MUSIC: At The Edge Of The Sea

Legendary indie band The Wedding Present host a two-day festival in Brighton

From the ashes of The Lost Pandas materialised The Wedding Present, perhaps the archetypal indie band of the ‘80s, and fronted by the only constant member throughout its history, David Gedge. “I always thought that The Wedding Present was an inappropriate name for a pop band,” he has said, “more like a poem, or a book or something, and therefore quite attractive to me!”

Following the release of three singles and the fast developing fandom of one John Peel, they brushed aside offers from a plethora of independent and major labels and released their debut album, George Best, in 1987 to widespread acclaim, cementing their template of fast-paced rhythm guitar and lyrics about love, heartbreak and revenge. As part of the David Gedge curated ‘At The Edge Of The Sea’, The Wedding Present will be playing the album in its entirety on the Saturday, while returning the following night to play ‘The Hit Parade A-Sides’, featuring their greatest hits.

The event has expanded to two days for the first time this year, and there is an eclectic line up, mixing old friends, Wedding Present offshoots, and people they just simply like. Saturday will feature The Twilight Sad, the Scottish folk-noiseniks, who are signed to Brighton’s Fat Cat label, a set from former The Pipettes singer Gwenno (singing in the language of the Welsh), Flying Wing (who feature former The Wedding Present members Paul Dorrington and Darren Belk), The Fireworks (also featuring another former member, drummer Shaun Charman), French band The Missing Season, Marlin (who feature current The Wedding Present guitarist Patrick Alexander), Tensheds, and The Wedding Present alter egos Cinerama, who will be performing the A-side of their 1998 album, Va Va Voom. Charman will also be playing a DJ set.

The following night, there’s the chance to see Miles Hunt and Erica Nockalls of The Wonder Stuff, The Flatmates, Pete Fij/Terry Bickers (of Adorable and House of Love), Sivu, former The Wedding Present member Terry de Castro,
The Brownies (who feature two Gedges in their line-up), beatbox flautist Miranda Gunn and Cinerama once again, this time performing the B-Side to Va Va Voom. Rocker (of Dandelion Radio) will be deejaying.

At The Edge Of The Sea, Saturday 24–Sunday 25 August, Concorde 2. 3pm, £20 per day or £35 for a weekend pass.