A new musical based on the songs of indie rock veterans The Wedding Present is set to premiere in Leeds, coinciding with the band's 40th anniversary and the release of their retrospective collection, 40. The production, titled Reception: A New Musical, has been developed by theatre director Matt Aston, who first conceived the idea after seeing frontman David Gedge perform with the BBC Big Band in 2009.
Aston, who has been a fan since seeing the band at Derby's Confettis nightclub in 1988, said the combination of Gedge's conversational lyrics and orchestral arrangements felt like musical theatre. He later persuaded Gedge, despite the singer initially saying he was "astounded" and unsure he even liked musicals. Gedge eventually agreed to serve as the show's creative consultant, and the pandemic delayed its premiere until now.
The musical is not biographical but follows a group of friends who meet at the University of Leeds, experiencing love, betrayal and loss. Gedge's lyrics are woven into the narrative, with lines such as "I just decided I don't trust you any more" from the 1990 hit Brassneck delivered in emotionally charged contexts. Actor-musicians in the production recreate the band's signature sound, which Gedge describes as "the Velvet Underground – but faster".
Gedge, a maths student who was the first in his working-class family to attend higher education, recalled the band's early days, including hand-assembling 500 copies of their first single, Go Out and Get 'Em Boy!, for £500. When John Peel played it on Radio 1, Gedge ran to bassist Keith Gregory's house to share the news. "Peel played it 10 times. At that point, my life changed," he said.
Reception fits with what Gedge calls the "Wedding Present tradition of going off at weird tangents". The band, successors to the Smiths, were one of the foremost British indie acts of the late 80s and 90s, with albums such as George Best and Bizarro. The musical's premiere in Leeds marks a homecoming for the band, which formed around the city's university.
