The Blue Aeroplanes – Live At Glastonbury 1992 – BBC Radio 1
The Blue Aeroplanes tonight, from their 1992 appearance at Glastonbury and preserved for posterity by BBC Radio 1. Together since 1981, but with a staggering lineup of alumni during that time, Blue Aeroplanes has been a perennial favorite in all that time, and the extra added bonus is the announcement which just arrived via their website:
The Blue Aeroplanes return to the stage for the first time for almost 2 years with a gig at The Fleece on Fri 7th Dec 2018. Expect to hear plenty of material from the upcoming new album, which has been recorded and is currently in the process of being mixed. Enough material for a double album! – UPDATE: The Fleece gig has sold out over 3 months in advance so we have added a 2nd date at the Exchange in Bristol the night before (Thu 6th Dec)
Good news, and judging from how quickly the venues are selling out, they are still on everybody’s mind.
I ran across this review from Sonicbreakfast for their last album, Welcome Stranger – it gives you some idea of how well liked this band is:
Sounding remarkably fresh and very much of the moment, it startled Sarah somewhat when I told her that this was a band I used to listen to when I was a student at Bristol Poly back in the early 1990’s. Then, they had a style of their own. I’m glad to report that they still do. Gerard Langley’s speak-singing through the verses often gives way to a beautiful, heart-glow of a chorus. Sometimes, as experienced on this album in ‘Sweet, like chocolate’, a simple guitar riff in their hands becomes a work of true ‘wow’. You can’t quite put your finger on why you like them so much but you know that you do.
Perhaps it’s the poetical punch and the angular attack? The observation that stark things are frequently beautiful? No other band could make a song about a ‘Dead Tree’ so meaningful when deliberately trying not to. Maybe it’s the pathos in the humour that’s never far from the surface that draws you in? The image of a wife helping a gent to fix his costume for the ‘Elvis Festival’ is certainly one that lingers.
Trust me, there’s joy to unearth within every song on ‘Welcome, Stranger!’. It’s one of those albums that I’ll keep returning to and I suspect it’ll keep on giving.
As a reminder of just how good they are, click on the player and dive into 1992 for a brief excursion to Glasto.
