Ride - Ritz, Manchester, 12/12/2019
by Richard Lewis
published: 23 / 2 / 2020

intro
On the final tour date in support of acclaimed new LP ‘This Is Not A Safe Place’ shoegaze legends Ride turn in a storming set on Election Night at a sold-out Ritz in Manchester. Richard Lewis reviews.
With a score of positive reviews for superb new LP ‘This Not A Safe Place’ and a pan global trek in support of the disc, 2019 has been an extremely good year for shoegaze pioneers Ride. The final date of the tour, a full room at venerable Manchester venue the Ritz greets the quartet as ‘R.I.D.E.’, the opening cut from the LP blares from the speakers and “Fuck Off Boris” (it is Election Night) scrolls across the backdrop. Aptly titled for its feeling of rapid ascent, ‘Jump Jet’ supplies the opening salvo, moving on to ‘Future Love’, a perfect successor to Byrdsian guitar pop jewel ‘Twisterella’, the expansive production work of Errol Alkan transferring beautifully to the stage. While even some far younger groups would prompt eye-rolling with the decision to play eight tracks from their new album (anyone who claims they go to see Andy Bell’s former bandmate Liam Gallagher to hear his solo material is frankly lying), tracks from ‘…Safe Place’ land just as effectively as the classic material. Sure-fire crowd pleasers, a pulsatant ‘Leave Them All Behind’ and a powerful ‘Chrome Waves’ sit comfortably alongside 2010s cuts ‘Charm Assault’ and ‘Lannoy Point’ which prompts a very polite stagefront moshpit. Emphasising that they can still go toe-to-toe with any heavy-duty psych outfit out there, ‘Drive Blind’ swerves into fuzzed-out malevolence before re-emerging, while a romp through trebly 1960s inspired pop gem ‘Taste’ makes them sounds like a band barely out of their teens. Switching to acoustic guitar, ‘Shadows Behind the Sun’ taps into English psychedelia beautifully, a storming take industrial/synth pop banger ‘Repetition’ meanwhile underlines Loz Colbert’s reputation as one of the best drummers of his era. A plaintive ‘In A Different Place’, the nearest the group come to a ballad leads into ‘Vapour Trail’ prompting the traditional chorusing of the string section coda. ‘In This Room’, the downbeat closer to ‘…Safe Place’ kicks off the encore, completing the set by coming full circle back to the opening track of their debut, a raucous take on ‘Seagull’ powered by an octopus-armed Colbert. Two albums into their second wind and thirty years since their formation, Ride look set to make into the end of the 2020s on this form. Photos by Andrew Twambley www.twambley.com
Also at Ritz, Manchester
Backyard Babies (2019)
Boy George (2014)
Brix Smith (2022)
Doris Brendel (2018)
Dropkick Murphys (2023)
Emily Capell (2019)
Fields Of The Nephilim (2018)
Fish (2018)
From The Jam (2021)
John Mayall (2024)
Lemonheads (2019)
Lemonheads (2015)
Leprous (2022)
Lushes (2016)
Miles Kane (2018)
Mudhoney (2015)
Napalm Death (2015)
Nothing But Thieves (2016)
Peter Doherty and The Puta Madres (2019)
Peter Murphy (2018)
Positive Vibration Festival of Reggae (2021)
Public Image Ltd (2022)
Public Image Ltd (2018)
Sheryl Crow (2014)
Skid Row (2019)
Sleeper (2021)
Steel Pulse (2015)
Turbowolf (2014)
Wet Leg (2022)
Wildhearts (2020)
Band Links:-
http://ridemusic.net/https://www.facebook.com/RideOX4
Picture Gallery:-





interviews |
Interview (2015) |
![]() |
Anthony Strutt speaks to Andy Bell, the guitarist with Ride, in an archive interview from 1997 about his then new band Hurricane #1, and then again before one of Ride's recent reformation gigs at The Roundhouse in london |
live reviews |
(With Ulrika Spacek), O2 Academy, Liverpool, 14/11/2017 |
![]() |
Richard Lewis watches shoegazing pioneers Ride turn in an impressive set in Liverpool to plug excellent comeback set ‘Weather Diaries’ with rising London alt. rock crew Ulrika Spacek in support. |
Roundhouse, London, 23/5/2015 |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Yardbirds - Interview with Jim McCarty
Johnny Cash - Video Vault
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
John Philip Shenale - Interview
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Man From Delmonte - Interview
Loft - Interview
Vapors - Interview
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPBarrie Barlow - Interview
Pixies - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Trudie Myerscough-Harris - Interview
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Sound - Interview with Bi Marshall Part 1
Paul Clerehugh - Interview
Boomtown Rats - Ten Songs That Made Me Love....
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Allan Clarke - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barrett - Loose TalkIvor Game - When Will You Fall Into My Loving Arms?
Gabriel Moreno - Nights in the Belly of Bohemia
Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham - Big Blue Sky
Brooke Combe - Dancing at the Edge of the World
Bryan Adams - Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2024
Shaw's Trailer Park - I Thought I Saw You
Ringo Starr - Look Up
FKA twigs - Eusexua
Leon Bridges - Leon
related articles |
Andy Bell: Interview (2015 |
![]() |
Anthony Strutt speaks to Andy Bell, the guitarist with Ride, in an archive interview from 1997 about his then new band Hurricane #1, and then again before one of Ride's recent reformation gigs at The Roundhouse in london |
Thurston Moore: Live Review (2014) |
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart