LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: The Wedding Present @ Arts Centre, Norwich
Saturday May 27th 2023
With support from Breakup Haircut
The Wedding Present, even though I'm not sing every song familiar with their work, have always been a bucket list band I wanted to see. I like their jangle pop vibe and was sure they would be a vibrant live listen.
Something that struck me was singer David Gedge's accessibility, rather than opting to hang out backstage pre-show he came into the bar/merch area and happily chatted with fans and signed autographs. Something I've not encountered too often, that more of the bigger bands should do. An easy way to give back to the people who have allowed them to make a career out of music.
Kicking off proceedings were Breakup Haircut with their infectious brand of highly danacable bubblegrunge meets punk and just a touch of pop accessibility.
Bursting with cute hooks, jangling riffs, dirty, fuzzy bass, and vibrant drums their sound was instantly likeable with upbeat energy. Mixing vocal responsibilities worked well as each voice brought something new from sweet and kitschy to more raw and earthy.
Their melodic, rhythmic sound served well as an opener to the night.
Moving on to The Wedding Present, they played quite a new material heavy set in promotion of their latest record "24 Songs" which while they all sounded great at times lost the crowd who seemed largely unfamiliar with the newer tunes likely owing to the fact the record has only been released a few days prior.
The classics such as 'Brassneck', 'Corduroy', 'My Favourite Dress' and 'Kennedy' all went down a storm and ignited boyish energy in the ageing crowd who proved the old-timers can mosh as well as the 20-something-year-olds!
The rhythmic jangling guitars poured throughout backed with some epic guitar solos. The female guitarist standing in for Jon blew me away with her astonishing talents and rockstar stance. The onstage dynamic was fun although at times John's Northern brashness came across slightly pretentious particularly when he proclaimed to the rest of the band many years his junior "I'm your boss". It was clearly meant in jest but still didn't sit quite right with me.
While their sound was heavier, and more proggy live than I anticipated overall they were the jangle fest I was expecting. I sang my heart out to the songs I knew and bopped along to the ones I didn't.
The Wedding Presentās sound maybe hasnāt aged as well as some bands and is possibly a little trapped in the 80's. They are a captivating watch and I highly recommend checking them out next time they tour near you!
Full gallery here
