England

The band announced this gig on Twitter one day before, to celebrate the release of their fourth, self-titled album.

Kitchens of Distinction and Slowdive supported Ride.

From the mamacolive website:

Slowdive, currently playing high profile festival dates worldwide, have confirmed two shows in London to end their remarkable reformation year at the Forum in Kentish Town on 19th and 20th December. The dates mark the band’s return to London where their first official show in twenty years, at Village Underground in May of this year, sold out in three minutes. These will be the only Slowdive dates in Europe following current festival performances

The line-up remained secret until the day, but rumors about Slowdive playing (due the flyer design and the scheduled concert next day at Village Underground) circulated in the Web weeks before. This was the first Slowdive concert in 20 years, after their show in Toronto, on May 21st, 1994.

From an interview with Nick Chaplin:

the gig was almost unreal, it was a tiny stage and most of the people in the audience were our friends! So it just felt like we’d turned up and were playing at a private party for a bit of fun. There was literally not enough room for us all on stage, so I had to go right at the front, in the middle, otherwise I was clashing guitars with Neil the whole time. That ended up being quite a stroke of luck though, as I really enjoyed being up front in the middle, and throwing a few shapes – so that’s where my stage position has been ever since. The sound wasn’t great that night – the PA was pretty small, but we still got a great reception. Mark Gardener from Ride did a solo set before us, and he was really excited at the end of the night, just with the whole vibe and how we just seemed to have slotted back in as if 20 years had never happened.