The Wedding Present (UK) | The Nuggers | Control 15
The Wedding Present (UK) | The Nuggers | Control 15
‘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
‘Cult heroes: if you buy into David Gedge’s worldview, The Wedding Present is the greatest gift you’ll ever get. Let the churning melancholy consume you’ – The Guardian
Cult English rock band The Wedding Present will perform for the first time in Bucharest – October 5, at Control Club– as part of Control 15th anniversary.
Formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, by members of The Lost Pandas, The Wedding Present has been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band’s only constant member.
The Wedding Present have had eighteen UK Top 40 hit singles, not bad for a band that has, from its inception, stubbornly refused to play the record industry’s game. It all started in 1985 when David Lewis Gedge boarded a National Express coach in London with 500 records packed into a pair of his mother’s suitcases and, in this fashion, delivered the band’s debut single Go Out And Get ‘Em, Boy! to a distribution company in Yorkshire. That pioneering spirit has been at the core of the band’s philosophy ever since.
With their early releases, The Wedding Present acquired a reputation for bittersweet, breathtakingly honest love songs immersed in whirlwind guitars. The next step, made with characteristically twisted Wedding Present logic, was to enlist the aid of the noise-mongering (and, at that point, relatively unknown) sound engineer Steve Albini. The resulting Seamonsters (1991), recorded in the snowy wilds of Minnesota in just 11 days, suggested a more thoughtful Wedding Present.
Over the course of their lengthy career, the band have continued to release numerous studio albums, as well as compilations and live collections. In 2022, The Wedding Present embarked upon 24 Songs – a project which, with a nod to the Hit Parade series of 1992 – saw the band releasing a brand new 7″ single every month throughout the year.
The Nuggers are a garage-punk 5 piece formed in Bucharest in 2010. They’ve released an album and 2 EPs and just finished recording their new album. They play fast, energetic, tight and sweaty sets.