 The Wedding Present will be playing concerts in celebration of their critically acclaimed new album EL REY from the beginning of September until Christmas 2008. This mammoth tour will see the band performing in The United Kingdom, Ireland, The United States, Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic and Greece. Final arrangements have still to be made for many of the concerts, but dates are being added to the tour page of this site on a regular basis as and when they are confirmed, so please check frequently!
 David Gedge and Terry de Castro will be guests on ‘Tuesdays With Maura’ on Tuesday 1 July. The show, which is on Los Angeles radio station KSCR is transmitted from 10AM Pacific Time [6PM in the UK]. www.kscr.org
 The Wedding Present will be appearing on the final night of the 2008 Les Vieilles Charrues Festival in Carhaix, Brittany. The festival, now in its 17th year, runs from July 17 until the 20th.
http://www.vieillescharrues.asso.fr/en/festival/index.php
 Whilst being interviewed by Shaun Keaveny on his Breakfast Show for BBC’s 6Music recently, David Gedge hinted that The Wedding Present would be playing some British concerts in December 2008. These dates, along with two in The Republic Of Ireland, are now confirmed and you can find them listed on the tour page of this web site.
The Lemon Pop Festival in Spain has also just been added to the The Wedding Present’s tour itinerary for September, and the band are currently organising further tours in North America [September-October] and Continental Europe [November].
http://www.myspace.com/lemonpopmurcia
 “El Rey” - The Wedding Present’s new album - written while David Gedge was living in Los Angeles - is out now on CD through Manifesto Records in the USA & Canada, CD and limited edition 12″ vinyl through Vibrant Records elsewhere in the world and via download everywhere.
El Rey [the title means ‘The King’ in Spanish] is the first new Wedding Present album since 2005 and was recorded earlier this year by Steve Albini in Chicago. The LP has already been receiving great reviews:
“A beauty. Some of the funniest, cleverest and most relevant indie you’re likely to hear this year” [NME (UK)]
“Gedge has consistently been way ahead of other, more lauded musicians” [The Guardian (UK)]
“The Wedding Present’s finest LP in a respected 23-year career. Don’t miss!” [The Big Takeover (USA)]
“A triumphant and momentous homecoming” [CMJ (USA)]
“Hooray for Hollywood! El Rey is The Wedding Present in widescreen. The emotions were always this big but the streets were narrower” - Andrew Collins [writer and broadcaster].
As well as celebrating the release with the current UK mini-tour, the band will also be playing a live session during Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music show in Manchester on Wednesday 28 May. Marc recently described El Rey as “the perfect post-millennium Wedding Present album”.
 “The Thing I Like Best About Him Is His Girlfriend” - The Wedding Present’s first ever ‘download only’ single - comes in four different versions and is out now on Vibrant Records [Catalogue No. VIBD01] and Manifesto Records.
Please note that there will not be a CD or vinyl release of this single, so the only way to obtain a copy is via sites like iTunes, 7digital & Emusic.
For iTunes go here or for 7digital go here [High Resolution, 320kbps MP3 version].
The song, which was written by David Gedge and Terry de Castro, has been released in four versions, namely a snappy rendition mixed by Eric Tischler, an old friend of the band in Washington D.C., an extended version recorded and mixed by Steve Albini in Chicago, an acoustic version recorded in Los Angeles and a dance remix assembled by the band’s drummer, Graeme Ramsay in Edinburgh.
The four track titles are:
1. THE THING I LIKE BEST ABOUT HIM IS HIS GIRLFRIEND [JET AGE REMIX]
2. THE THING I LIKE BEST ABOUT HIM IS HIS GIRLFRIEND [ACOUSTIC VERSION]
3. THE THING I LIKE BEST ABOUT HIM IS HIS GIRLFRIEND [GR’S MAN-MADE ISLAND EDITION]
4. THE THING I LIKE BEST ABOUT HIM IS HIS GIRLFRIEND [SANTA MONICA AND LA BREA VERSION]
Tracks 1, 3 & 4 were recorded by Steve Albini. Track 2 was recorded & mixed by Ulysses Noriega. Track 1 was mixed by Eric Tischler. Track 3 was mixed by Graeme Ramsay. Track 4 was mixed by Steve Albini and taken from the forthcoming album ‘El Rey’, to be released by Manifesto Records in the USA and Canada on 20 May 08 and everywhere else by Vibrant Records on 26 May 2008.
