Ride

nice bit of green

Going to see them this Tuesday for the 1st time. Got into them 31 years ago as a 14 year old and they were my first big band as a kid. Didn’t listen to them for about 25 years until recently. Haven’t been to the Olympia in years either. Hoping to hear a couple of old classics.

Anyone else going?

fatbhoy

Yeah I'm going. Discovered them in 1990, loved their early stuff, the first two albums, and some of the Birdmany stuff. I'm going with low expectations (best to see them when they were young, in their salad days, when they had the magic), so hopefully my dreams won't burn down (😀). Almost saw them live in Feile 1991 (?), but we finally arrived down to the car park just as they were starting their last song (could have been Vapour Trail, can't remember), so I missed them and I was a bit devastated because they were the only reason I was there

Stillill42

Yep, really looking forward to it. Hoping for plenty of Nowhere and Going Blank Again, you know, Twisterella, Leave them all Behind, Mouse Trap etc. Should be awesome in the Olympia.

mgkelly

You'll love them! One of my favourite bands from early 90s. Saw them in Mandela Hall, QUB, supported by Bleach. Probably 1991-ish. MBV were touring around same time. As were Blur! All same venue!

Saw them since, x 1, supporting The Cure at BST Hyde Park. Still very good. Not quite as good as first time round. Mellowed a touch too much for me.

Still remember my brother arriving home from college in Sheffield in England with their first 2 EPs on vinyl - Red cover & Yellow covers. They were innovative, mysterious & mindblowing to me!

Going to see them again in London:

https://hackney.church/events/ride/

Part of Sonic Cathedral celebrations.

Supported by the mighty bdrmm!

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122567286#Comment_122567286

Ah, nice bill. That'll be cool.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122567286#Comment_122567286

Reading 1992, you say. I'd certainly take that....

nice bit of green

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122567286#Comment_122567286

My friend introduced them to me. His older brother worked in Comet in Temple Bar so had access to all sorts. The cover photography of the kids on the 12” singles was something I’d never been exposed to before.

Stillill42

Man, what an album Nowhere is! You forget, don't you?

mgkelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122571834#Comment_122571834

One of the best there is.

T.V Eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122571834#Comment_122571834

I have it on CD. Only found out recently it originally finished at Vapor Trail.

There's a few albums like that, that i can't imagine listening to without the CD bonus tracks.

Great album.

Decuc500

New album is really good.

I've been listening to them since those first ep's but have somehow never managed to see them live so really looking forward to tomorrow.

Dreamweapon

Bought all the EP's/LP's as they were released. One of my favourite bands of the early 90s. Saw them 4 or 5 times between 1990-95, and this will be my fifth time since they reformed.

They're not quite at the same level as they were but i've found that it kind of depends on the volume. The loudest i've seen them since they reunited was at the Barrowlands supporting JAMC (Sleaford Mods and Warpaint also on the bill as it was a 6 Music thing), which was a couple of days after their previous Olympia gig and it was definitely louder in Glasgow than Dublin. Which made for a more satisfying experience as some of those songs benefit from a bit of heft behind them.

Not mad about the three recent albums but a lot of that has to do with the horrible, way too clean and shiny production. There's some good songs on all three lp's but they're ruined by how they sound. The new material does come across much better live though. Mind you, it's probably telling that i never bought any of the new records. I just knew i wouldn't listen to them whereas the Mary Chain's two most recent get regular spins from me.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122575009#Comment_122575009

That's some Barrowlands lineup! Agree on the production on the recent stuff, it's been a couple of run throughs in the name of fairness but straight back to the early stuff. Actually kind of off putting to hear lyrics coming through clearly. Anyway, can't wait, hope to get myself in a good central spot, hope the setlist is kind, hope the sound is perfect.

mgkelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122575184#Comment_122575184

r.e. lyrics - ain't that true! So used to them being indecipherable!!

Stillill42

Saw the setlist from Belfast. NO TWISTERELLA??!! I'm out!

Stillill42

No, should be a great night. Enjoy it folks.

fatbhoy

Standing here waiting for them to come on. Fookin warm. Packed. Junodream played support for 40 mins...v good.

