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New Hampshire
England’s Ride Bathe New Hampshire Concertgoers In Soundscapes And Memories: Review
PORTSMOUTH, NH — It is hard to believe that it has been more than three decades since the short-lived shoegaze scene emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, peppering alternative rock with a cacophony of sound.
And those memories — a stable of dozens of really great bands from both Great Britain and the United States, offering all kinds of temptation via song for an old duffer like me, came back in a rush at the Ride gig, with Knifeplay opening, at the 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on Wednesday in front of a couple of hundred concertgoers of all ages.
Ride is one of my all-time favorite bands, and, for some reason, while living in the metro Boston area for what seemed like forever, I never got the chance to see them that I can recall. In hindsight, having probably seen a thousand shows and listening to the first two full-length releases by the band — 1990’s “Nowhere” and 1992’s “Going Blank Again” endlessly, for years, this seems odd. In fact, on the list of life mistakes, not seeing Ride earlier would have to be right up there with having my children in my late 30s (LOL).
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The band, thankfully, did not disappoint, kicking into the still stunning “Dreams Burn Down,” about seven minutes of crash-and-blast sonics, early in the set after a few new numbers (hearing that song live was my mental hope on Wednesday night, fulfilled early).
The band was solid through most of the set, offering “Taste,” another track from “Nowhere,” the joyful “Twisterella,” the second single from “Going Blank Again,” and the early single “Drive Blind.”
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Lead singer Mark Gardener, whose below-the-eyes mop top of yore is all gone, was solid throughout the night, mixing licks and sequenced synths on his guitar and even playing bass on a couple of new songs. “Peace Sign,” from the new record “Interplay,” was timely and had a few fans stretched out, offering the sign in response. Two other new songs from “Interplay,” unheard of by me but genuinely worth checking out, were the fantastic and haunting “Light in a Quiet Room” and “Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream.”
Andy Bell, the lead guitarist who sang on a couple of numbers and performed backup vocals, too, was great as were Steve Queralt on bass and Lawrence Colbert on drums — with Loz getting a bit of ribbing from Gardener for checking his emails while the band members were getting ready for their set. Gardener noted, later, he was winging the first two songs without a setlist, which showed up later.
Ride skipped most of the mediocre, for lack of a better term but admitting to being overly critical, tracks from “Carnival of Light,” “Tarantula,” and “Weather Diaries” (although the quick jaunt of “Charm Assault” from “Diaries” would have fit right into the set easily).
The band closed with Bell’s incredible “Vapour Trail,” which, after nearly 35 years, can still bring a grown man to weepiness when identifying with loss:
“First you look so strong. Then you fade away. The sun will blind my eyes. I’ll love you anyway. Thirsty for your smile. I watch you for a while. You are a vapour trail. In a deep blue sky.”
The encore featured “Leave Them All Behind” from “Going Blank Again,” extended to a blissfully throbbing mess of nine minutes, another song I didn’t recognize, as well as “Chelsea Girl,” another early single.
Knifeplay’s Dreamy Opening Set
I want to start positively by saying I liked Knifeplay, especially knowing nothing of them before they started playing.
However, their short set, about four songs, was mired with issues, including a cracking vocal mic cord during the first song and feedback on the vocals for a couple of the other songs. They reminded me of a sleepier Slowdive — not really what I was looking for in an opener, but understandable as a double-booking of shoegaze bands.
TJ Strohmer, the founder of the band — it has been his outfit for about seven years, according to information online, offered some delightful guitar feedback while Jonny Klein, the lead guitarist, on two songs, blended in pretty slide sounds to accent Strohmer’s tunes. When I could hear her, Johanna Baumann’s strum and hum were precious and firm.
The vocal feedback appeared to be too much reverb on the mics of Baumann and Strohmer. It deterred from an overall engaging performance, unfortunately. Having been to many shows and even in bands myself, it is sometimes hard to step out of your comfort zone of what you want to deliver to audiences and what you hear in your head. While not trying to place blame because I don’t know if it was the band or the sound engineer, I suspect Knifeplay needs to step back a bit and find a way to allow the sound to wash over everyone without the unnecessary feedback brought on by cycling levels of reverb and volume of the vocal mics.
This was my first time at 3S Artspace, but I will consider attending shows here in the future.
Parking was easy to find, although $11 for a few hours. There was not much seating, but concertgoers knew that before they arrived. It might be nice to have another dozen or two stools here so the old folks can take a break (just a thought, not a demand). The ticketing was a breeze, everyone was friendly, and getting carded at almost 59 was amusing.
Food, Rooftop, Next Door
Trying to find a place to eat before the show was not hard since the Envio, a rooftop restaurant at the AC Hotel, was right next door.
The food and drinks were great — the Safe Harbor featured Ron Zacapa rum, port, and Earl Grey tea, a favorite of mine, while the cast iron Manhattan sirloin was glazed with a not-too-tangy mushroom sauce. The veggies were perfect, and the polenta was fine, too.
But the highlight of the Envio is the view of the city. As I sat at the bar, all I could imagine was what it would be like in the summer…
Why does Concord not have a place like this?
Info
Ride with Knifeplay will be at the Big Night Live in Boston on May 11, as well as tour dates through May in Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Englewood, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and in Canada, too. The band returns to the States in December.
Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.
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New Hampshire
Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.
“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.
“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”
Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.
He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”
Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.
For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.
“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”
Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.
CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”
Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.
29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.
“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.
While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.
“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,
“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.
“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.
Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.
“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.
Local News
Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.
A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.
Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.
The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.
The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.
He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.
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