Ride Pays a Passionate, Noisy, and Satisfying Visit to Boulder
October 6, 2019
Shoegaze godchildren, Ride burst noisily and beautifully onto Boulder Theater stage last Friday and left behind a well-sated audience to smile in the memories of a different type of Brit-pop from the early ’90s. The four-piece – all original members – played from songs from nearly every album in their history over 90 minutes, focusing mostly on their latest release “This Is Not A Safe Place,” but offering plenty from the classic and seminal “Nowhere,” and even a few from their first eponymous EP.
While their sound remained huge, and definitely brought back familiar cathartic waves from the brief, post-Madchester shoegaze cloudburst of the early ’90s, their fractured history was also on display. Meandering through the playlist, the band showed off a few distinct personalities.
Meandering through the playlist, Ride showed off a few distinct personalities.
There was the early Ride, thunderous and huge with soaring vocals matched only by walls of sound created by the plethora of pedals that guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardner climbed the charts with back then, including “Leave Them All Behind,” “Taste,” “In A Different Place,” and “Chrome Waves.”
From that era of Ride they also pulled the two climaxes of the show – a 10-minute jet-plane magnitude avalanche of noise that split the two halves of “Drive Blind,” from their first EP (just shy of a copy of My Bloody Valentine‘s overwhelming bridge in live versions of “You Made Me Realise,” honestly), and the soaringly beautiful, yet heartbreakingly simple “Vapour Trail.”
The rest of the night was filled with strong, well-developed power-pop-meets-dreamy-shoegaze anthems from their most recent albums, “Weather Diaries” and “This Is Not A Safe Place.” The pop shone through on “Jump Jet,” “Kill Switch,” and the aptly (and humorously) named “Repetition.”
The night was filled with strong, well-developed power-pop-meets-dreamy-shoegaze anthems…
These were met with songs more reminiscent of “Nowhere” and “Going Blank Again” in their performances of “Lannoy Point,” “Shadows Behind the Sun,” “Eternal Recurrence,” “All I Want,” and others. Each of these featured Bell and Gardner’s familiar – and hugely satisfying – harmonies, and their pedal-happy guitar genius, and soon had the room awash with their unmatched resonance.
Interestingly – though fittingly – the setlist featured nothing from the albums that led to the band’s early demise in 1996, the confusing “Carnival of Light” and “Tarantula,” attesting to their own self-awareness. The history they chose was – and is – obviously more truly representative of their strengths: strong songwriting and melodic prowess, romantic overtones, and power pop roots. And this is why they’ll be around for a while longer.
Echoing the passion of Frank Turner and Green Day, One Flew West wears their punk rock on their communal sleeve…
The night began with sets from the buzzy Spirit of the Beehive and local band One Flew West. While the Philadelphia psych band played a largely forgettable set, One Flew West proved strong, anthemic, and confident in both their songwriting and live chops. Echoing the passion of Frank Turner and Green Day, OFW wears their punk rock on their communal sleeve, sporting a maniacal – but less nihilistic – grin while they scream through their strong tunes. Every measure inspires a fist-pump and a righteous scream – a foundation on which they’ll doubtless build an even stronger following as they expand across the nation. We’re all looking forward to watching that.
