My Bloody Valentine, photo by author.

Fans wrapped around the block and stretched back through an alleyway, waiting to enter the Aragon. While such a crowd might be expected at the venue’s typical pop-rock shows — upcoming acts include Beck, Kings of Leon and Jason Mraz — it’s surprising to see My Bloody Valentine, a band with no commercial success and on its first tour in 16 years, perform a sold-out show.

The recently reunited Irish alterna-rock group stopped in Chicago as part of a tour built on nostalgia. Saturday night’s set included no new music, despite reports of an upcoming album, instead featuring a number of songs from their signature work Loveless. Released in 1991, the album’s seemingly infinite layers of fuzz and dreamy vocals have led to its inclusion on ‘Greatest Albums’ lists by Pitchfork Media, Rolling Stone and Spin. It was after the release of Loveless, however, that the band dissolved into obscurity as singer and guitarist Kevin Shields isolated himself while trying to deliver a follow-up album.

My Bloody Valentine filled the Aragon not only with people but with blistering sound. At recent shows, numerous concert-goers have reported seeing soundboard readings around 130dB — somewhere between a pneumatic drill, a low-flying jet and a gunshot. Walking into the Spanish-style theatre, security guards provided complimentary earplugs. While experienced fans took a pair or two, the defiant and uninformed passed on this offer and are most likely still partially deaf.

Those less experienced with the band’s sound probably got more than they bargained for. For nearly an hour and a half, My Bloody Valentine blasted forth crunchy guitar riffs and booming bass drum hits with an intensity and volume that would make Metallica sound like Simon & Garfunkel. The vocals on the albums lay very low in the mix, but the messy acoustics of the Aragon only muddled them further.

Those more familiar with the music may have been disappointed over the set list. While the albums tend to mix dream pop and noise rock, their live performance heavily favored the latter and completely left off softer classics like “Sometimes,” a song prominently featured in the movie Lost in Translation. Although such extreme noise is normally accompanied by extreme theatrics, the members of the band simply stood there wailing on their instruments, staying true to their “shoegaze” reputation. Shields appeared to acknowledge the audience just once during the entire night with two words: “Yeah, thanks.”

No matter the level of familiarity, nothing could help you prepare for the cacophony of “You Made Me Realise,” the band’s final song. A chord halfway through what is typically a three minute and 46 seconds song, became a prolonged experiment in terror as it was repeated on end to create a nearly 22 minute beast. The experience can best be described like being strapped to the bottom of a jet engine or being trapped in an air raid: what the band has referred to as the “holocaust section” of the song. While not quite a transcendental experience, the ear-splitting noise causes you to lose all sense of time in a swirling and evolving texture of sound that pulsates through your entire body. The volume was so utterly devastating that you would swear you could touch it.

In the end, fans were able to walk away hearing classics like “Only Shallow” and “Soon” for the first time since George H. W. Bush was president. For the older attendees, it was a chance to relive songs from the past. For the younger crowd, it was a chance to hear songs that were assumed to be relics of a separate era. While their sound might not be as groundbreaking now, My Bloody Valentine still retains the same sense of wonderment that they had nearly two decades ago.

As the lights flashed different colors, and the band members’ silhouettes were barely visible through the illuminated fog, it did in fact feel like floating through a colorful dream.