Poor Swervedriver: The band’s new record announcement was just summarily trumped by the news that fellow shoegaze pioneers Ride were at long last reuniting for a batch of tour dates, their first shows in 20 years. (Anglophiles, take note: So far the only U.S. date is a June 4 gig at Terminal 5 in New York City.) “It’s going to be really cool,” guitarist-vocalist Andy Bell told the NME. “As we were all still friends, we always thought when the time was right we’d do it. And now the time is right.”
Ride’s 1990 debut Nowhere and 1992’s equally mesmerizing Going Blank Again are considered shoegaze totems, and for good reason: On those albums, the Oxford quartet juxtaposed beauty and noise in ways few bands could—thanks to the combo of ’60s psych/garage-pop riffs, burnt-sugar melodies, and furious distortion hurricanes. Ride’s secret weapon, however, was the interplay between Bell (who’s played with Oasis and Beady Eye) and guitarist-vocalist Mark Gardener; the pair’s ethereal, longing harmonies and distinct songwriting styles elevated the band’s music. Even the albums that preceded Ride’s 1996 breakup (most notably that year’s Tarantula) had their moments, despite veering off into more standard jangle-pop or stoner-boogie territory.
See the full tour dates—as well as a wind tunnel-inducing live version of “Leave Them All Behind” from 1992—below.
5/22 Glasgow, Scotland — Barrowland Ballroom
5/23 Manchester, England — Albert Hall
5/24 London, England — Roundhouse
5/26 Amsterdam, Netherlands — Paradiso
5/27 Paris, France — Olympia
5/29 Barcelona, Spain — Primavera Sound Festival
6/2 Toronto, Ontario — DanForth Music Hall
6/4 New York, NY —Terminal 5
6/7 London, England — Field Day