“The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ era. You may dispute this but I’m right and you’re wrong!” - JOHN PEEL
THE WEDDING PRESENT will be playing a series of concert dates at the end of 2024 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the release of their classic major-label debut long-player, ‘Bizarro’.
The shows will see the David Gedge-led indie legends performing a 90-minute set that will include the 1989 album in full – together with other classics from their extensive repertoire. These headline dates include Autumn shows at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (4/10) and a hometown show at Leeds’ O2 Academy (5/10).
Of the upcoming dates David Gedge says;
“‘Bizarro’ was our second album and you can hear on it how much we had learned from the experience of recording our debut, ‘George Best’. You only have to listen to something like ‘Bewitched’ to notice that there’s much more in the way of texture and depth on ‘Bizarro’. We’d just improved as songwriters and arrangers, basically. It’s no less-frenetic a record, though!”
Released on RCA Records back in 1989, ‘Bizarro’ was The Wedding Present’s second proper studio album and first on a major label. An album that replaced the frenetic jangle of their earlier years with a newfound darkness and power, the record found vocalist David Gedge taking his idiosyncratic songs laced with heartbreak, despair and sarcasm to a whole new level.
Arguably the fullest realisation of The Wedding Present sound to that point, the album features the unstoppable lead single “Kennedy” (which would become the band’s first UK Top 40 hit in 1989), plus their anthemic calling card “Brassneck”, which would chart at No.24 in the UK Singles Chart when released the following year.
A steely, diverse album from a band beginning to hit their creative stride, highlights elsewhere on the record include the sparse “What Have I Said Now?”, the grinding slow-jam “Bewitched”, and the epic closer “Take Me!”.
Toying with extremes of tempo and mood, ‘Bizarro’ is hailed as a vibrant hybrid of astringency and quintessential pop euphoria, and it remains a seminal chapter in The Wedding Present story.
The full ‘Bizarro’ track-listing features:
Brassneck / Crushed / No / Thanks / Kennedy / What Have I Said Now? / Granadaland / Bewitched / Take Me! / Be Honest
Marking 35 years since its release in 2024, The Wedding Present will perform ‘Bizarro’ in its completion at these dates as follows.
Academy Events presents…
THE WEDDING PRESENT
‘BIZARRO’ 35th ANNIVERSARY LIVE DATES
OCTOBER
4 - LONDON O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
5 - LEEDS O2 Academy
Tickets on sale now
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.theweddingpresent.co.uk
