#shoegaze
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
SLOWDIVE - The Fleece, Bristol, March 30th, 2017
THE BIG ONE. Seeing Slowdive was something that I always had to do since I became a Shoegazer back in 2015. They are the definitive band of the genre. A band that never got swayed by the media or the public. They always did their own thing and did it extremely well.
This gig took place a couple of months they released their new self-titled comeback album. it was a chance to see SLOWDIVE up close and personal, and it certainly was personal as I met the whole band that night and they signed my SLOWDIVE CD covers and I got pictures with them all.
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LUSH, Manchester Academy, Friday 25th November, 2016.
It was a long ol’ poke driving up to Manchester from Plymouth for this one, but it was worth every mile. This was a re-arranged show, it was meant to be in April but was postponed until November and it ended up being LUSH’s final show on their reunion adventure. (maybe ever).
Highlights were the songs’ ‘Scarlet’ , ‘Desire Lines’, ‘Nothing Natural’. Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson did a great job of delivering the songs properly as Phil King had dropped out of the band by this point and the replacement bassisst was stood up on stage reading from a songbook which I thought at the start may prove disastrous. But no, it was a SOLID gig from start to finish, ethereal sounds caressing me all night long. The song ‘Monochrome’ was a perfect way to end the night and their reunion.
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I was so eager for this gig, I came to the gig a bit early in a vain attempt to meet the band after sound check. Unfortunately, the band never emerged from their dressing room, but I did get some cool pics of Mark Gardener’s and Andy Bell’s giant pedalboards before the lights went down and the place got packed out.
Happy Daze
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I then saw RIDE for a second time in Bristol, Anson Rooms. October 17th 2015
I was staying on campus at Bath Spa University at the time where I was undertaking a History degree. So this gig location was ideal for me. Took me around 20 minutes on the bus to get to Bristol from Bath.
This was a special night as it was part of the Nowhere25 tour, celebrating 25 years since the release of Ride’s debut album and Shoegazing masterpiece, ‘Nowhere’. Released on October, 15, 1990.
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My first Shoegaze gig was seeing RIDE at the Roundhouse on the 24th May 2015. I stayed in London, got the tube to Camden. it takes longer to get around London than I thought!
This is before RIDE had put out any new material, so it was a good mix of songs from their early 90′s catalogue on the set list. The noise section in the middle of ‘Drive Blind’was a highlight for me. It was much louder at the Roundhouse. ‘Other highlights were ‘Sennen’ and ‘Close My Eyes’.
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A floating, whirlwind ocean of sound. Searing and screeching orchestral strings. Encapsulated in a hazy dream, gazing at both feet and the stars simultaneously. Being transported in the most soothing and caressing way possible. A ray of intense light guiding me as open space engulfs me either side………….
The Great British Shoegaze band ‘Slowdive’ will be celebrating 30 years of being a band in 2019. What better way to mark it than being gifted a well-deserved Glastonbury Festival slot?
This is a band that has had a significantly positive impact on my life and many others. After forming in Reading, England in 1989, Slowdive released a self -titled EP in 1990 that featured a very fitting spiralling and blurry piece of green artwork on its sleeve. They then went on to create a couple more EP’s and released their official debut album titled ‘Just For A Day’ in 1991, validly viewed as being criminally under respected by even the band members themselves. Great success did not come however as they caught amidst a time where there was great competition in the independent and alternative music scenes, plus they were far from approved by the savagely critical yet hesitant journalists at the time. arguably Slowdive’s finest moment was the release of their 2nd album named 'Souvlaki’ released in May, 1993 which features fan favourites such as the almost sing-along pop anthem of 'Alison’, the wondrous, live - favourite jam of 'Souvlaki Space Station’ and the simmering, suspenseful before euphoric rise of 'When The Sun Hits’. However, this still failed to impress wretched journalists, who by this time refused to even give a “Shoegazing” record (Yes, the scene that reverb – laden guitar dreamers were lumped in to) a whiff of an ear drum. This contributed to the irrelevance of Slowdive in the public sphere but they soldiered on to release one final album titled ‘Pygmalion’ in 1995 before calling it a day in the same year. Against all odds though, Slowdive thankfully decided to roll the dice again and reformed in 2014, amidst a re-newed fascination with all things ‘Shoegaze and dream pop’ with a full torrent of influenced artists and the return of fellow Shoegaze titans, My Bloody Valentine, that resulted in a feast of festival appearances and sold out shows. In 2017, after 22 years of waiting, fans were gifted a new album which was self-titled ‘Slowdive’. (Probably to re-enforce the amazing realisation of them actually returning, they had to put their name attached to it twice!) It was met with widespread critical acclaim, receiving an impressive 8.6/10 rating from Pitchfork. Slowdive still continue and long may they reign!
As for the music itself, Neil Halstead’s songwriting talent is incredibly evocative, dreamy, sensual, often unintelligible yet intimate and re-assuring and full of beautiful and heart-breaking imagery, coupled with a guitar sound that one may describe (if they can!) as ethereal and soothing yet all enveloping and intensely powerful, even orchestral most of the time. Slowdive are masters of marrying a plethora of beautiful noise whilst retaining a monumental sense of melody and overall accessibility; Rachel Goswell ’s angelic, beautiful, fragile and poignant vocals meld into the hurricane of guitars and synth like cream on top of jam of a scone; (Easy now, Cornish people!) amidst a furious torrential thunder storm frenzy of drumming provided by Simon Scott and vital and intricate bass work by Nick Chaplin who’s crucial role is to pin down the roof that is constantly threatening to be blown away by the force of nature ebbing and flowing within, anchoring it down whilst constructing melodies himself. The highly under-appreciated Christian Savill enhances the swirls and gusts of the vast ocean painted by Neil Halstead and as waves smash against rocks. Christian’s meticulous guitar craftsmanship can suddenly jolt out of the landscape, catapulting into unknown territory before re-emerging within the ocean texture as smooth as a dolphin glides along the sea surface. Christian draws the ripples that adds a sense of further texture and personification to the ocean of earth-shattering but transparent sound that Neil lays down, all juxtaposed by fragile and meek vocals that skim the water’s surface like a bird.
Slowdive not only tell a story, and set up a landscape/environment, they also create a colossal degree of feeling, imagery and an ability to transport you into an ethereal dimension with soft spoken ambiguous words that are hardly even audible; Ultimately, they manufacture art and poetry in sound! Presented in a way that is a complete ballet of brutality! It’s all of these aspects and more that ensure that Slowdive are the most beautiful band in the world.
Thank you for reading,
Sam Mortley Written on: 15/11/2018
Wednesday night! Special classic Shoegaze show! With a little Manchester and Britpop for good measure. All video VJ set! Wed 7pm pacific. Twitch.tv/djtelevandalist
