Mark Gardener (Ride) Solo Tour

Mark Gardener (Ride) hits NZ for three August shows

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of UK band Rides seminal masterpiece Going Blank Again, frontman Mark Gardener will perform three New Zealand solo shows in August.

Fans can look forward to hearing classic Ride songs like Vapour Trail, Leave Them All Behind, and Twisterella; plus material from Gardener’s solo and collaborative projects.

Mark Gardener (Ride) tour dates:

• Thursday August 9: Mighty Mighty, WELLINGTON
(with Kurt Shanks, Jeremy Taylor)

• Friday August 10: Kings Arms, AUCKLAND
(with Kurt Shanks, Tono & The Finance Company, Josh Hetherington – DJ set)

• Saturday August 11: WunderBar, CHRISTCHURCH
(with Kurt Shanks, Lindon Puffin)

The tour is proudly presented by 95bFM and UnderTheRadar. Tickets are on-sale from 9am Thursday June 7 from UnderTheRadar.co.nz and their outlets at Real Groovy and Slow Boat.

Support for the tour is Kurt Shanks playing songs from his debut album Blood Line Heart, out July 13 on Plus1 / Sony NZ.

Gardener and Shanks are joined by a revolving door of talent at each gig (Jeremy Taylor in Wellington, Lindon Puffin in Christchurch, and Tono & The Finance Company and Josh Hetherington (DJ set).

Gardener’s latest tour includes the United States, Australia and New Zealand (for the first time), and reflects a renewed worldwide interest in all things Ride. The media-appointed darlings of “shoe-gaze” were lauded in the 2011 award winning Upside Down documentary, alongside their Creation Records label mates Oasis, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub.

Late last year Ride’s Nowhere and Going Blank Again albums received the deluxe re-release treatment, each with bonus tracks.

Ride formed in 1988 in Oxford, England and made a significant impact, with their debut album Nowhere (1990) rated by Pitchfork as one of the Top 100 albums of the 1990s. Their second album Going Blank Again (1992) was an even bigger critical and commercial success, reaching the Top 5 in the UK charts.

Since parting ways with Ride in 1996, Gardener has released material as part of The Animal House, an acclaimed solo album These Beautiful Ghosts (2005), an EP with Goldrush and the acoustic live album Live @ the Knitting Factory, New York City.

Gardener is also an in-demand producer, film soundtrack artist, and collaborator, working with the likes of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins), Dive Index and rinôçérôse.