England’s Ride Bathe New Hampshire Concertgoers In Soundscapes And Memories: Review

PORTSMOUTH, NH — It is hard to believe that it has been more than three decades since the short-lived shoegaze scene emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, peppering alternative rock with a cacophony of sound.

And those memories — a stable of dozens of really great bands from both Great Britain and the United States, offering all kinds of temptation via song for an old duffer like me, came back in a rush at the Ride gig, with Knifeplay opening, at the 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on Wednesday in front of a couple of hundred concertgoers of all ages.

Ride is one of my all-time favorite bands, and, for some reason, while living in the metro Boston area for what seemed like forever, I never got the chance to see them that I can recall. In hindsight, having probably seen a thousand shows and listening to the first two full-length releases by the band — 1990’s “Nowhere” and 1992’s “Going Blank Again” endlessly, for years, this seems odd. In fact, on the list of life mistakes, not seeing Ride earlier would have to be right up there with having my children in my late 30s (LOL).

The band, thankfully, did not disappoint, kicking into the still stunning “Dreams Burn Down,” about seven minutes of crash-and-blast sonics, early in the set after a few new numbers (hearing that song live was my mental hope on Wednesday night, fulfilled early).

The band was solid through most of the set, offering “Taste,” another track from “Nowhere,” the joyful “Twisterella,” the second single from “Going Blank Again,” and the early single “Drive Blind.”

Lead singer Mark Gardener, whose below-the-eyes mop top of yore is all gone, was solid throughout the night, mixing licks and sequenced synths on his guitar and even playing bass on a couple of new songs. “Peace Sign,” from the new record “Interplay,” was timely and had a few fans stretched out, offering the sign in response. Two other new songs from “Interplay,” unheard of by me but genuinely worth checking out, were the fantastic and haunting “Light in a Quiet Room” and “Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream.”

Andy Bell, the lead guitarist who sang on a couple of numbers and performed backup vocals, too, was great as were Steve Queralt on bass and Lawrence Colbert on drums — with Loz getting a bit of ribbing from Gardener for checking his emails while the band members were getting ready for their set. Gardener noted, later, he was winging the first two songs without a setlist, which showed up later.

Ride skipped most of the mediocre, for lack of a better term but admitting to being overly critical, tracks from “Carnival of Light,” “Tarantula,” and “Weather Diaries” (although the quick jaunt of “Charm Assault” from “Diaries” would have fit right into the set easily).

The band closed with Bell’s incredible “Vapour Trail,” which, after nearly 35 years, can still bring a grown man to weepiness when identifying with loss:

“First you look so strong. Then you fade away. The sun will blind my eyes. I’ll love you anyway. Thirsty for your smile. I watch you for a while. You are a vapour trail. In a deep blue sky.”

The encore featured “Leave Them All Behind” from “Going Blank Again,” extended to a blissfully throbbing mess of nine minutes, another song I didn’t recognize, as well as “Chelsea Girl,” another early single.

Knifeplay’s Dreamy Opening Set

I want to start positively by saying I liked Knifeplay, especially knowing nothing of them before they started playing.

However, their short set, about four songs, was mired with issues, including a cracking vocal mic cord during the first song and feedback on the vocals for a couple of the other songs. They reminded me of a sleepier Slowdive — not really what I was looking for in an opener, but understandable as a double-booking of shoegaze bands.

TJ Strohmer, the founder of the band — it has been his outfit for about seven years, according to information online, offered some delightful guitar feedback while Jonny Klein, the lead guitarist, on two songs, blended in pretty slide sounds to accent Strohmer’s tunes. When I could hear her, Johanna Baumann’s strum and hum were precious and firm.

The vocal feedback appeared to be too much reverb on the mics of Baumann and Strohmer. It deterred from an overall engaging performance, unfortunately. Having been to many shows and even in bands myself, it is sometimes hard to step out of your comfort zone of what you want to deliver to audiences and what you hear in your head. While not trying to place blame because I don’t know if it was the band or the sound engineer, I suspect Knifeplay needs to step back a bit and find a way to allow the sound to wash over everyone without the unnecessary feedback brought on by cycling levels of reverb and volume of the vocal mics.

This was my first time at 3S Artspace, but I will consider attending shows here in the future.

Parking was easy to find, although $11 for a few hours. There was not much seating, but concertgoers knew that before they arrived. It might be nice to have another dozen or two stools here so the old folks can take a break (just a thought, not a demand). The ticketing was a breeze, everyone was friendly, and getting carded at almost 59 was amusing.

Food, Rooftop, Next Door

Trying to find a place to eat before the show was not hard since the Envio, a rooftop restaurant at the AC Hotel, was right next door.

The food and drinks were great — the Safe Harbor featured Ron Zacapa rum, port, and Earl Grey tea, a favorite of mine, while the cast iron Manhattan sirloin was glazed with a not-too-tangy mushroom sauce. The veggies were perfect, and the polenta was fine, too.

But the highlight of the Envio is the view of the city. As I sat at the bar, all I could imagine was what it would be like in the summer...

Why does Concord not have a place like this?

Info

Ride with Knifeplay will be at the Big Night Live in Boston on May 11, as well as tour dates through May in Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Englewood, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and in Canada, too. The band returns to the States in December.

Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.