The Wedding Present : SOMETHING LEFT BEHIND
The definitive story of a record that has been labelled the “greatest break-up album of all time”.
'Something Left Behind' explores music, obsession, love, loss and fading youth over the 30 year lifespan of The Wedding Present’s much-heralded debut LP and features interviews with all four original band members, key players in the record’s history plus the major influence behind its very existence.
Much more than just a “making of”, this film is crafted very much as a love story and follows the album’s journey through the eyes of fans who have carried it with them for a lifetime. It also acts as an ode to the UK indie scene of the 1980s and shines new light on the influence of legendary DJ John Peel, who championed the band from their earliest days.
The story concludes with the band’s homecoming show in Leeds, where the city witnessed a blistering and emotional final-ever performance of the ‘George Best’ album and the closing of a hugely significant and personal chapter for David Gedge and The Wedding Present.
The film’s theatrical premiere was in Toronto, Canada in March 2018. It went on to play at 30 cinemas across the UK and at film festivals including the Leeds International Film Festival, In-Edit International Music Documentary Festival (Barcelona & Madrid), Doc’n Roll Film Festival (London) and the Cork Film Festival. The finale was in Manchester in December 2019.
Since attending the 20th anniversary ‘George Best’ tour this documentary has been in the mind of the director. The 30 year tour announcement alongside the statement from the band that this will be the last ever time that the record would be performed live provided the perfect opportunity to finally tell this story...
"At the ULU gig in 2007 that featured the album in full I was amazed by the fan-base who very clearly had been there the first time round in 1987 and seemingly, for one night only, were transported back to their youth.
The album itself with its everyday, extremely relatable lyrics about the breakdown of a relationship make it almost impossible to listen to without allowing feelings of loss, regret or nostalgia to creep in.
With the passing of time it seems to serve as a direct link to a part of people that has maybe gone but certainly not been forgotten during the intervening years and I now include myself amongst those compelled by it in this way."
Andrew Jezard
