Music: At The Edge Of The Sea
Sixth year for this annual bash curated by David Gedge
The seeds for this annual event were sown in some roadside cafe while The Wedding Present were on tour, and six years later, At The Edge of The Sea has become an established event that now spans two days in the citadel of rock’n’roll in Brighton; Concorde 2.
As Gedge says himself: “There are four categories of bands we choose. There are bands we like, a ‘name’ band we’d like to get – this year we’ve got Art Brut – bands who have supported us on tour, and then there’s ex-Wedding Present and Cinerama members, and then we get a few local people in.
It comes together quite quickly. I really enjoy it; I’m like a kid in a candy store.”
The festival also provides an opportunity for The Wedding Present to dig out their previous albums, re-learning them from scratch and performed in their entirety – even songs they have never before played in public.
This year, they are performing their 1994 album Watusi and the so-called Mini EP of 1996.
Watusi will be performed on the Saturday, where you can also see cult indie band and contemporaries of The Wedding Present, The Membranes, Sky Larkin, Guards! Guards!, Black Light Ray (which features ex-Wedding Present’s Paul Dorrington), Holy Fingers, Ukuladeez, and DJs. The Wedding Present’s alter ego Cinerama will also be performing – they only perform once a year, always at this event – the odd numbered tracks of their This Is Cinerama album.
The Sunday features The Wedding Present performing the Mini EP, along with sets from Art Brut, Emma Pollock, The Cravats, BIRD, Lutine, Umat Adan, French for Cartridge, and DJs including Art Brut’s Eddie Argos. And, of course, Cinerama will be performing the even numbered tracks of their This Is Cinerama album.
Gedge has been living on the South Coast of England for a decade now, with the last three years spent in Hove. “As a northerner, you are supposed to hate it down south, but there’s definitely character here,” he says. And in At The Edge Of The Sea he has added very nicely to that character.
Concorde 2, 23 & 24 August, 3pm both days, £38 weekend ticket,
£22 per day.
Jeff Hemmings
