In all the gigs I’ve ever been to, I’ve never seen a band play a set consisting of TWO songs. Still, that’s the situation Philadelphia’s Knifeplay find themselves in tonight, as frontman TJ Strohmer declares after the opening song, “we’re a little short on time, we’re gonna play one more!” In fairness, their songs are pretty long, so it still lasts about 15-20 minutes. Nonetheless, it’s hard to write anything tangible other than the fact their sound was a lot more mellow-strum and a lot less shoegaze than I was expecting. After the show, guitarist Johnny Klein explains to me how the opening band came on late and played longer than scheduled, forcing them to absorb the overrun themselves. Dang! Well, hopefully a full set next time then, as I liked what I heard!
Considering it took almost 30 years for Ride to play their first show in Montreal back in 2019, it suddenly feels like they are here all the time now! Tonight marks their third visit to Montreal in five years and first since their last visit a year ago with The Charlatans, so it’s good to see them making up for lost time!
Tonight’s 15-song set draws heavily from their new Interplay record, with seven offerings from that. “Peace Sign” kicks off the set in all-out old-school indie before twin bass guitars take over on “Last Frontier.” The bass then distorts heavily on “I Came to See the Wreck” to give a distinctly Jesus and Mary Chain vibe. “Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream” is similarly moody, while “Portland Rocks” kinda fuses all of this together, a veritable stomper with a sprinkling of shoegaze. “Light in a Quiet Room” sees idyllic dual vocals from guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, starting off mellow before exploding into a flurry of strobes and distortion that rattles the floor. It really is a solid record, and hearing the live versions of these songs only fortifies that opinion!
The old songs still hit too, that’s for sure. Well, “Lannoy Point,” from 2017’s Weather Diaries, is only seven years old at this point, but in my book, already sits comfortably with their classics, with its manic War-On-Drugs-Red-Eyes urgency making it a set highlight for me. Mark jokingly introduces “Taste” (from 1990 debut Nowhere) with the proclamation, “This is a shoegaze song!” It really isn’t. It’s a perfect slice of 90s Britpop, though, as is the timeless “Twisterella,” which immediately follows. Huge cheers greet the distorted riffs of “Vapour Trail” and “Seagull” to close out the main set. An encore of the classic “Leave Them All Behind” wraps up the 90-minute set, culminating in a thunderous guitar solo from Andy.
Another top-notch set from Ride then. Keep coming back, guys, you’re gonna be welcome here anytime!
Setlist
- Peace Sign
- Last Frontier
- I Came to See the Wreck
- Dreams Burn Down
- Taste
- Twisterella
- Monaco
- Lannoy Point
- Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream
- Portland Rocks
- Cali
- Light in a Quiet Room
- Vapour Trail
- Seagull
Encore
- Leave Them All Behind
Review & photos – Simon Williams
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