The Wedding Present: live @ Hidden Hall in Seattle video

Watch English indie band The Wedding Present perform an afternoon set @ Hidden Hall in Seattle on April 24 as part of their North American tour. The show was filmed by independent radio station KEXP.

The Wedding Present: North American tour dates

English indie darlings The Wedding Present will playing their Seamonsters album in full during their upcoming North American tour, plus a deep dive into their extensive back catalog. They also have a new EP, Maxi, with six high energy songs about driving. The title is a nod to their Mini EP, with tracks about automoiles that was released in 1996.

Maxi will get a Stateside release on April 3rd via Happy Happy Birthday to Me records (vinyl, CD, digital).

The Wedding Present: North American "Bizarro" tour

English indie darlings The Wedding Present are playing their Bizarro album in full during their North American tour. Like minded Welsh band The Tubs is booked as the support act. Tickets are available here.

Live dates:

• 05/19 Atlanta, GA @ Earl
• 05/20 Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern
• 05/21 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
• 05/22 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
• 05/23.Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg
• 05/24 Cambridge, MA @ Sinclair
• 05/26 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
• 05/27 Toronto, ON @ Great Hall
• 05/28 Cleveland Heights, Oh - Grog Shop
• 05/29 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
• 05/30 Chicago, IL @ Do Division Street Fest
• 05/31 Saint Paul, MN @ Turf Club
• 06/03 Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou's
• 06/04 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
• 06/06 Sanfrancisco, CA @ Chapel
• 06/07 Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room

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The Wedding Present: Locked Down and Stripped Back Volume Two

Locked Down and Stripped Back Volume Two captures English indie darlings The Wedding Present during the virtual version of their long running At The Edge Of The Sea festival in 2021. The band decided to play a mostly acoustic set and offer it as a webcast. It serves as a companion piece for their 2021 studio album Locked Down and Stripped Back. A live record is by default a bit gritty and although they were not performing for an audience - or even in the same room for that matter - the band manages to connect rather well.

A good song works well in any guise and since main man David Gedge usually starts out with just his guitar and voice the core is already there, ready and waiting for the others musicians to pitch in and create the classic Wedding Present sound. Founded in 1985 and still going strong they have always found a way to get their message across, providing snapshots from every day life and taking the piss if need be. Lots of bands would have killed to come up with songs like What Have I Said Now and as Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft, but for The Wedding Present it is business as usual. Now where is that blue plaque in Leeds to honour them?

Lande Hekt: Romantic

English singer Lande Hekt sings about the need for companionship on her new single, Romantic. Quite the opposite of a sappy love song she describes the need to connect with a fellow outsider. She went for a DIY lo-fi sound, using a riff that comes close to Cornershop's Brimful of Asha.

The B-side is a cover of Octopussy, a track from the seminal Seamonsters album by The Wedding Present, which got a thumbs up from that band's main man David Gedge. The video was filmed by Lucy Suddaby.

The Wedding Present: "Seamonsters" 30th anniversary reissue + webcast

Seamonsters by The Wedding Present gets the deluxe treatment as a 2LP + CD set. The original album was produced by Steve Albini, who did a fine job capturing the band's energy, anger, and sense of humour. The set features the original album. The second LP contains the tracks from s tracks from the 3 Songs, Dalliance, and Lovenest EPs, plus the October 1990 BBC Radio 1 session for John Peel. Comes with a CD with the full album + the songs from the EPs. The set will be released on May 28 via Sony Legacy Records.

The band will perform the album in full as a pay-per-view webcast on May 29.

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The Wedding Present: Locked Down and Stripped Back

photo: Jessica McMillan

English indie pioneers The Wedding Present have been busy revisiting their back catalog, with new recordings of classic albums like Tommy and George Best. When live shows were cancelled they decided to go back tot basics for yet another trip down to memory lane to lay down the tracks for Locked Down and Stripped Back, with a few surprise tunes thrown in. Louise Wener sings on We Should Be Together, a "lost" track from her band Sleeper (it is now finally available on This Time Tomorrow).

In hindsight it has become patently clear that main man David Gedge wrote timeless songs back in the day. Legendary DJ John Peel went on record stating that "The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the rock'n'roll era – you may dispute this, but I'm right and you're wrong". Even people who have never heard of The Wedding Present will recognize My Favourite Dress and the new version doesn't disappoint. Long time fans will appreciate these revived songs. Songs like You're Just a Habit That I'm Trying to Break and Deer Caught in the Headlights are like great wine - they have aged well.

The Wedding Present: Tommy 30

In 2017 English indie pioneers The Wedding Present released George Best 30, revisiting their debut album in full. They pulled it off with flying colours, so it makes that the follow-up Tommy gets the same treatment. It was considered as a stop-gap release back then, a collection of early singles and radio sessions. Like The Smiths' Hatful of Hollow its reputation grew over the years and it's now considered a classic.

For Tommy 30 band leader and main man David Gedge has discarded the recklessness of his youth and donned the composure of the elder statesman of rambling garage rock. He truly owns these songs now, having lived with them for decades. He still enjoys playing them and the current line-up of his band are not mere sycophants replicating the sound of the late Eighties. This new version sounds rejuvenated and can hold its own sitting next to the original.

HHBTM Records presents: Plague​-​list

Happy Happy Birthday to Me records main man Mike Turner compiled Plague​-​list, an album filled with "tracks that go with the current times of being stuck at home during quarantine due to COVID-19". It is a mix of garage rock, punk, hip-hop, indie and New Wave, featuring well known acts like The Wedding Present and Magnapop, besides underground favourites like Rat Fancy and Tunabunny, the latter with a track from PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr. - HCTF's album of the year in 2017.

The Wedding Present: George Best 30

Can you get away with re-recording a cherished debut album by recording it all over again? UK indie heroes The Wedding Present rose to the challenge and George Best 30, produced none other than Steve Albini sounds even more abrasive and in-your-face than the 1987 version. The masters for this release have sitting on the shelf for nearly a decade. The album was recorded in Chicago 2008, shortly after the band had been wrapped up the 20th anniversary tour during which they had been playing the album in full night after night. Why this delay happened, no one knows, but with another anniversary coming up main man David Gedge finally decided that the time was ripe to share these recordings with the outside world.

They tightened up their sound and the big plus are the live drums, making the songs even more manic than they were back then. Sure the players are older, but they know what will works and what doesn't. While the original sounded a bit tinny they now captured the intensity of a live band in full swing. As incurable mavericks, they didn't clean things up. Naming their first album after one of the greatest dribblers of all time was a bold move then (as well as getting the notoriously difficult Best to agree to appear in promo photos).