 We are very sorry to announce that, due to circumstances beyond our control, The Wedding Present’s concert in Blackpool has been rescheduled and will now take place on Sunday 27 July 2008. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this might have caused.
Please visit the tour page of this site for The Wedding Present’s revised concert schedule for Summer 2008. It is unlikely that any further dates will be added and, hopefully, there won’t be any more changes.
 The Wedding Present are very pleased to announce that New York-based singer-songwriter Dawn Landes will be supporting the band at their five British dates in May 2008. Reminiscent of the raw traditionalism of Woody Guthrie and the experimental alt-folk lyricism of artists like Joanna Newsome, the Kentucky native plays a variety of instruments including the optigon, an odd instrument which Gedge fans will know from The Wedding Present’s ‘Spangle’ and ‘Shivers’. For further information, please visit: dawnlandes.com
Brighton based music journalist and author Everett True has also agreed to be the master of ceremonies and to DJ at the launch party for The Wedding Present’s new album EL REY at The Corn Exchange in the city on 30 May 2008.
In addition, The Wedding Present have announced that they will be playing at the 12 Bar in Swindon on Friday 25 July, the day before they play at the Indietracks Festival in Derbyshire. The band have also been told that they will be appearing in a Friday afternoon slot at the Bestival Festival in September, tickets for which have now sold out.
Please visit the tour page of the site for full details of this summer’s concerts.
El Rey, the forthcoming album from The Wedding Present, will be released by Manifesto Records in the USA and Canada on 20 May 2008 and in the rest of the world by Vibrant Records on 26 May.
In the UK you can pre-order copies of the album now from the retailers below.
- Record Store
- Amazon
If you don’t see your favourite shop above, more links will be added in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned!
 Tickets are also now on sale for ‘Indietracks’, the festival in Derbyshire that The Wedding Present are headlining on July 26th. As we mentioned in the last newsletter, this event takes place on a 1950s steam railway and as well as being able to watch over forty bands festival goers will be allowed full access to the railway attractions. The event takes place at the Swanwick Junction station site of the Midland Railway Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire. For further information and tickets please visit:
indietracks
 A new Wedding Present DVD, “AN EVENING WITH THE WEDDING PRESENT”, has been scheduled for release by Secret Records on 14 April 2008. This live DVD comprises a film of the band’s appearance at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 20 November 2005 together with an interview with David Gedge and tour footage.
The complete track-listing for the DVD is: Corduroy; Sucker; Blue Eyes; Always The Quiet One; Après Ski; Go Out And Get ‘Em, Boy!; Don’t Talk, Just Kiss; Loveslave; A Million Miles; Suck; I’m From Further North Than You; Come Play With Me; It’s Not You, It’s Me; Crushed; Falling; 2, 3, Go; Click Click; Ringway To Seatac; Brassneck; Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm; Kennedy; Heather.
Advance copies of this DVD can be purchased now, however, directly from Secret’s own website
 The Wedding Present have announced more British dates leading up to the “Album Launch Party” in Brighton that was announced in our last newsletter.
The band’s concert schedule for Spring 2008 now looks like this:
May 26 : Exeter Hub
May 27 : Shrewsbury Buttermarket
May 28 : Blackpool Tower Lounge
May 29 : Norwich Waterfront
May 30 : Brighton Corn Exchange
Please note that is extremely unlikely that any further dates will be added to this tour.
 Scopitones recently signed a digital distribution deal which means that Wedding Present and Cinerama fans will now be able to purchase Scopitones releases from their favourite digital download sites. In honour of this new partnership, David Gedge and Terry de Castro have agreed to a special duet performance in Austin, Texas to help kick off the South By South West Music Festival for our new digital distributor, IODA.
