Photo by Laura MusselmanWhile I completely understand the juggernaut of glowing reviews making its way through the local blogs about last night’s MBV show, I can’t really add to the gushing. I expected that there was no way seeing this show the second time could be fairly compared to my experience witnessing their first North American reunion show at All Tomorrow’s Parties last September. ATP is a whole different beast: a significantly smaller venue, an obsessive and talented team of gear geeks running sound, and a palpable sense of extra investment on the artists’ part to bring their proverbial A-game. While there was certainly nothing wrong with the sound last night and Kevin Shields and company were hardly slouching, it’s emotional impact couldn’t have been more different. This, frankly, was a big surprise. After the mind-melting joy of ATP, I figured I’d relish any chance to see them over and over.There were a few key differences between last night’s show at ATP, but much was the same. They deployed the same effective, anticipation-building technique of foregoing intro music on the house system in favor of ironic silence. Of course, it wasn’t quiet, because a room full of MBV heads awaiting for the arrival of their heroes can’t remain still. When they finally walked out on stage and tore into “I Only Said”, you could practically see the serotonin flooding the space.The light show and projected visuals were new: at ATP, they stuck to a simple and effective wash of relatively steady pink and red lights. This time around, they went a little bananas with strobe lights of all colors, film footage of forest paths, looped footage of a naked women running down a hallway, and enough overall visual stimuli to cause one person in our party to pull out her sunglasses to cope. I didn’t resort to shades, but I definitely found the chaos superfluous. Their music really doesn’t need such busy accessorizing.The set list was essentially the same, relying heavily on Loveless, but with the unfortunate absence of the title track from the Glider EP. I love the fact that “Soon” endures as a song with a never-fail pull. How can something that redundant be so eternally enchanting? I’ve never been able to solve that riddle, but the power of that song is undeniable. “You Made Me Realise” and its subsequent 21-minute squall remained fascinating, but only from the standpoint of watching the uninitiated react. Looking back over the audience as I walked out, I saw utter rapture, pained confusion and a few people who definitely looked like they had lysergic accompaniments filtering their absorption of the crushing wall of feedback. Note to guy sitting with his legs spread and his hands cupping his crotch: gross, dude.Maybe somethings are so gorgeous the first time around, they never can (or should?) be re-created. I’m sure anyone in that room who had never seen MBV before was thrilled, but I was just bemused.Set ListI Only SaidWhen You SleepYou Never Should(When You Wake) You’re Still in a DreamCigarette in Your BedCome in AloneOnly ShallowThornNothing Much to LoseTo Here Knows WhenSlowSoonFeed Me With Your KissYou Made Me Realise