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Apr 25, 2022 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay Photography by Adam Houghton

With many bands from the proclaimed “golden era of indie” having reformed over the past decade or so, the Ride reunion has been one of the biggest success stories. Not least because they’ve also managed to create new music that stands proudly shoulder-to-shoulder with their back catalogue in the shape of 2017’s Weather Diaries and its follow-up two years later, This Is Not A Safe Place. So its perhaps quite fitting that tonight’s show is a celebration of the band’s seminal debut. Released in October 1990, Nowhere soon became the go to record of choice for many experimental guitar bands intent on fusing melodic pop songs with elements of white noise and distortion. Quite rightly feted by both fans and pundits alike at the time, Nowhere is held up as a groundbreaking record from an era that went onto produce several, while Ride’s influence on guitar music has been seen and heard all over the globe ever since.

Not least with tonight’s openers bdrmm. Having emerged from the salubrious confines of Hull six years ago, bdrmm have earned a reputation as one of the most forward thinking and ultimately, exciting live bands on the planet. Playing a shorter set than normal this evening, it’s easy to see why they’re so highly regarded from the outset. The four-piece have an uncanny knack of being able to switch between sonic experimentalism and in your face tunesmithery at the drop of a hat. While also being confident enough to open with a brand new song in the process (the cheekily titled “Picky New One”). The rest of the set veers between material from debut album Bedroom, “Push/Pull”‘s incendiary build-up giving way to the ambivalent “Gush”, before “Happy/Unhappy” picks up the pace once more. Recent single “Port” hints at where they’re heading next, while closing gambit “A Reason To Celebrate” does exactly what it says on the tin. Playing arguably some of the biggest shows of their fledgling career so far, it’s only a matter of time before bdrmm are headlining venues of this size.

Taking to the stage in front of a giant backdrop depicting the cover artwork from the album we’re here to celebrate, the unmistakeable intro to “Seagull” kickstarts proceedings, each of Ride’s four members turning back the clock to their teenage selves. Effervescently loud throughout, each song sounding as fresh and exuberant as it did three decades ago. The punchy “Kaleidoscope” leading into the more atmospheric “In A Different Place”, then similarly elegiac “Polar Bear” that essentially brings side one of Nowhere to a close. “Dreams Burn Down” takes the decibel count up a few notches, while the rarely played “Decay” makes a play for its reintroduction into the band’s regular live sets thanks to its insatiable, foot stomping melody. “Paralysed” might be the penultimate song on the album, but its one that’s always gracefully executed while “Vapour Trail” is received rapturously as the album is brought to a close.

Ride’s first three EPs were among the finest records released during that era and the first set ends with three songs of the third of those (The Fall EP) which orginally came out to coincide with Nowhere‘s release. From the alt pop classic “Taste”, understated and vastly underrated “Here And Now” complete with Mark Gardener harmonica solo through to an anthemic “Nowhere”, all delivered in celebratory fashion.

Returning afterwards for an encore featuring six songs spanning nearly three decades. “Leave Them All Behind” still sounding as majestic as it did when gatecrashing the Top 10 of the UK singles chart thirty years ago, while “All I Want” and Lannoy Point” off the aforementioned Weather Diaries followed by “Kill Switch” and “Future Love” from This Is Not A Safe Place brought proceedings back to the present. All sounding accomplished in the presence of the band’s hallowed debut not to mention whetting the appetite for what Ride might do next. Ending ceremoniously with a blistering rendition of “OX4” from 1992’s Going Blank Again that perfectly sums up why Ride were and still held in such high esteem.

Tonight is as good as it gets but also what we’ve come to expect from one of the UK’s finest independent guitar bands.