RIDE & BDRMM
Ride are fantastic and this has been one of the best gigs I have seen so far this year.
Another night, another delayed anniversary show. Tonight, it is RIDE celebrating the 30th anniversary of album Nowhere (actually released nearly 32 years ago now).
Before Ride, we have Hull’s BDRMM. Pre-gig research indicates that bdrmm are a five piece but - from my (dis)advantage point at least - there’s only four people on stage.
No matter as they present a terrific post-rock/nu-gaze racket that brings to mind the likes if Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine and Slint. Add in the bass sound of Craig (Sisters of Mercy/Mission/Cult) Adams - which is always a good thing - and hints Of Bauhaus on one particularly menacing number and bdrmm have won me over. It’s not perfect, however. As so often in this style of music, the vocals won’t appeal to everyone and it gets a bit samey by the last two tracks but I’ll definitely be catching this lot again.
I’ll be honest. I missed out on RIDE and the whole shoegaze thing back in the day. Back then, I loved sleaze rock, glam metal and grunge and demanded. a show. The thought of watching moptops staring at their shoes - rather than high-kicking their way around the stage or destroying it - filled me with no joy. Of course, the picture painted by the likes of the NME wasn’t accurate and I missed thanks to that blinkered approach.
Seeing Ride tonight is part of the ongoing rehabilitation and they absolutely BLEW ME AWAY. Mark Gardener (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Andy Bell (vocals, guitar, keys) and Steve Queralt (bass) are far from stationary and seem to be enjoying themselves. Whilst I can’t see Liz Colbert, I can certainly hear some cracking drumming.
The main set is the Nowhere album in its entirety. From what I gave said, I’m obviously not familiar with this LP but I bloody well should be. From opener Seagull to the closing title track, there isn’t a bad song here. In fact, Nowhere itself has now lodged itself firmly in my favourites and I will be buying the reissue later this year.
A six song encore of hits, old favourites and newish songs follows, with Kill Switch from the most recent album and 1992 single Leave Them All Behind being particularly enjoyable.
The crowd, raging in age from youth to grizzled rock veterans of 60+, is enthusiastic, dancing and losing themselves in the music. There are even tears of joy from a punter just to my right.
Gods, if only I had a time machine and could go back to 1990 and tell my teenage self to be open minded, maybe tonight wouldn’t be such a revelation. As it is, I’ll just have to accept that I missed out and make sure I don’t make that mistake again. Ride are fantastic and this has been one of the best gigs I have seen so far this year.
