One's gig-life in 1987 was dictated by the burgeoning C-86 Indie pop shoegazing scene ,so i saw endless groups of that genre,and I was AT this one. I have no memory of it beyond that,except for buying an industrial Hot dog outside the venue aprés-show,which was a dangerous occupation in Leicester at the time,involving various violent episodes involving Burger Vans and axes...."The Hot Dog Wars" as it was titled by investigative journalist knob, Roger Cook,on the Cook report TV show. Joe Perscico (spelling?)the rather frightening head thug, lived opposite my Leicester Poly indie friends,and he coned off the entire street for his Hot-Dog vans...and woe betide anyone who wanted to park outside their home!!!!
Hopefully the Hot-Dog I bought after The Wedding Present gig, wasn't one of his.He's either dead or in Prison now anyway.
I do remember that the venue was approximately half-full,and the very quiet audience reaction was mostly due to the microphones facing the band rather than the students who ,frankly, should have been revising!?
The Poly had a fine bar,with reasonable prices, so I wasn't here for the whole of the performance.
My record purchasing in 1887, didn't really include the C-86 mob, even though Bogshed/Big Flame etc were on that, but erred on the side of Ron Johnson Records and all that American noise Rock stuff,like Big Black etc, who didn't play in Leicester Pubs very often. The only Uk equivalents were stuff like Head Of David,Walking Seeds, and, I suppose, Napalm Death?
Ah Napalm Death, the ones who had a sticker on their first LP proclaiming them as the worlds fastest band?.....surely not?...didn't that accolade belong to The Wedding Present in 1987?
Also strangely, The Wedding Present was one of Steve Albini of Big Black's early "production" jobs? Even though he had never heard of them....'Producer' being a rather too fancy job description for his glorified Sound engineering....Production requires new ideas and a creative input of sorts.Something Steve vehemently shuns in favour of leaving the music to the Band....an attitude that would have robbed us of many classic albums.....eg Joy Division.
The Leicster Polytechnic is now called "De Montfort University", worryingly named after a famous 12th century anti-Semite,Psycopath, former Lord Of Leicester,and Dictator of England, Simon De Montfort;who passed a local law banning Jews from Leicester for all eternity.Apparently this is still on the statute books as I type.
Also, De Montfort university is responsible for taking over the city in an endless quest for huge profits, demolishing several of my favourite Pubs to build new student accommodation;some of which now occupies the site upon which I wanted to scatter my mortal remains,namely Filbert street Football ground. Its not there no more!?...but at least the music venue is still going,although renamed as something else....i dunno wot, doon't live there no more.
Tracklist:
A2 Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
A3 All This And More
A4 A Million Miles
A5 You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends
A6 I Regret Everything
A7 Something And Nothing
A8 The Day That This Letter Came
B1 My Favourite Dress
B2 Never Said
B3 Give My Love To Kevin
B4 Go Out And Get 'Em Boy!
B5 Getting Nowhere Fast
B6 Once More
10 comments:
Mario's chip shop after Leicester Poly events, then to the Ganges o London Road. Happy days.
I have to completely disagree with your Steve Albini comments and funnily enough it what Albini's production on whatever Wedding Present record he produced that made me realise what a difference he'd made to the band. I walked into Volume Records in Newcastle and they put on said record and gone was the tinnitus treble jingle-jangle and instead was some heavy oomph. It was like their balls had finally dropped, thanks to Albini.
Yeah Andy, Mario's chippy was a lifeline. Manys the time i woke up of a morning with a vast selection of largely uneaten fayre purchased the night before,pissed, from Mario's. No Ganges for me after,i lived near Mario's on the Nah Bode.
Edge of Mull...you have just described a good job of Sound engineering.He made them more 'rocky' i suppose,but that piercing trebly sound was their trademark,the idea was not to be rocky by pandering to a rock crowd.But they were finished by then anyway,so why not?
Albini's guitar sound on those Big Black records was pretty tinny piercing and trebbly too i seem to remember, with over zealous use of a chorus pedel.He could always get a good bass sound however, i'll give him that.
Decent sound ruined many a Fall LP in the 21st century.
Fookin rite Mate.
Ah! Steve....you speak the lingo!
I did have a bootleg of a Rapeman gig in Manchester where Steve Albini did a rather good impression of a Leicester accent,it was supposed to be manc,but......."Ok,who just called me a...here's the leicestoh bit... 'Fookin Cooount'?
The strange phing iszat livin in Phrance for the last tweneh years, my Lestoh accent has got more pronounced...or worserer to you mateh!
THANKS!!
I was in Persico's class at Shaftesbury Junior School. He was a handful even then. And Mario's was the place for late night chips and beans on a tray.
@SgtWilko.....Persico was once a child?!, i thought he came fully formed off a petri dish. Hopefully you escaped him at secondary school?
I was a curry sauce man when I was drunk,with a aide helping of Bombay Potatoes and the obligatory saveloy (how do you spell that?...spellcheck is helpless!)
March 1987 I moved to Cardiff, and ended up sharing a house with some girls who had recently graduated. As they would often drag me out, I remember once going to Cardiff SU, and a band was playing, singer with a check-shirt and glasses. It took a while, but I suddenly realised it was The Wedding Present (perhaps it was "This Boy Can Wait" which I knew having got the C86 cassette from NME) and I wish I had paid more attention (but girls, you know).
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