published: 8 /
11 /
2016
Dixie Ernill watches the Wedding Present play a rare all-seater gig at the Lowry Theatre in Salford in which they performed all of their new album 'Going, Going...' in its entirety accompanied by a backdrop of specially made films
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I’ve seen the Wedding Present many times over the years, but to watch them in an all seater venue, especially in the plush surroundings of The Lowry is a first for me and somewhat surreal. I’m more used to watching or even participating in the wild abandon of a crowd fired up by 'Brassneck' or 'Kennedy'.
Tonight is a little bit different though in any event as not only are the band performing their new album ‘Going, Going…’ in its entirety, but each song is accompanied by a specially commissioned film that is projected onto a large screen behind them. In truth, however, the films don’t really add much to the proceedings with often little or no connection to the song they accompany.
It’s certainly an ambitious choice of venue for a band more suited to playing in front of and reacting to a boisterous crowd and even more so considering the new album has barely been out a week (most bands would only consider performing an album that was decades old and seen as the defining album of their career), but David Gedge, the frontman and driving force behind the band, has never been short of ambition.
The fact that the album and thus the show opens with four instrumental tracks is possibly a step too far for all but the most ardent fans, but once they have been dispatched the strength of the balance of the album shines through to make this a slightly unexpected minor triumph
The triple-harmonies at the end of 'Bear' are particularly special live and beautifully performed by Gedge and his band, but it is the standard Wedding Present fayre of songs like 'Birdsnest', 'Kill Devil Hills' and 'Broken Bow' that will one day be regarding as classics, that are highpoints.
Elsewhere, the pop swirl of 'Rachel' and the slow-burning set closer – 'Santa Monica' are equally notable.
I’m sure that over time 'Going, Going…' will be viewed in the same way as 'Bizarro' or 'Seamonsters' are now and tonight its live incarnation made its first tentative steps in that direction.
I know the Wedding Present don’t do encores these days, but I think if they could have just finished the show with three or four tracks from their extensive back-catalogue it would have just but a nice cherry on top of a very edible cake.
Band Links:-
https://scopitones.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/TheWeddingPre
https://twitter.com/weddingpresen
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