Shoegaze Band Ride Will Reunite After Beady Eye Breakup
Ride, one of the most revered bands of the shoegaze era, revealed plans for a reunion tour Tuesday. The group, comprised of singers/guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Laurence “Loz” Colbert, initially broke up in 1996. “It’s going to be really cool. As we were all still friends, we always thought when the time was right we’d do it. And now the time is right,” Bell told NME.
The time is right, especially considering the recent revival of shoegaze acts like My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Slowdive and Luna. Additionally, Bell’s own schedule opened up after Beady Eye, the group he formed alongside Liam Gallagher, announced their breakup last month, ending Bell’s nearly 15-year partnership with Oasis and its offshoot.
While Ride split up nearly two decades ago after recording four studio albums together – including their 1990 debut masterpiece Nowhere – the band members remained on good terms, even reuniting in 2001 to be interviewed for a BBC documentary about Sonic Youth.
“People bought our records first time round but our music has grown in significance since we’ve been away,” singer/guitarist Mark Gardener told NME. “We want to give the people what they want. We’d be idiots to go out and play a new album, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t make new music.” Gardener added that Ride has no plans to record a new album.
Ride’s reunion tour has already lined up nine dates, kicking off May 22nd in Glasgow, Scotland. Only two North American dates have been scheduled so far: A June 2nd visit to Toronto’s DanForth Music Hall and a June 4th gig at New York’s Terminal 5.