Legendary UK act The Wedding Present has announced a 21 date North American tour which will commence at the Casbah in San Diego, California and conclude at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas. The tour will take TWP through major U.S. and Canadian markets. The band released El Rey in May, its first new long player since 2005’s Take Fountain. El Rey found the band reunited with noted producer Steve Albini, with whom they worked with on their renowned 1991 release Seamonsters.

Press accolades for the album have been plentiful. Paste Magazine declares El Rey to be “Lyrically barbed and lucid, the album is a good book…” while the Boston Phoenix asserts that
“Gedge (is)…uncomfortably literate and uncommonly talented.” The Big Takeover fell in love with the album, stating that the collection is “…The Wedding Present and David Gedge’s finest LP out of a good 25 of them (including numerous compilations and whatnot) in a respected 23-year career…Don’t miss!”

The live lineup includes David Gedge (guitar and vocals), Terry de Castro (bass), Graeme Ramsay (drums), and Chris McConville (guitar).
El Rey was penned whilst frontman David Gedge was living in Los Angeles and it burns with West Coast sunlight; Hollywood seen through the eyes of a gritty British Northerner. Speaking about El Rey in MOJO Magazine, Gedge says: “I’ve been living in West Hollywood for the last year or so, and while I’m not going to claim that this is my ‘L.A.’ album, there are some references. I suppose the themes are lust, jealousy, betrayal, regret, obsession, super-heroes… the usual. We chose to record with Steve this time because the new songs were sounding very guitar-ry and quite dark. It’s been good. As you’d imagine, really; Albini knows his stuff.”

The band was a favorite of the famed late UK DJ John Peel. Don’t miss your opportunity to see this exhilarating live act near you.

Dates are as follows:
9/18/08 Casbah San Diego, CA
9/19/08 Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
9/21/08 Slim’s San Francisco, CA
9/23/08 WOW Hall Eugene, OR
9/24/08 Neumo’s Seattle, WA
9/25/08 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR
9/26/08 Media Club Vancouver, B.C.
9/29/08 Turf Club St. Paul, MN
10/1/08 Empty Bottle Chicago, IL
10/2/08 Crofoot (Pike Room) Pontiac, MI
10/3/08 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ONT
10/4/08 Babylon Ottawa, ONT
10/5/08 Le National Montreal, ONT
10/6/08 Middle East Cambridge, MA
10/8/08 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
10/9/08 Southpaw Brooklyn, NY
10/11/08 Black Cat Washington, D.C.
10/12/08 Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC
10/14/08 The Earl Atlanta, GA
10/15/08 The Bottletree Birmingham, AL
10/17/08 The Mohawk Austin, TX