Live Review

The Wedding Present – Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow

• 3rd Dec 2010

A students’ union may be an odd place to play an entire album from 1989, given that most of its regular patrons wouldn’t even have been born at that time. But that’s exactly what The Wedding Present did last night to a tremendous reception as the Bizarro tour hit Glasgow.

The Jet Age from Washington DC were the support act. Their garage rock sound contained fuzzy guitar, pounding bass and some wonderfully frenetic drumming, although the vocals got a bit lost in the mix. Coming on stage early meant a small crowd, but their set was entertaining and well received.

After some lengthy work by the roadies, David Gedge and co finally came on stage, greeted by a now healthy crowd who had braved the sub zero temperatures. And despite the chosen venue there were a fair few of us more mature types there to welcome them.

Gedge’s voice sounded as good as ever, and the opening section of the show features a selection of tracks from throughout the band’s lengthy career. Once More, a single release in 1986 was a standout and there was tremendous variety shown in the selection.

A cover of Where Everybody Knows Your Name, better known as the theme tune from Cheers, was an up tempo surprise, while Can You Keep A Secret? was an excellent slower number featuring tender vocals.

The Wedding Present have a solid two guitar sound, backed ably by a dynamic rhythm section. They also utilise a second, scaled down, drum kit to add power on occasions, with several members of the band taking their turn to bash the skins.

They also kept their guitar technician busy with repeated changes of instruments. And Jessica even filled in on bass for a couple of songs while new bassist Pepe le Moko played guitar and Graeme Ramsay took to the mini drums. Versatility indeed.

The second part of the set featured the full performance of Bizarro, with all ten tracks from the opening Brassneck to the closer Be Honest played in order. The concept seemed to be beyond some members of the audience who repeatedly called out requests between tracks, much to Gedge’s amusement.

The single Kennedy was performed in blistering style and the epic Take Me was faithfully reproduced to its full nine minutes of extended guitar work.

And that’s where the show ended, with no encore, leaving the audience to head into the frozen night. The Wedding Present has been around for more than 20 years in one form or another, and this performance showed that they can still entertain in fine style.