The Wedding Present: Something Left Behind

Andrew Jezard must be thanked and congratulated for bringing this documentary into the lives of legions of Wedding Present fans, and hopefully many yet-to-be fans.

Production, sound and live footage are superb in what has clearly been a labour of love and devotion. However, this barely does credit to the skillful blending of archive footage of the mid-eighties, as The Wedding Present formed and evolved towards the creation of the legendary George Best album in 1987, with the current band line-up as they journey towards Leeds for the 30th anniversary final live rendition of the album in its entirety in December 2017.

The archive footage and glorious interviews evoke memories of younger, more innocent days, with the trauma of love, heartbreak, betrayal and loss and deliver time and again the personal stories behind the making of the album.

The influence of the late John Peel is unmistakable and, again, archive notes and footage add so much in the context of the band and their music in the second half of the 1980s.

Beyond the emotional rollercoaster of the sounds and footage there are insightful elements into the technical aspects of the album production and tensions between musicians and producer.

I've tried to be objective, as a self-confessed ardent fan, whether the documentary would appeal to (currently) non-Wedding Present fans. Personally I think it would, deserving of a far wider audience on, for example, a TV music channel.

Full marks for this wonderful documentary, because there's no reason not to.

Highly recommended.

Superb documentary that has it all. The anticipation was killing me, I was not disappointed at all.

I'll start by confessing that George Best is one of my favourite albums, so I went to see it with a sense of trepidation. I needn't have worried - it is superb.

Instead of just being a standard "How the album was made" documentary, this views it from the angle of how the album has affected/influenced people over the years, from those in the band, to us mere fans.

Lots of intriguing stuff in here, from band dynamics, the politics of making an album, and the inspiration behind the music. Some great input from the fans themselves, showing how their lives have changed and moved on over the years, and yet this album represents a never changing reference.

If I had never heard the album before I would still have found this film fascinating and entertaining.

First seen at Brighton in 2018, this film took me back to 1987 and my first experience of The Wedding Present. What a fantastic film it is. Even made me emotional at 58 years old. Well done Andrew for producing this. Awesome!

This is a detailed, thoughtful and compelling look at the story of The Wedding Present's debut album George Best, and how it has come to be a part of so many people's lives over the years.

For many fans, this will be the first time they've heard from the original members of the band, whose first lineup change happened months after the album's release. The director has got them to talk about the album in a relaxed and informative way, along with the producer Chris Allison, and Jaz, about whom most of the album was written.

For his part, David Gedge has opened up his scrapbooks and shows us some original treasures from the time, and we even get a glimpse of spreadsheets and documents that he's kept over the years. Unearthed scenes from TV appearances and pictures from the time will keep the more obsessive fans entertained, and help newcomers understand the context in which the album was produced and released.

As would be expected, there are lots of interviews, including author Mike Gayle, actor Tony Gardner and Sheila Ravenscroft, whose input shows just what an influence her late husband John Peel had over the British independent music scene. DJ Shaun Keaveny almost steals the show with his enthusiastic memories, and some of the band's fans get to say what the album means to them. Not a single interview seems superfluous, they contribute to a story that's bigger than it may at first seem.

Even those who think that nothing about the George Best album can ever surprise them again will hear something new, whether it's a story about the romance behind the lyrics, the influence of the producer over the sound, or just a casually thrown-in memory from David Gedge, whose candidness and openness are increasingly watchable as the movie progresses.

The production quality is superb. The live footage is brilliantly filmed, and clearly a lot of effort has gone into the sound. For those lucky enough to see it in a cinema, it's an incredibly immersive experience. The pace of the story telling is perfect, and there's just enough of every kind of footage to both satisfy and keep you wanting more.