A lot of good bands come through Dallas. That is one of the things I love about living here.
Last night one of our favorite bands, The Wedding Present, played the small Deep Ellum Arts Co. with opening band the Tubs.
I’ll be honest. I had a long day before the show. I’d gotten up early and we took the dog for a long walk in the humid and sweltering nature preserve, then I was outside in that same miserably humid and hot weather (luckily it was at least cloudy) for a 5-hour library outreach event at a neighborhood block party. In short, I was depleted and tired.
I give this background because I didn’t really want there to be an opening band. I wanted to just go enjoy the Wedding Present starting at 8pm and be at home in bed and asleep at 10:30. I was…tired as shit.
Turns out the opening band, the Tubs, was great! Loved ’em! Gonna order their music!
Here they are…
OK, on to the Wedding Present.
We saw them here in Dallas back in 2018, so it has been a while. They are absolutely one of our top 10 bands, and probably top 5.
Nothing makes me happier than going to see great bands with my wife, especially if the band is one of her favorites. I love sharing that with her. I absolutely can’t imagine spending my life with someone I don’t share that with. So there we were with all the other old post-punk/indie-rock gray heads to see this incredible band that so few people know about. This morning at breakfast we were wondering why the Wedding Present never really “broke” in the U.S. when so many shitty bands did. Even in circles that really know indie rock music a lot of people are clueless. It’s – just – fucking – weird. Did they just not make good business decisions? Are Americans just THAT stupid? (there is strong evidence to support this).
At any rate, the ignorance of the masses was the gain of the enlightened few last night, when The Wedding Present played at the Deep Ellum Art Co, a small venue set off from the main douchebag wankery of the majority of Deep Ellum by a couple of blocks. I suppose it might hold 200 people max, and it was not maxed out last night. This is simultaneously a shame because the band deserves more turnout whilst being a boon to us, as we were able to stand about 6 feet for the stage as if we were seeing the band at a small club in Leeds when the band formed, the way the Gods of Rock intended.
The band launched into their show, in which they played their entire Bizarro album and delivered a tight and blistering show. Other than the singer and songwriter David Gedge the lineup of the band has changed a lot over the years. The current lineup is impressive. At 65 years of age, Gedge shows no signs of slowing down. It really says something about a musician and a band to be touring in place where perhaps only their devoted fans will show up, not making a lot of money, and still absolutely killing it. When we walked in, Gedge himself was staffing the merch table. We spent a lot of money and got some really good stuff.
I’ll close with this. Go see your favorite bands live.
