Photographs by Sarah Rix.
The last five weeks have been very Groundhog Day for me. Having seen Sebadoh, Primal Scream, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Swervedriver, it’s been hard a few mornings trying to figure out if it’s the early 90s or 2015. Either way, I feel like I’ve been through this before and for the most part it’s been better this time around.
The trend continued last night with the recently reunited Oxford quartet Ride, arguably the most commercially successful of the shoegaze bands. Their debut album, Nowhere, was like an atom bomb in my ears and for a period of time I couldn’t listen to anything else. They would release 3 more albums and implode with guitarist/vocalist Andy Bell employed as Oasis bassist until that band’s demise.
So, 23 years since seeing them at the old RPM club with Slowdive, the guys returned to pack the Danforth Music Hall. Expectation was high, selling out just minutes after tickets went on sale; but could they still deliver the goods?
Opening with the epic “Leave Them All Behind” off 1992’s Going Blank Again, the four- piece troop filled the Music Hall with glorious, soaring sounds for two hours. Focusing on the first two albums, the band also touched on early EPs including “Sennen” and “Chelsea Girl” among others, and even touched on one song from their swansong, the surprisingly muscular “Black Nite Crash”.
The rhythm section was particularly awesome with bassist Steve Queralt and powerhouse drummer Loz Colbert anchoring the bottom end. At points they made it look so easy. Mark Gardener, also on guitar and vocals, traded his locks for a fedora, but his vocals sounded all 1992. Bell seemed to be a bit listless and hiding behind glasses, although travelling across continents in the last week might have something to do with that. 23 years ago he was pretty furious with his guitar attacks, but then again 23 years ago “I” was probably jumping all over the place.
A highly energetic crowd lapped up everything, with the biggest reaction to “Vapour Trail”, and “Drive Blind” which delivered all the guitar noise you could ask for, like a brief MBV “You Made Me Realise”.
The night closed out with a cover of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” with Bell on vocals, giving the song a more detached reading of the song rather than the original’s primal fury, which wasn’t really necessary. They have their own primal beast-of-a-song done live in “Nowhere” but sadly it wasn’t aired last night.
Tuesday’s show, if it was your first time, was probably something special. If you were at RPM 23 years ago, you know they could do better, but I was still pleased to see them again after all these years.
Thanks to Embrace Presents for media access.
