The Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT ***

Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Wednesday

THE Wedding Present were not the first indie band but they may be the definitive one. Led by the usually morose-looking David Gedge, they were heroes on the student union circuit from the mid-Eighties to the early Nineties. Pairing rapid-fire guitar riffs with Gedge's mournful lyrics about love affairs gone wrong, the Wedding Present's tinny tracks sparked many a moshpit in their day and were responsible for vast quantities of snakebite being spilled in discos up and down the land.

They are back on tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their first album, George Best. By promising to play the entire album from beginning to finish at each gig, they have managed to tempt a significant proportion of their original fanbase off their suburban sofas and back into gigland. It's terrifying proof of the havoc that the passage of time can wreak.

Walking into the Liquid Room, I recognise so many faces that it is like walking into the Green Banana Club in Edinburgh's Potterrow union some two decades previously. It's just that we are all fatter and have fewer options on the hairstyle front. I suspect the old pre-gig warm-up ritual of a bottle of Merrydown has been passed over in favour of the two-course early bird special and a bottle of Tempranillo at the bistro across the road. The surrounding talk is of children, jobs and how Wedding Present albums have soundtracked the divorces of a surprising number of the people present. Men outnumber the women by at least 10 to one.

Impending middle age doesn't seem to have had the same effect on Gedge, who looks surprisingly trim and chipper. "Good evening Glasgow," he quips before hastily pointing out that he knows fine well he is on the other side of the M8. More devout Wedding Present fans may be able to explain why a man dressed as a white rabbit wanders on stage to hold up a copy of the George Best album cover, but it doesn't matter once the band launch into 'Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft'.

Without the benefit of nostalgia, most neutral listeners would be hard-pushed to distinguish much between one Wedding Present song and the next. On tracks such as 'Shatner', the guitars clatter furiously while Gedge sings about an abusive relationship. 'Give My Love To Kevin' picks at a jealous scab while audience pleaser 'My Favourite Dress' nags away like an argument both parties will want to forget. Gedge is not the most technically accomplished singer, but his flat tones suit the despairing lyrics. There is even a moshpit which many of the thirtysomething participants will regret in the morning.

If you were there first time around then it's a great reminder of how much energy and fun you once had. Those who weren't there just look bemused.