Leeds Legends The Wedding Present Play Live Concerts to Celebrate ‘Bizarro’
By Victoria Holdsworth
The Wedding present will be playing a series of concert dates at the end of 2024 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the release of their classic major-label debut long-player, Bizarro.
One of John Peel’s favourite bands of all time, The Wedding Present shows will see the David Gedge-led indie legends performing a 90-minute set that will include the 1989 album in full – together with other classics from their extensive repertoire, including a hometown show at Leeds’ O2 Academy on the 5th October.
Formed in 1985, Gedge has remained the only constant member, in a group that has seen twenty plus members pass through line-up, his growling Northern tones echoing through his vocal talents, contributing to a lifeline of those in life who follow the path of disaster when it comes to affairs of the heart, with songwriting touching on the bittersweet tapestries of real life.
“Seminal”
Released on RCA Records back in 1989, Bizarro was The Wedding Present’s second proper studio album and first on a major label. An album that replaced the frenetic jangle of their earlier years with a newfound darkness and power, the record found vocalist David Gedge taking his idiosyncratic songs laced with heartbreak, despair and sarcasm to a whole new level.
A steely, diverse album from a band beginning to hit their creative stride, highlights elsewhere on the record include the sparse “What Have I Said Now?”, the grinding slow-jam “Bewitched”, and the epic closer “Take Me!”.
Arguably the fullest realisation of The Wedding Present sound to that point, the album features the unstoppable lead single “Kennedy” (which would become the band’s first UK Top 40 hit in 1989), plus their anthemic calling card “Brassneck”, which would chart at No.24 in the UK Singles Chart when released the following year. Toying with extremes of tempo and mood, ‘Bizarro’ is hailed as a vibrant hybrid of astringency and quintessential pop euphoria, and it remains a seminal chapter in The Wedding Present story.
Tickets here
top image: Jamie MacMillan
