The Wedding Present - supported by Flatmates
The Wedding Present can still do it, and despite many line up changes over the years, they still maintain a remarkable sense of who they are as a band,
If you know The Wedding Present the album, you’ll have definitely heard would be Bizarro, which turns 30 later this year. The album includes their first top 40 single “Kennedy”, alongside a collection of frankly excellent songs. Affectionally known as The Weddoes, the band have a solid fanbase in Norwich, and front man Dave Gedge seems to have a certain affection for the city, even calling it his ancestral home, the name Gedge originating from Norfolk.
The evening was excitably opened by Flatmates, a band that bashed out 80’s pop punk for an enjoyable half an hour. Recently reformed in 2013 with Swedish singer Lisa Bouvier taking the mic, they maintained their energy throughout their no frills set. Enthusiasm reigned supreme, and they warmed up the crowd well, ending with their biggest hit, “I Could Be In Heaven”.
On to the main event, they started strong and in traditional Weddoes style - unapologetically loud. Phenomenal guitar riffs of rather overwhelming intensity washed over us. Bravely starting with two songs not off Bizarro, the band continued into “Brassneck” for the third song. In Gedge’s own words, the album was “sprinkled” through the set, which was put together by the band’s drummer, Charles Layton (who is the longest standing member not counting Gedge himself). Bizarro was blended with a mix of other songs and even a couple of covers, including a song from Gedge’s other band, Cinerama, and a cover of the Close Lobsters song “Lets Make Some Plans”. A stand out from the non-Bizarro inclusions would be “Palisades”, a little known song off their seventh album, “El Ray”, but which stood up fantastically well against the rest of the tracks.
As has become customary at a Weddoes gig, we were treated to the Wedding Present Fact of the Day, courtesy of guitarist Dannielle Wadey, who informed us that Norwich is in possession of the longest medieval defences in the country. Educational as well as entertaining! After this they launched into “Careless”, another non-Bizarro track. The event we had all been waiting for came soon. Dave Gedge took a long sip of water, announcing that he’d see us in nine or ten minutes before ripping into the ten minutes of aural assault that is “Take Me!”. At times an almost out of body experience, the rambunctious mosh pit of over 40’s was finally satisfied with an absolutely overwhelming amount of noise. Gedge announced that the Weddoes had not done an encore since 1988, and today would be no exception. With the ridiculous farce of tedious applause and cheering left out, they then embarked on their final two songs of the evening, the final song on Bizarro, “Be Honest”, and “Crawl”, off “Seamonsters”, rounding off the gig and proving that there really is no need for an encore.
Overall one can definitely say that The Wedding Present can still do it, and despite many line up changes over the years, they still maintain a remarkable sense of who they are as a band, probably thanks to front man Dave Gedge. We’ll have you back any time Dave, we’re honoured to be your ancestral home!
