– Ride – live at Town & Country Club – 1991 – BBC Radio 1 In Concert –
Although it was given the unlikely name Shoegaze, and suffered a goodly amount of ridicule because of it, the Shoegaze movement in the early 1990s was one of the more influential phases of Rock music from a decade coming to be known as one that fairly exploded in musical innovation. For further reading on what the Shoegaze movement was all about, an article was published about a week ago at Wondering Sound.com – Shoegaze: An Oral History gives a good background on the movement and the bands who helped establish it.
This morning’s post is from Ride, who were one of the premier bands to be associated with the Shoegaze movement. Formed in 1988, Ride was one of the first bands to be associated with the Shoegaze genre. Their debut album Nowhere has been considered one of the greatest albums of the Shoegaze era, and has gone on to be rated one of the 1001 albums you must hear before you die. In short; they are essential listening.
This concert, recorded in 1991 at The Town & Country Club in London comes right during the time of that debut release and captures all the energy of the band riding the crest of a very high wave of popularity. It’s captured in all its splendor by the venerable BBC.
Sadly, Ride broke up in 1996, after a change in direction and personnel. But Ride have since reunited and on 19 November 2014, it was announced that they had reunited again for a series of tour dates in Europe and North America, in May and June 2015. On 10 and 17 April 2015, Ride performed at Coachella, following a live performance broadcast by KCRW on 8 April 2015. The band played many European festivals such as Primavera Sound, Best Kept Secret, Melt! Festival, Field Day, Pukkelpop and Øyafestivalen. They also toured America with DIIV opening. The reunion was originally meant for touring only, but after playing shows together again, the band decided that the experience should also lead to the recording of a new album.
On 21 February 2017, Ride premiered “Charm Assault”, their first new song in 21 years. The next day, the band released another single, “Home Is a Feeling”. On 23 March, Ride announced their first new studio album in 21 years, Weather Diaries. The album was released on 16 June 2017. It made number 11 in the UK album charts and gained critical and fan approval upon its release, supported by a tour of Europe and North America across the summer and autumn of 2017. On 27 May 2018 they played a hometown gig, as first support to James, in Oxford’s South Parks, as part of the two-day “Common People” festival (the previous day had been in Southampton).
In March 2019, the band announced that their upcoming sixth studio album had already been finished, with the same producer as their previous album, Erol Alkan. The new album, called This Is Not a Safe Place, was released on 16 August 2019.
Ride played the 2022 edition of the Primavera Sound festival, performing Going Blank Again and Nowhere in full on two separate days. The band also toured for the 30th anniversary of Nowhere from 2022 to 2024, including a co-headlining “Between Nowhere” tour with The Charlatans (who played Between 10th and 11th in full) in North America.
In November 2022, Ride announced that the band had been working on a seventh album, set for release in 2023 or 2024. On 11 January 2024, Ride announced their seventh album, Interplay, with the release of the lead single “Peace Sign”. The album was released on 29 March 2024.
So if you’re not familiar with them, or haven’t heard them in a while – or are planning on catching them in concert this year, here is a taste of what they were all about during those pivotal days of the early 1990s.
Definitely a concert to crank up – and play many times.
