Slowdive @ The Warfield on October 16th

Slowdive announced last week that they have added a second show at The Warfield this Fall, on October 16th, in addition to their October 12th date.

The British band formed in Reading in 1989,  only to break up in 1995. Almost twenty years later, in 2014, the group banded back together to play at the Primavera Sound festival and to do a 20-date world tour. This was followed by an album in 2017, Slowdive — their first album since 1995. The shows at The Warfield will be coming off of their fifth studio album, everything is alive, slated for release on September 1st.

The band started around Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell, who had been friends since the age of six. The rest of the group eventually congregated, including bassist Nick Chaplin, drummer Simon Scott (originally Adrian Sell was on drums, then Neil Carter. Eventually, Scott took over the kit), and guitarist Christian Savill. Shortly after playing a show with the band Five Thirty, Slowdive signed a record deal with Creation Records (Steve Walters, the head A&R at EMI, had been at the show and approached Christian Savill afterwards to ask for a demo of the band’s music).

Their first EP, Slowdive, is actually their demo tape. They enjoyed the naivity and originality of their demos over the ‘clean’ ‘professionalism’ of the studio recordings. The EP gained some critical success, and was followed in 1992 by their debut album, Just For A Day. A second album, Souvlaki, followed in 1993 (though it came out in the US almost a full twelve months later, in 1994). Both albums had mixed receptions by the music press, but they were able to tour around Europe and the US. However, Creation Records ended up dropping the band after their third album, Pygmalion, in 1995.

Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, and drummer Ian McCutcheon went on to form the band Mojave 3 and signed to 4AD, which was active for slightly over a decade. Halstead and Goswell also have both released solo albums with 4AD.

Getting back together for a 20-date summer world tour, Slowdive reinvigorated the enthusiasm for their sound. Their 2017 album followed, and was received well by a music-loving audience. Having played at Glastonbury for their first time this spring, and set to put out a fifth studio album this Fall, you can expect an energized and appreciative Slowdive to be playing at The Warfield for both dates this Fall.

You can get tickets for the October 16th show here on AXS.   

Location: The Warfield

Address: 982 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Date: October 16th, 2023

Doors Open: 7:00 pm

Age: All ages