Over the weekend My Bloody Valentine made their long-awaited return to the stage with a deafening performance that cemented their reputation as the loudest band on Earth. Aside from two tiny rehearsal gigs last week, the five-night stand that began on Friday at London’s legendary Roundhouse marked the first live performances from the revered noise-pop band in more than 16 years.

My Bloody Valentine opened with a relatively tame take of “Only Shallow,” but quickly showed why earplugs were complimentary. Playing in front of a psychedelic video slide show and flashing strobe lights, MBV raised the volume to an ear-splitting level while working through a single 90-minute set heavy with tunes from their seminal 1991 album Loveless, but void of any new, unreleased material. Apart from vocals that were overwhelmed by battering drums and over-amplified guitars frontman Kevin Shields was silent throughout the evening. The band ended the show with their trademark 15-minute-plus tidal wave of white noise at the conclusion of “You Made Me Realize.”

My Bloody Valentine’s stay at the Roundhouse ends tomorrow evening with the band moving on to gigs in Manchester and Glasgow before hitting the European festival circuit this summer. An eight-date tour U.S. tour is set to begin in late September. In an interview with the U.K.’s XFM, Shields discussed the possiblity of a new album, saying, “It was pretty much three quarters made in the ’90s. We’ve got no label support so everything will be finished pretty much independently.”

Set List:

“Only Shallow”
“When You Sleep”
“You Never Should”
“(When You Wake) You’re Still In A Dream”
“Lose My Breath”
“I Only Said”
“Come In Alone”
“Thorn”
“Nothing Much to Lose”
“To Here Knows When”
“Slow”
“Blow A Wish”
“Soon”
“Feed Me With Your Kiss”
“Sueisfine”
“You Made Me Realize”

[Photo: Bourne/Retna]