The Wedding Present
Jetstream Pony
Northampton Roadmenders
3rd December 2019
Indie giants and John Peel favourites The Wedding Present are celebrating thirty years since their ace album Bizarro. Fighting Boredom’s most excellent friends Jetstream Pony are supporting so we headed down the M1 to Northampton to catch them both.
Jetstream Pony are on as we walk into the Roadmenders, the photographer sheds his coat, gets his camera out and is snapping away before I’ve even stood still. The place is full of aging indie kids, all here to pay homage to the John Peel approved and thoroughly Northern indieness of The Wedding Present. Everyone I’ve told I’m going to see the Wedding Present have assumed it’s a new RomCom at the cinema. No, I say, it’s a band, to blank stares and the occasional ‘Oh yes..’
But I digress. Here at Fighting Boredom we like the odd massive dose of Indie and it doesn’t get much better nowadays than Jetstream Pony.
There’s two perfect fringes, a dogtooth skirt and black ben sherman, a dungaree dress and mustard top, short sleeve shirt and a polo shirt sported by the tallest guitarist in indie, they look ace and they sound even better.
Kerry on bass and Shaun on guitar are moving to the music, Tony, the drummer, borrowed from the Popguns, is moving too. Beth stands with a tambourine looking anywhere but at the crowd. This is proper indie music, emotional, measured and super cool. The harmonies lift the music up and Beth’s vocal, as always, transports me away to indie kid land.
They play the new single. The first side is modern, fresh and almost bubblegum pop. Beth stands with a oh so cool aura of detachment, until she spots someone in the crowd and has a massive grin. The rest of the band also look down, it’s an indie thing. The other side is is harder with a deep low bass line and sweet vocal. They mention that you can buy it, so I do.
There’s a naughty elf hanging from the mic stand. They switch to more of a post-punk sound with a harder vocal. Beth swaps to bass and Kerry sings, the band grin at each other as they play and Kerry mentions she isn’t allowed to tell any jokes, so obviously she does.
This is a labour of love, Jetstream Pony care about this music and that’s evident in how they play it with emotion and passion.
The Wedding Present feel like they have been around for ever. I remember them on
John Peel’s show as I taped it and sent the music over to Germany. David Gedge is a star. He has charisma and compels you watch him as the songs tell stories and take you back to old memories. There are people dancing all around me and as they finish the first song and slip manically into Brassneck the crowd laps it up. Still my favourite Weddoes song after all these years, it still sounds ace. Frantic guitars and stuttering drums and that voice, Northern, strong and like an old friend. Remember the skinny indie kids going bananas to this one, well they’re all still here and still dancing.
The songs keep coming, the off kilter drums and thrash of the guitar grounded by the bass and that voice. Measured, cool and still fresh. You can see that they love doing this. When they finish off the thrashy, punky and vital Kennedy a breathless Mr Gedge states that’s one of their most hectic songs. It’s an ace set and it illustrates perfectly why so many people are here and still following this humble little indie band.
–
The Wedding Present
Jetstream Pony
The Wedding Present’s website is scopitones.co.uk, they are on Facebook and Tweet as @weddingpresent
Jetstream Pony have a Bandcamp page, are on Facebook and Tweet as @jetstream_pony
All pictures by Martin Ward, all words by Adrian Bloxham.
There’s two perfect fringes, a dogtooth skirt and black ben sherman, a dungaree dress and mustard top, short sleeve shirt and a polo shirt sported by the tallest guitarist in indie, they look ace and they sound even better.
John Peel’s show as I taped it and sent the music over to Germany. David Gedge is a star. He has charisma and compels you watch him as the songs tell stories and take you back to old memories. There are people dancing all around me and as they finish the first song and slip manically into Brassneck the crowd laps it up. Still my favourite Weddoes song after all these years, it still sounds ace. Frantic guitars and stuttering drums and that voice, Northern, strong and like an old friend. Remember the skinny indie kids going bananas to this one, well they’re all still here and still dancing. 
