My Bloody Valentine at the Royal Albert Hall

My Bloody Valentine

Chvrches 

Royal Albert Hall, 27 March 2026

I never expected to see My Bloody Valentine again, let alone at London's most grand and iconic venues, the Royal Albert Hall, but after reuniting last year to play some shows (I didn't fancy seeing them at Wembley Arena though), I jumped on the chance to see them as part of this year's Teenage Cancer Trust line-up, this time curated by Robert Smith of The Cure after Roger Daltrey stepped down two years ago.

I must admit, I didn't realise this show was standing room on the floor, but I can't deny it was actually quite nice to turn up after the doors were already open and have a seat waiting for me on this occasion. I arrived just in time for the show to begin and luckily for me there was no one beside me for support act Chvrches, who I had never seen before.

Apparently this was Chvrches first live show in three years (and I think four since they had played London), as singer Lauren Mayberry has been concentrating on her solo career, although she tells us during the show that they have a new album coming out soon.  This was my first time seeing them live and I must say, they were fantastic and Mayberry, wearing a retro t-shirt proclaiming "Choose Love" (very Wham!), really commanded the large stage. I'm sure, in fact, they could probably sell it the Royal Albert Hall by themselves.

Interestingly a lot of the set came from their last album Screen Violence with many of the songs making their live debut despite having toured that album for two years. They all sounded great though but it did seem to be a missed opportunity that Robert Smith didn't make an appearance on How Not To Drown, the song they collaborated together on, considering he was there tonight.

Near the end Mayberry told us "I promise I’m not inside watching telly all the time, we have been making a record, and because this is a special night, we thought we would play something off that record. So be kind to us, we’ve never played this in front of human beings before." The song in question was called Conman and was a suitably ferocious, almost punky, synth track  with Mayberry screaming "Please, please trust in me!"

They ended the show with two of their hits, Clearest Blue and, of course, The Mother We Share, which both sounded fantastic. They are definitely a great live band and I'm so glad I caught them.

Before the main act came on we were shown a film featuring teenagers who has cancer whose lives were improved by the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust. They then brought out some of those teenagers, who had spent the day backstage as a treat. We were all asked to turn the torch on our phones and hold them up, then the kids were able to take a photo with the whole of the Royal Albert Hall lit up and it did indeed look magical. It was a really lovely moment. 

When I saw My Bloody Valentine at their first reunion shows back in 2008, they gave out earplugs on the way in. Although I didn't see any evidence of that this time, I did hear after they were offering earplugs to those who wanted them. Thankfully though I had brought my own, as when they emerged to cheers and immediately began playing I Only Said, from their 1991 classic Loveless, it truly was a huge wall of sound that threatened shake the rafters of the beautiful 150 year old building.  

I last saw Kevin Shields when he popped up at the Dinosaur Jr Where You Been anniversary shows a couple of years ago and got to see his amazing guitar work up close (and his lovely shock of white hair). This time I had to watch from afar, he was even hidden further under his bucket hat but you could feel the vibrations from his guitar as dreamy, swirls of noisy distortion arose as the band played a fantastic mix of songs from pretty much every era of the band, with even three songs from their 2013 comeback album, mbv. 

However, it was something special to hear classics from Isn't Anything, Loveless and the You Made Me Realise EP (they actually played four of its five songs). In fact they ended the entire show with its title track, including the ear-bleedingly loud so-called "holocaust" section near its finish, which saw the band creating a true wall of noise of pure noisy feedback. They also did this when I saw them at the Roundhouse and, despite my trusty earplugs, it was actually so painfully loud I had to leave the hall and listen to the end of the song outside the doors by the merch stand. Thankfully, it was bearable and cool and only lasted four minutes (they have been known to play this part for much, much longer) before they returned to what is probably their most "pop" song.

I do wish I had been a little closer to the always cool and calm presence of Bilinda Butcher, looking rather elegant in her black dress and silver shoes. Despite this was a joy to witness her strum away on her guitar, helping build the fuzzy blur of sound and hear her ethereal vocals as they beautifully blended into the noise.

I also had the privilege of seeing bassist Debbie Googe up close recently as part of Thurston Moore's band, but it was fantastic to see her once again bash away at her bass, providing movement and the heartbeat of the band, with her thudding basslines, always  completely in sync with the band's incredible drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig. At one point Ó Cíosóig even emerged from behind his walled in drumkit to provide extra guitar power to the almost buzzing sonic assault of Wonder 2,  helping to make it sound even more airy and powerful. It's a weird song and it's crazy how this 13 year old track still feels like it's something from the future.

As usual there was hardly any interaction with the crowd: My Bloody Valentine are known for letting the music do the talking, but at one point one fan shouted out "I love you, Kevin!" to which the usually stoic Shields actually quietly responded, "I love you too, I love you all." It was all that was needed to be said really, as this was once again a very special night, raising money for a special cause.

There was one guy a few rows in front of me who literally threw his arms in the arm and danced throughout the entire show, it was entertaining to say the least. Not everyone went so crazy but the atmosphere tonight was definitely full of good feeling and it was incredible to see My Bloody Valentine return yet again to shake the Royal Albert Hall in a way it probably never had been before!