[Giving Thanks / Live MP3s] RIDE in Boston 2015

Posted on November 26, 2015 at 7:46 pm | 4 Comments

It’s Thanksgiving here in the States, a day when many of us squash any lingering shame associated with long-past cultural genocide by eating, among many, many other things, actual squash. Along with over-indulgence, we use the occasion to reflect on our lives, or the year so far, then get grateful all over Facebook or Twitter. Some go for sincere, some for snark, some stay silent.

I’m going for sincere, but very specific: Today I’m giving thanks for Ride‘s decision to reunite and hit the road. It was almost exactly a year ago that the band announced their return and plans for a tour, one that eventually brought them back to the Paradise here in Boston. I’d been lucky enough to see them a few times during their original go-round, most memorably in that same room with the Pale Saints in June of 1992. It was the stuff from which the best musical memories are made.

To see them come back last month, more than 23 years later, with a stellar setlist (Sennen!), an adoring crowd, and such an obvious appreciation for being on stage, was a true gift. After all this time they seemed like even better players – Mark & Andy’s voices were stronger, the songs felt tighter, the energy amped-up. I’ve seen too many reunited bands go through the motions, and this was the total opposite. Four old friends, on the final day of a long tour leg, who may have been tired but never let it show on stage. They even took time to hang with fans at the after show party (so many photos, so many autographs) when they could have easily snuck off to the bus. Gentlemen, all.

And so, as they near the end of a whirlwind year and their final scheduled live dates, I offer my utmost thanks to Loz, Steve, Mark, & Andy of Ride. For giving us another taste. Thanks, guys.

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