T.V Eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122578816#Comment_122578816

Haha. You got sorted tonight.

"She hasn't got a fellla"

Loved the Neds style lead/normal bass interplay on the new songs.

Bang in the middle. Sound was great.

Some gig.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122579947#Comment_122579947

I did! Mixed feelings for me. Old stuff great, albeit I thought they could have done with a bit more on the guitars. I thought some of the new stuff was truly awful though, pub band standard. It depressed me a little bit. I can't believe they don't feel the difference between the crowd reaction to something like Seagull and the new stuff. They're good guys and I loved all the old ones but I won't be going to them again unless it's Going Blank Again, Nowhere, whatever.

Edit: great to meet @Seathrun66 and @Mucker46 , always a pleasure.

3DataModem

@Stillill42 I think you'd have loved this setlist from - checks notes - 8 days short of 30 years ago!

Yes, this was the actual setlist taped to the stage left speaker.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580062#Comment_122580062

Fantastic, 3DataModem but you don't have to go back that far. This is from the other night in Finland…

nice bit of green

Deadly gig. Some beautiful songs and great outros.

mch82

Really enjoyed that. Saw them from a distance in Primavera in Barcelona and supporting the Cure in Malahide. Didn’t realise how good a guitarist Andy Bell was. He was wasted on base with Oasis.

fatbhoy

I agree with @Stillill42's assessment. First two songs were new, unfamiliar and crap. It crossed my mind at that time to just **** off home. Took out the phone to look up yesterday's setlist in Belfast and I was most unimpressed. Third song was Dreams Burn Down, so I'm like, f-if I'll stick around for a while. Only one or two newer (than the first two albums) songs sounded okay to me, the rest were crap. Tedious. I'm looking around seeing a good few of the packed crowd were well into it, so I'm thinking wtf and feeling isolated a bit. A few oldies get played which tip the balance back to feel-good settings, the crowd are loving it, but even the classics are meh...the old magic is gone. Twisterella me arse (they played that)... that was one of the weakest songs on Going Blank Again (now Mouse Trap, that's top drawer, Chrome Waves, or Nowhere from the first album, but they didn't play either). The guitars were only so so, with Andy Bell being a big disappointment for me...his playing wasn't good at all, almost seems like he never played or practiced from the time they split to the time they got back together. Dunno. But I'll tell you what, the one super high was the drummer (l forget his name)...I always rated him as the best thing in the band, and he was worth the entrance fee alone tonight...top form and fascinating to watch. My eyes were glued to him and Bell.

My rating: 4/10.

My verdict: better to watch them back in the early '90s than now.

fatbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580070#Comment_122580070

I doubt that 🙄🤔

Dreamweapon

Very unengaging i have to say. New material sounds better live no doubt but those songs still don't grab in the same way as the old ones. However, the classics weren't great tonight either. Dreams Burn Down, wtf? Where was the wallop of noise that used to cleave your head open? Ditto Chelsea Girl, Leave Them All Behind, even Seagull to a lesser degree. Great to hear Cool Your Boots but we certainly didn't need Twisterella. It was crap in '92 and it's still crap now.

I think the song i most enjoyed was Light In A Quiet Room, off the new album. Nice and spacey and stopped my mind wandering for the first time all night. It was the first song of the encore though so that probably says something about my evening.

It wasn't a bad gig per se but it all felt a bit flat. A bit workmanlike. Not one of their better ones imo.

Stillill42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580171#Comment_122580171

Eh?

https://xn--kivaatekemist-nfb.fi/kohde?id=43639

Decuc500

Loved it. Great night of music. The support band (Junodream) were baggy! Inspiral Carpets meets early Blur. Didn't think there would be any young bands making this kind of music but it was pretty good.

First time seeing Ride and it was worth waiting for. I like the new album so I enjoyed the new songs. It does kind of feel like two different bands though. The early 'wall of noise' songs are quite a bit different than the new, more polished poppy songs.

