My Bloody Valentine produced an intensely brooding set early Friday evening on the Green Stage that refused to dwell on the past, featuring predominantly material from their new album, “mbv,” and only throwing in a few numbers from “Loveless” every now and then in order to keep the crowd satisfied.

Heavy showers threatened to rain on Kevin Shields and Co.’s parade on more than one occasion throughout the one-hour set, but the gods that look over the band were very kind to them. The downpour we had been expecting all day hadn’t materialized by the time the pioneering shoegazers took to the stage, allowing us to gaze at our sneakers while swaying gently from side-to-side during their performance as had always been intended. “Rain boot-gaze” just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

Released in February 2013 after more than 20 years in the making, “mbv” confirmed that the Irish dream pop outfit still has what it takes to rule the sonic roost in today’s cluttered music lineup. The band toured Japan earlier this year and appeared to have enjoyed it so much that they signed up to appear at Fuji Rock. The revelation at the time was certainly jaw-dropping, as the festival’s headliners had already been named. My Bloody Valentine had headlined Fuji Rock in 2008, so where on Earth were they going to play? Not after Mumford & Sons surely…

The scheduling, it turns out, wasn’t ideal, and one suspects the ethereal atmospherics MBV produces could have benefited from a later time slot. The subtle visuals that lit up the back of the Green Stage only really started being noticeable about halfway through the set, and a bit of darkness may have added a dollop of extra intrigue to the aural performance.

As a result, the music itself seemed to suffer from a distinct lack of intensity, and the wall of sound that we’ve all come to expect from My Bloody Valentine gigs made only fleeting appearances. Shields deliberately wound back several tracks from the new album during the show, at one point almost stopping entirely mid-song. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced many in the crowd had the patience for such antics. You could see what My Bloody Valentine was trying to do, but there was a definite disconnect between its attempts and the sound that ultimately reached our ears. It was, honestly speaking, a poor man’s substitute.

That said, if the band was indeed trying to make up for the overall lack of sound during its performance, its delivery of “Wonder 2,” the final song from the new album, was a vast, disquieting seismic combobulation that blew my skullcap off completely. (Note to self: Stop in at Lost & Found before jumping on the bus back to Tokyo.)

I’ve long suspected that mbv is somehow an anagram of reverb but have never exactly figured out how. However, after witnessing a performance as convoluted and atmospheric as the one delivered on Friday evening, I definitely think I’m getting closer to the mark. And just when I thought I had reached a moment of mellifluous clarity, Shields and Co. ended the set with a seemingly endless blast of sonic rumble that was so thunderous that I had to check a few times to make sure I was still wearing my earplugs.

“Thank you, goodnight,” Shields said to the audience as the band finally fell silent. It was the first and last thing words he spoke.

And then, as if almost on cue, the heavens opened.

[Photographers were prohibited from taking photos during My Bloody Valentine's performance on request of the artist.]