UK shoegaze pioneers, Ride, will tour Australia and New Zealand this November! Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their debut full length album, Nowhere, by playing it in full for their fans!
Originally released in October 1990, Nowhere is been called one of the ‘greatest albums of the shoegaze genre’ by AllMusic and a ‘Masterpiece’ by Rolling Stone. It has also featured in Top Albums of the 90’s and Top Albums Of All Time by Pitchfork and Spin respectively as well as the legendary reference book, ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.’ Featuring the bands biggest song, Vapour Trail, Nowhere is the blueprint for an entire sub-genre.
Ride were dubbed ’shoegazers’ by the British music press for their shy disposition and head down, focused concentration on their guitar pedals when playing live. Little did anyone expect the term to go on and create a new genre that would become one of the most enduring over the coming decades! Combining the trembling distortion laid down by earlier influences like The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine and the Britpop invasion with more direct and simpler melodies and etherial vocals, Ride created a sound that was one of hopeless optimism.
Their early live shows created a buzz not seen in years. With guitars and sound the focus over the late 80’s theatrics that by then were dead and buried, the band achieved a following in six months that other bands too six years to reach. A string of EP’s released in quick succession set the scene for their debut full length, Nowhere, to drop in late 1990 to blanket critical appreciation. It was full of angst but it was ecstatic. It was hypnotic but it was raw and it made them one of the biggest UK bands of the 90’s.
They spent most of ’91 on the road which included their first visit to Australia. Over the next half a decade, Ride were in their element. Each release building on the one before it and growing their global fanbase to exponential levels that put them ahead of their contemporaries by a country mile. Inevitably their non-stop schedule took its toll and in 1996 the band announced their breakup.
Ride reformed in 2014 and released their first album in 21 years called ‘Weather Diaries‘ in 2017, which received critical and commercial acclaim. They followed it up in 2019 with ‘This Is Not A Safe Place’ which saw the band embracing their new found creativity and rejuvenated dynamic. The album landed at #7 in the UK, their highest chart position in 25 years!
Ride are currently working on new material but until then make sure you get to one of the shows for a timely reminder of just how brilliant, how different, how influential, and how fundamental Ride were to what has since followed!
TOUR DATES
Tuesday, November 29: The Gov, Adelaide
Wednesday, November 30: The Forum, Melbourne
Thursday, December 1: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Friday, December 2: Princess Theatre, Brisbane
Sunday, December 4: Freo Social, Perth
Tuesday, December 6: The Studio, Auckland
Early Bird Pre-sales: Wednesday, August 31 @ 9.00am local
General On Sale: Friday, September 2 @ 9.00am local
AU: https://bit.ly/RIDE-EB
NZ: https://bit.ly/RIDE-EBNZ
Presented by
destroyalllines.com and sbmpresents.com
Ride are Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence Colbert, and Steve Queralt.