Slowdive

[?]

I know there are at least a few fans of this legendary shoegaze group here and the band has reunited, so I wanted to start a thread Here's the news story:

21st May 1994, at Lee’s Palace in Toronto, Canada. We’d finished our set and rather uncharacteristically for the time, Christian had put down his guitar, picked up a large union flag that we’d been given (Britpop was at its height back then), held it aloft, and dived (slowly) into the crowd. Although we didn’t know it at the time, that was to be the last live performance of any kind by Slowdive.

Over the years, everyone went their separate ways, some staying in music and some not. Neil, Rachel and Ian carried on with Mojave 3 and relocated to the South West of England. Simon had previously returned to Cambridge to play with different bands and musicians, and ended up releasing music in his own right. Christian and Nick remained in the Reading area and stayed in regular contact. All the time however, the subject of Slowdive never seemed to completely go away. Neil and Rachel would always be asked in interviews whether there was any chance of any more shows, or any new music. The answer was always no, but the interest from people wouldn’t disappear. Finally Neil was asked by MTV in the summer of 2012, and for the first time he responded that he was possibly open to the idea.

So eventually, late in 2013 – we all met up in London to talk about the possibility of doing another record and some shows, really at first to see if anyone other than journalists were still REALLY interested.. What properly kick-started it for us though was when we got a lovely offer from Primavera Sound to appear on the 2014 bill in Barcelona. We had never played in Spain before, and the idea of playing a part in what we were sure would be a fantastic line-up was too good to turn down. This was swiftly followed by the offer of a first show in London at Village Underground on the 19th May 2014. Almost 20 years to the day since the final show in Toronto. The stars seemed to be lining up…

Since then we’ve been busy going through old recordings, looking through old press clippings and trying to remember how the songs should be played. We’ve been really pleasantly surprised to see that there still seems to be a genuine interest in the band out there! Neil has quickly realised that he’s going to need to re-learn how to play an electric guitar (as opposed to his more normal acoustic), otherwise we are going to require a hell of a lot of spare strings when it comes to playing live. Nick hadn’t picked up a bass guitar since the last Pygmalion sessions so is having to start from scratch, and Rachel, Christian and Simon have had to reacquaint themselves with the Slowdive sound and style – very different to what they’ve personally been doing over the last few years. So the first rehearsals have been challenging, but fun. And it’s great to have all five of us making some noise back in Reading together.

Our intention is to update this blog regularly with news and info, and perhaps even a picture or two. You can also follow us on Twitter (@slowdiveband), Facebook (facebook.com/Slowdive) and Instagram (instagram.com/SlowdiveOfficial). We will be announcing more shows over the coming weeks, we are looking forward to returning to some old haunts and especially going to some places we’ve never visited too. Any suggestions?

My favorite album is Souvlaki, although I really like Just for a Day as well. Pygmalion hasn't interested me and I haven't heard the EP's.

[Zantera]

YES.

Been listening to them a lot the last weeks, and they will most likely play at a festival which I'm attending in August. They've made three really good albums, Souvlaki being the best, but the other two not being far behind. Even though Loveless is my favorite shoegaze album and I love MBV, I would say that in terms of overall quality of the discography, Slowdive are better than MBV.

[Dittomist]

I was so happy to hear that Slowdive have reunited, especially since they are planning to record a new album! Souvlaki is also my favorite from them and I still listen to it on a regular basis. I didn't care for Pygmalion at first but I've really grown to appreciate what a unique, hypnotic, and dark project that was, and it really comes in handy whenever I'm reading a horror novel.

[dparrott]

Love em.  Never give up hope on bands reuniting! (provided the members are alive)  Duran Duran, Stone Roses, Suede, MBV, the list just keeps growing.  Still hoping for a Mansun reunion. 

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

This sounds like a band I'd be interested in. I still have TTOE and the rest of Collective Oblivion to get through, but I'm going to bookmark this thread so I can check them out when I have time.

[Lolzeez]

One of the two bands introduced to me during my roulette who have albums that would make my top 50.

[?]

One of the two bands introduced to me during my roulette who have albums that would make my top 50.

I found them through Katatonia and The Gathering - both bands have listed Slowdive as a huge influence on their music.

[adace]

Great band. Can't wait to hear their new material.

[ColdFireYYZ]

I just got into this band fairly recently after hearing Souvlaki so I'm pretty exited about this.

[dparrott]

My group did a cover mashup of Souvlaki Space Station with Blur's Battle.  Since we had a male singer, I wanted to work Slowdive in somehow.

[PolarizeMe]

Souvlaki's one of my favorite shoegaze albums along with My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and Nowhere by Ride. Found Slowdive through Neige from Alcest who was wearing a Slowdive shirt when I met him after a show he did with Anathema last year. Didn't find out about their influence on Katatonia till much later. Here's hoping for them to do a tour in the future and I can't wait for their new album.

[Lolzeez]

Bumping this,they're incredible live and the best concert I've ever been to. I went with my crush and we held hands and hugged through the whole thing. Seriously,that was the best day of my 17 year old life,something i'm gonna remember for the rest of my life. A shit ton of more stuff happened like me getting the setlist and giving it to her,Rachel touching our hands and waving/smiling at us two and this guy buying us beer etc. Just an incredible day. It was at a festival called Chill Out which was in like this forest and most the bands were djs and shit to chill out to. But i guess they decided to get Slowdive this year as a proper headliner. 

[Zantera]

They were amazing when I saw them!