Welsh guitarist Andy Bell is rumored to be joining the reunion of Oasis in 2025, recommitting to a big arena group that is sure to break some records when they hit the road. Meanwhile, however, Bell has been doing some wonderful work as one of the two frontmen of his very good original group, Ride, which released a new album of fine shoegazing earlier this year.

Ride recently performed at 9:30 Club on a North American tour in support of the album, titled Interplay, the third record by the band since they themselves reunited 10 years ago.

At 9:30 Club on Dec. 5, Andy Bell and fellow Ride frontman and guitarist Mark Gardener seemed in good cheer as they respectively floated and stomped their way through a mesmerizing 16-song setlist. They were as ever aided and abetted by Ride bassist Steve Queralt and drummer Loz Colbert, both of whom also were truly in the zone.

The new record Interplay made up more than a third of the 9:30 Club setlist as Ride opened with tracks “Monaco” and “Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream.” They played its lead single “Peace Sign” in the middle of the show, and opened a three-song encore with “Light in a Quiet Room.”

Watch Ride perform “Peace Sign” live on KEXP via YouTube:

Of course, Ride picked out some memorable tunes from three of their original four-album run in the 1990s. Tarantula (1996) got a nod with a rare appearance by “Black Nite Crash”; the always pleasing Going Blank Again popped up twice with “Cool Your Boots” and “Leave Them All Behind,” that latter in-demand number appearing in the encore. And Ride presented three numbers from debut album Nowhere (1990): the transcendent “Dreams Burn Down” early in the set and the stunning “Vapour Trail” and “Seagull” to close the main set.

The new material meshed nicely with the legacy Ride songs, and the 9:30 Club was high on good music throughout the evening. Andy Bell exerted a calm control over the proceedings, appearing meditative in his guitar playing. Happy rock aficionados watched him and Mark in quiet awe as they shared and traded turns at the microphone and delivered a delightful one-two blow of carefully crafted guitar feedback.

Andy may indeed head to reunite with Oasis next year, but it’s clear that he’s still receiving a worthy reception with Ride for as long as he would like.

Here are some photos of Ride performing at 9:30 Club on Dec. 5, 2024. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.