Kevin Shields is credited as "noise consultant" for Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait. That title might seem slightly absurd, but in fact, Shields's contribution to Zidane is anything but inconsequential. Any My Bloody Valentine acolyte that sees the movie in the theater will hear the unmistakable sound of Shields as he wields layers of crowd noise with the same hallucinatory impact he's brought to the electric guitar. His contribution proves to be as important as Mogwai's score, and perhaps a perfect corollary to Darius Khondji's 17-camera cinematography. Shields makes a symphony from stadium noise, and the result lures one deeper into a viewer fascimile of Zinedine Zidane's consciousness.
Because of Shields's contribution to Zidane, and because My Bloody Valentine's return is allegedly imminent, I thought the time was right to dig up some personal photos from the group's first tour in the United States, shortly after the US release of Isn't Anything, which had arrived like a juggernaut in late 1988 via Creation Records.
Bilinda J. Butcher on stage at Saint Andrew's Hall in Detroit, 1989. photo by Colleen and Rob Glander
When Dave Segal, Michael Segal, and I drove from Detroit to Toronto to see the group's first North American show, there were about 15 people there to hear "You Made Me Realise"'s extended explosion-implosion. A week or two later, in Detroit, the group played to a slightly larger crowd at Saint Andrew's Hall, I'd like to hope at least partly due to our 'zine (You Can't Hide Your Love Forever) and record store raves about the singular beauty of MBV. That beauty is one worth remembering and reviving. As Gordon said, when I asked him about Shields's contribution to Zidane: "I went to meet Kevin in London. We were standing in the Groucho Club and I said, “Wait a minute, I think you slept on my floor back in 1985!"
Kevin Shields tickles the ivories in the backstage attic of Saint Andrew's Hall, as Bilinda J. Butcher, Deb Googe, and a statue look and listen. photo by Tracey Gaughran-Perez
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