The concert is part of the IODA’s ‘Opening Day Bash’ and will take place at Emo’s Annex [603 Red River, Austin, TX] on Wednesday 12 March. David & Terry will be the last act to appear, at 5PM, but the event starts around noon and is free and open to the public. Other artists scheduled to play are Sean Hayes, Jason Collett, Chikita Violenta, Frightened Rabbit, Curumin, Modey Lemon, Chris Bathgate, Emily Jane White and Oliver Future. All the artists are represented by IODA and will be featured on their free SXSW music sampler. To hear this collection of music, go to www.iodasxsw.com.
In our previous mailing we announced that The Wedding Present would be playing on the Isle Of Wight as part of this year’s ‘Bestival’ in September. We are now pleased to tell you about another festival appearance. The band will be headlining the ‘Indietracks’ Festival on July 26th. This unique event takes place on a 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire, England and as well as being able to watch over forty bands [including our old friends Ballboy and Darren Hayman from Hefner] festival goers will be allowed unlimited rides on the steam railway over the weekend and full access to the railway attractions. The event takes place at the Swanwick Junction station site of the Midland Railway Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire. For further information visit http://www.indietracks.co.uk/ and http://www.bestival.net/
 The title of the new Wedding Present album will be EL REY, which means ‘the king’ in Spanish. The LP, which is being scheduled for a May 2008 release was recorded and mixed in Chicago by Steve Albini. Speaking in the current issue of the UK’s MOJO magazine, Wedding Present head honcho David Gedge says: “I’ve been living in West Hollywood for the last year or so, and while I’m not going to claim that this is my ‘L. A.’ album, there are some references, I suppose. The album themes are lust, jealousy, betrayal, regret, obsession, super-heroes… the usual! We chose to record with Steve this time because the new songs were sounding very guitarry and quite dark. It’s been good. As you’d imagine, really; Albini knows his stuff”. The Wedding Present’s ‘George Best’ album goes on to feature in the same magazine’s list of Top 50 ‘Indie’ records.
To celebrate the new album’s release the band have confirmed that they are to play a full set at the “El Rey Release Party”, a special event taking place at The Corn Exchange, Brighton, England, on Friday 30 May 2008. It will be the band’s first appearance in Brighton in over three years. In addition to ‘Special Guests’ there will be a few other surprises, the details of which will be revealed in future newsletters. It is an ‘all ages’ show [under 14’s must be accompanied by an adult] and tickets are available from: http://www.seetickets.com/?c=299717&filler2=299717
 The Wedding Present have confirmed their first live appearances of 2008 by accepting invitations to play on the UK’s Isle Of Wight and in Derbyshire. The band will be appearing at Bestival [the celebrated ‘boutique’ festival curated by BBC Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank] which takes place on September 5th-7th at Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight [www.bestival.net]. Before that, however, they will also be headlining the Indietracks Indiepop Festival on July 26th. This unique music festival takes place on a 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire and as well as being able to watch over forty bands festival goers are allowed unlimited rides on the steam railway over the weekend and full access to the railway attractions. The event takes place at the Swanwick Junction station site of the Midland Railway Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire.
 A new Wedding Present album, “SHEPHERD’S BUSH WELCOMES THE WEDDING PRESENT”, has just been released. This 21-track CD features live recordings taken from the band’s appearance at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 20 November 2005. As well as being recorded for this album, the concert was also filmed for a live DVD which will be released soon.
The complete track-listing for the CD is: Corduroy; Sucker; Blue Eyes; Always The Quiet One; Après Ski; Go Out And Get ‘Em, Boy!; Don’t Talk, Just Kiss; Loveslave; A Million Miles; Suck; I’m From Further North Than You; Come Play With Me; It’s Not You, It’s Me; Crushed; 2, 3, Go; Click Click; Ringway To Seatac; Brassneck; Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm; Kennedy; Heather.
 The Wedding Present have kicked off 2008 by recording tracks for a new album in Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. The long-player, which is currently scheduled for a spring release will be the first Wedding Present record to be engineered by Albini since Seamonsters in 1991, although he has worked with David Gedge’s other band, Cinerama on several occasions.
The recordings have apparently been going very well, although, when the band needed to play one of the new songs again in order to get a guitar part right, Albini was heard to say: “Don’t drive yourselves crazy doing it over and over… and by ‘yourselves’ I mean me!”
David, Terry, Chris and Graeme have also become addicted to ‘electricals’, frothy coffee drinks invented by Albini himself.
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