn't even scramble to youtube their songs before the gig. The friends did their best not to roll their eyes when I said that. Hahahahaha.

Shoegaze or nu-gaze aren't genres I understand. Although I like My Bloody Valentine. But I dunno if that's considered shoegaze; there're more distortion pedals going on than anything else. So I know nothing about Slowdive prior to its gig in Singapore. Never mind, it was fun checking out a totally-new-to-me-band. I thought their sound could have been less muffled and better mixed, but whatever. I suppose it was a compromise between their tech rider and what was available. It certainly didn't make me feel enveloped in a wall of sound. The band definitely gained a new fan base when they re-formed in 2014. Didn't realize they have so many fans in Singapore until I heard the joyful screaming.

I suppose in a way all emo songs do, they stir emotions, especially those that have been hidden. Something struck me as I was swaying to Slowdive's encore of 'Dagger' and 'Alison'. From third album Souvlaki released in 1993, 'Alison' was slightly more like the alt-Brit-rock I'm familiar with. These guys on stage are our age, 40-somethings. It's amazing how they've kept at this music thing. For Slowdive, they picked up right where they left off, 20 years ago. Woah. We're getting older. Our music preferences have shifted and yet stayed true. I dunno if the next generation will laugh at us for reminiscing about Metallica like the way we tease baby-boomers about ABBA and Queen.

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