Ride


Over the last four days or so I’ve become a very big fan of Ride. It all started when I read a couple of posts and an article at NME.com about how Mark Gardener, former lead singer/guitarist, was playing a solo show at Bar 13 last Sunday night. Bar 13’s quite literally a stone’s throw from the my apartment, and I rarely read about bands with any international buzz playing there, so it got my attention. I poked around on Rhapsody and on the internet and started listening to lots of Ride, as well as Mark's solo stuff. It’s great. Everything I read said they were a massively influential band that never got the recognition they deserved. It’s pretty clear from listening to them that bands like Oasis and Coldplay would not be what they are without these guys. I actually listened to Mark Gardener sing “Dreams Burn Down” solo from his 2003 EP first, thinking is was a blatant rip-off of “Champagne Supernova” meets “In My Place”, before realizing it was a Ride song from an album that came out years before either of those songs ever existed. I’ve listened to that version and the original no less than 30 times over the last few days. It's my favorite.

Anyway, I really wanted to see him on Sunday, but I was totally wiped after watching Intervention and ended up regrettably passing. I found out yesterday, however, that he has been added to the Vicious/KEXP show tonight at Rothko between sets. Can't make the same mistake twice. He goes on at 9:30. I'll be there.