Friday, May 28, 2010

The Wedding Present - My Favourite Dress

This is definitely one of those songs that falls into the category of "indiepop classic", and with good reason. Along with the Verlaines' "Slow Sad Love Song", it's one of the most perfect depictions ever of the utter despondency brought on by a broken heart - one of those songs that you're probably not human if you can't relate to at least a little bit.

Despite being a fan of theirs I didn't get around to seeing them live until relatively late in their career, maybe '91 or '92, and it was in this really tiny club in the US which despite its size they didn't come close to filling. Nonetheless it seemed that everyone there was a Wedding Present fanatic and the atmosphere was brilliant. While waiting for them to take the stage I got chatting to a fella in the crowd and when I mentioned that I hoped they played this song he told me, "They don't play that any more." Fortunately he was wrong; it ended up being their final encore and when the opening chords struck I really did believe I had died and gone to heaven. It was genuinely one of the highlights of my gig-going career, and you wouldn't be wrong in thinking that's saying a lot.

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