So Ride have changed over the years but this act 2 is still a bloody good band.

fatbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580180#Comment_122580180

I mean, that doesn't look like the setlist. Is it really?

Edit: yeah sorry, you're right: just checked. That's the gig I would have preferred 😀

Dreamweapon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580195#Comment_122580195

But would you have enjoyed it if those songs were played in the exact same manner as last night? I'd have found that a pretty depressing experience tbh.

I have no problem with them playing lots of new material. That's what they should be doing when they've got a new album out. It's when you can't do the older material justice that the problems arise. I've no interest in nostalgia fests as i just find them to be mainly grim affairs.

nice bit of green

The tour was in support of the latest album so they’d have to play a few off it.
Anyway, still buzzing. Highlights were Dreams Burn Down, Vapour Trail and then the drumming towards the end of Cool Your Boots.
I was seeing them for the 1st time and it was brill to hear tunes have such an impact after 30 years.

Hadn’t been to the Olympia in years either, great spot.

eviltimeban

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580062#Comment_122580062

If that's the set they played on the Carnival of Light tour, I saw that gig in the Tivoli in 1994. My first time seeing them and I thought it was great. Shame they have completely ignored Carnival of Light. I LOVED that album when it came out, and would've loved to hear them play Birdman or 1000 Miles; especially a shame as the album is 30 years old this year. I saw on other dates they played Black Nite Crash but not last night.

Last night was my 6th time seeing them. I was really more keen to see how they'd do the newer stuff, tbh as much as I love the old stuff I've seen it enough times at this point. Came To See The Wreck and Light in a Quiet Room were really great, the atmosphere suited those songs. Pity only one song from Weather Diaries, Kill Switch was good but would've liked Future Love as well.

I do agree that the guitar attack wasn't really there, for the most part the guitars were quite dry and tinny sounding, and Mark's vocals mixed too high while Andy's were mixed too low. Not their fault, that's the job of the sound engineer. Compared to the sheer sonic force that was Slowdive earlier this year; perhaps you can't get that loud in the Olympia.

Seagull was great, as was Chelsea Girl. Loz the drummer is always great to watch. They seemed to be having fun and enjoying themselves.

Dreamweapon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581987#Comment_122581987

It's funny but i've always had that Tivoli gig in my head as '95 but yeah it was '94. Support was Ash. Good gig iirc.

This is a good site for checking Ride's gigography if anyone was so inclined: https://ride.band/

fatbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581935#Comment_122581935

But would you have enjoyed it if those songs were played in the exact same manner as last night? I'd have found that a pretty depressing experience tbh.

No. They didn't really do any of the old stuff justice last night.

muloc

Got Cool your Boots and Time Machine (my favourite Ride song) tonight in Cork so I'm happy. New songs aren't great at all. Old stuff is magic.

3DataModem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581987#Comment_122581987

That's the actual setlist from that Carnival of Light gig in the Tivoli, I took it from the monitor and scanned it.

eviltimeban

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122582254#Comment_122582254

Yeah that site is great, has all available videos and interviews etc in one place.

eviltimeban

That's fantastic. I remember when I came home making a list of what I tried to remember them playing; I must check it against this!

That was a great gig. I remember standing in the audience and Andy and Idha walked right by me. Hung around the dressing room door for a bit at the end but they didn't come out. I can remember going into HMV to queue for tickets to Oasis in the Tivoli, and saw the poster for Ride and decided to get tickets for them instead! Don't regret it!

mgkelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122584834#Comment_122584834

Good choice!!

Feline Groovy

Thought they were beautiful in Cork. So crisp and clean. I thought Mark's vocals were better than back in the day (when they weren't the strongest). Seagull was the biz - that bass! Chelsea Girl was never one of my favourites but I loved their performance of it last night. And they did Black Nite Crash. Vapour Trail, Cool Your Boots and LTAB - emotional.

nice bit of green

it was emosh. Teenage love songs.

fatbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122586463#Comment_122586463

Thought they were beautiful in Cork. So crisp and clean.

Ride shouldn't be crisp and clean sounding 😀. Millions of drums, harmonies, millions of guitar pedals. That's Ride.