UK indie rock heroes The Wedding Present have finally made it to Australia for a tour. After forming back in 1985, they broke up in 1997 after a highly successful career. The band reformed in 2004, and have since released 2 new albums, with a third this year called Valentina. Their fast, noisy, sometimes thrashy indie rock is reminiscent of Sonic Youth and Nick Caves’ The Birthday Party. Tonight they were playing their classic 1991 album Seamonsters in its entirety. Produced by Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Pixies), Seamonsters was almost more of a grunge album – it was certainly beautifully dark and sludgy in places.
Personnel-wise, a lot has changed with The Wedding Present, but the music has stayed the same – largely due to frontman/guitarist, David Gedge. He is the driving force and founding member of The Wedding Present. His co-founding member, bassist extraordinaire Keith Gregory, moved on in 1993 to a new band and to producing. Celebrity spotters noticed him in attendance at the Annandale (he has been living in Australia for many years).
The Wedding Present gave us a good half hour of classic songs, and a few new ones. The pile-driving blast and angst of fan favourite My Favourite Dress was a massive fucking highlight; you don’t hear shit like that these days – and the brilliance of Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now was undeniable. It was then onto Seamonsters, opening up with the slow build-up into the frenzied riffage of Dalliance, and straight into the punk-flavoured Dare. With the crowd going rightly bonkers, The Wedding Present tore the Annandale a new arse with Seamonsters; it was truly something special. Look no further than the almost scary beast that is Octopussy, another marvellous offering.
With a short encore featuring the jangly guitar pop of Brassneck, The Wedding Present left their mark with a slick showing of awesome indie rock. David Gedge is still an astute performer and singer/songwriter; here’s hoping he decides to do a return tour sometime.
Set list:
Back a Bit… Stop
My Favourite Dress
The Girl from the DDR
Meet Cute
Deer Caught in the Headlights
Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
You Jane
Kennedy
Seamonsters:
Dalliance
Dare
Suck
Blonde
Rotterdam
Lovenest
Corduroy
Carolyn
Heathe
Octopussy
Encore:
Brassneck
You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends
