Album News, Tour Dates — April 4, 2017 at 8:00 am
The Wedding Present re-record 'George Best' with Steve Albini, prep Record Store Day EP
David Gedge has a busy year planned for The Wedding Present, with a North American tour beginning next week, a new instrumental EP due out on Record Store Day and a new version of the band's 1987 debut album George Best — recorded by Steve Albini — due out later in the year.
The band opens its North American tour April 14 in Washington, D.C., and plays a total of 14 dates in support of last year's Going, Going…, wrapping up April 30 in San Diego.
During that run, The Wedding Present will release a four-song instrumental EP called Home Internationals for Record Store Day, on April 22. The EP contains one song, "Wales," off Going, Going…, and adds three new instrumentals. Hear the new track "Scotland" via its music video below.
The official description of the EP:
David Gedge was inspired by the challenge of writing a number of instrumental tracks for Going, Going… and decided to use "Wales" as the starting point for an EP of further instrumental pieces. Freed from the restriction of a lyrical narrative the music frequently becomes more experimental and delves deeply into David's love of pop, rock and film scores for inspiration. "England" also features poet, playwright and novelist Simon Armitage reading his poem The English. The EP was also inspired by the 'Home Internationals' which was an annual football competition between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It started in 1883 and is the oldest international football tournament in the world. The competition ended in 1983.
Following the North American tour, Gedge turns his attention to the 30th anniversary of George Best. As Brooklyn Vegan notes, he re-recorded the album with Albini in 2008, and it's due to finally be released later this year. The Wedding Present also will perform the album at U.K. and Ireland dates in May and June.
Those U.K. and Ireland shows, and one in November, are being billed as the last time The Wedding Present will play George Best in its entirety live.
Below, see the tracklist for the new EP, the "Scotland" video and the band's upcoming tour dates.
Video: The Wedding Present, "Scotland"
Tracklist: The Wedding Present, Home Internationals EP
1. "Scotland"
2. "Northern Ireland"
4. "Wales"
The Wedding Present tour dates:
April 14: Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington, D.C.
April 15: The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY
April 16: Great Scott, Boston, MA
April 17: Bar Le Ritz PDB, Montreal, QC
April 18: Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa, ON
April 19: The Horseshoe, Toronto, ON
April 20: Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
April 21: Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
April 22: Turf Club, St. Paul, MN
April 25: The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
April 26: Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, BC
April 28: The Independent, San Francisco, CA
April 29: The Echo, Los Angeles, CA
April 30: The Casbah, San Diego, CA
GEORGE BEST 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
May 25: Leslie Greenside Hotel, Glenrothes, UK
May 26: ABC, Glasgow, UK
May 27: Gigantic Festival, Academy, Manchester, UK
May 28: Down By the River Festival, Waterfront, Norwich, UK
June 7: O2 Academy, Newcastle, UK
June 8: O2 Academy, Birmingham, UK
June 9: Rock City, Nottingham, UK
June 10: Roundhouse, London, UK
June 15: O2 Academy, Bristol, UK
June 17: Academy, Dublin, IRL
June 18: Cypress Avenue, Cork, IRL
June 20: Central Station, Wrexham, UK
Nov. 11: Hub, Plymouth, UK
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Tags David Gedge George Best Going Going... Home Internationals Steve Albini The Wedding Present