My Bloody Valentine reunited for a secret set this week, playing their first gig since 2018.
The shoegaze pioneers – who formed in Dublin in 1983 – haven’t performed together in seven years, but they got back together on Wednesday (19.11.25) night for a show at the city’s National Stadium.
In a nod to their 1988 album, the group played a secret set under the moniker Isn’t Anything as a warm-up for their upcoming reunion dates.
The show was originally meant to take place at a smaller venue, but it got upgraded to the 2,000 capacity stadium due to demand.
The set featured fan favourites like Only Shallow, Feed Me With Your Kiss and I Only Said.
Although the band didn’t showcase any new or unreleased material, they did play Off Your Face – which featured on 2012 complication EPs 1988 – 1991 – for the first time live.
My Bloody Valentine had previously announced a huge show at Dublin’s 3Arena on November 22, which was set to mark their first non-festival show in Ireland since 1992.
In March, they confirmed further dates at Manchester’s Aviva Studios, Wembley Arena in London, and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro.
The run will mark their first UK headline tour in over a decade, while it’s been 12 years since they released their latest album, mbv.
The band still features founding members Kevin Shields and Colm &Ocute; Cíosóig, alongside Bilinda Butcher and Debbie Googe.
Back in 2021, frontman Kevin, 62, said they were working on two new studio albums after signing with Domino Records.
He told the New York Times newspaper that the first record would be “warm and melodic”, followed by a more experimental LP, but there haven’t been any firm updates since then.
He added: “I don’t want to be 70-something wanting to make the next record after mbv. I think it’d be cooler to make one now.”
