WEDDING PRESENT, THE
TOMMY 30 (LP+CD) (SCOPITONES)
George Best became The Wedding Present's first album in 1988. But Tommy - released one year later - was made up of the early songs from the singles and radio sessions that had catapulted them from being bedsit musicians into indie darlings: 'Go Out And Get 'Em, Boy!' with its purposefully super fast guitars, 'You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends' - an anthem for those long time Wedding Present fans, 'My Favourite Dress' - the only single in the collection that ended up on George Best - the classic, fraught tale of losing one's first love that perfectly played on the heart strings and began David Gedge's legacy of understanding everyone's heartbreak.
Tommy 30 - a brand new re-recording of Tommy - did not come about simply as a 'follow on' to George Best 30.
The band felt - during a Tommy 30th anniversary concert tour - that the songs had grown and evolved.
Enter a more confident vocalist... an altogether growlier guitar. A bigger sound. The urgency of a 25 year old Gedge is replaced with a charming vocalist with years of experience.
Everything's warmer and, maybe, gentler... but in a satisfying way. It's like your old friends have come home to see you.