RIDE + BDRMM – ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON 29.4.22
Ride, comprising Andy Bell on guitar and vocals, Mark Gardener on guitar and vocals, Laurence “Loz” Colbert on drums and Steve Queralt on bass, are very much the godfathers of shoegaze. This gig was supposed to take place two years ago, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the band’s seminal debut album ‘Nowhere’. Two years on we’re finally here!
Tonight’s support band, Bdrmm, appear to be a little overwhelmed at playing London’s iconic Roundhouse, exclaiming “we’re just four kids from Hull!!!” Well, their inventive, imaginative post-punk more than qualifies them to play here. Their songs are loud, quiet and have imaginative tempo changes. This frequently all happens in the same song. They alternate incredible delicacy with equally incredible muscular volume. There are elements of Nirvana’s ‘Endless Nameless’ in their material, which is by no means a negative criticism! I have no trouble in visualising Bdrmm headlining the Roundhouse in the not too distant future.
Bdrmm setlist:
‘Picky New’
‘Push/Pull’
‘Gush’
‘All We Know’
‘Happy/unhappy’
‘Port’
‘Drug’
‘A Reason To Celebrate’
Check them out on Bandcamp.
There are some bands that are almost a template of what a great band should sound like. Ride are one of those bands. They’re on incandescent form tonight. They are absolutely on top of their game. Bell and Gardener’s harmonies are still top notch. In fact, in general, the band seem to be even better than they were back in the day. This makes sense if you take into account that they now have two or three decades’ worth of experience under their collective belts. However, another key factor is the sheer enthusiasm that they display. There’s no chance of this lot just going through the motions.
So, what do we actually get tonight? As it says on the tin, we get the ‘Nowhere’ album played all the way through, in order. That’s not all, we also get the bonus tracks from 2001’s reissue: ‘Taste’, ‘Here And Now’ and ‘Nowhere’, which were all originally on the ‘Fall’ EP.
Then there is the seven song encore, which is almost a second set. Ride take the opportunity to remind their audience that they are a ‘current’ band, and are not by any means all about nostalgia. With this in mind we are presented with ‘Lannoy Point’ from 2017’s ‘Weather Diaries’ album, and ‘Future Love’ and ‘Kill Switch’ from 2019’s ‘This Is Not A Safe Place’. Unfamiliar certainly is, as I don’t recall ever hearing it before. Research tells me that it’s from 1991’s ‘Today Forever’ EP. The fact that they also have another stone cold classic album lurking in their back catalogue is underlined by a trio of selections from ‘Going Blank Again’: ‘Twisterella’, ‘OX4’, and the classic ‘Leave Them All Behind’.
So while technically tonight’s show has had more than a whiff of nostalgia about it, it has also shown that Ride are in fine musical fettle. The tracks from the last two albums sit very comfortably amongst the classics. I would imagine that it’ll be time for another new album in the next year or two. Eh lads???
Ride setlist:
‘Seagull’
‘Kaleidoscope’
‘In A Different Place’
‘Polar Bear’
‘Dreams Burn Down’
‘Decay’
‘Paralysed’
‘Vapour Trail’
‘Taste’
‘Here and Now’
‘Nowhere’
(encore)
‘Lannoy Point’
‘Future Love’
‘Twisterella’
‘OX4’
‘Kill Switch’
‘Unfamiliar’
‘Leave Them All Behind’
Find out more at www.thebandride.com
