David Gedge - Interview
The Wedding Present first charted with "Kennedy" in October 1989, from their second album, "Bizarro". They were gruff, brusque, exhilaratingly Motorhead-loud and faster than a pharmaceutically-fuelled Olympic 100m final. Leading the sonic assault from the front was David Gedge, lyricist, guitarist and vocalist. Over the years, there have been numerous personnel changes and a seven-year hiatus, but Gedge has remained the constant. This year, the band is reprising their 1987 debut album, "George Best", in its entirety at certain shows. Before one such performance in Bristol, David spoke to Contact Music about that album, and his thirty-plus years at the helm of The Wedding Present.
George Best is 30. How does that feel?
We did a twentieth anniversary tour ten years ago and it was something we really wanted to do. Then last year, a couple of festivals got in touch and said, 'Seeing as it's the thirtieth anniversary, would you be interested in playing "George Best"?' and I thought, 'Woah! Thirtieth already?' I hadn't realised.
Was there a sense of 'We've already done a twentieth celebration; do we want to do a thirtieth?'?
It really didn't seem that long ago. I said I'd speak to the rest of the band, because they're obviously not the original line-up; they all said that it'd be brilliant. If we were going to relearn it for three gigs, then we thought we'd do some more, so we've ended up doing selected gigs throughout the year. I've got a love/hate relationship with "George Best". It's my least favourite Wedding Present album, but as a live set, it's one of my favourites, so it can go both ways. Of all the records we've done, it's one of the most personal, so it's like going back. I'd littered it with names of people I knew at the time and actual locations. It's like reading a diary, but at the same time, it's so long ago, it's like reading the diary of a different person.
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