Riverside bring in guitarist Maciek Meller for live dates

Maciek Meller
Maciek Meller

Riverside have announced the addition of guitarist Maciek Meller for their 2017 live dates.

They’ll head out on the road on the Towards The Blue Horizon tour from next month, with an initial run of shows planned in their homeland of Poland before they embark on further dates across mainland Europe and the UK.

Riverside decided to carry on as a trio following the death of guitarist Piotr Grudzinski in February 2016. That is still the case, but they’ve recruited Meller for all their live commitments for the rest of 2017.

Vocalist and bassist Mariusz Duda says: “I knew Maciek before Riverside – I have known him since 1993 to be precise, when we performed together at a festival, me in Xanadu and Maciek in Deep River, which later transformed into Quidam.

“For years we have managed to get to know each other really well and even compose something together. In 2008 Maciek guested on the first Lunatic Soul album on a track called Adrift and in 2015 we recorded an album which was released towards the end of last year under the name Meller Gołyźniak Duda.”

He continues: “It wouldn’t be difficult to find a musician who could play anything at any time of day or night, a technician who would overshadow everyone and everything else with his charisma and skills. But it was really hard to find someone able to convey the music and character of the band on stage and at the same time enhance it with their own sound and interpretation.

“Right from the very beginning Maciek seemed to be the only person who could complete our fractured band. I know that thanks to him you will be able to see again on stage a united band. And being a united band on stage has always been the driving force behind Riverside.”

Duda reports that the band are now ready to begin “another chapter in our music career” and adds: “We’d like to play our best gigs yet this year and we know that this tour will be exceptional and one of a kind because each gig will be filled with different kinds of emotions.”

A full list of Riverside’s 2017 tour dates can be seen below.

Riverside 2017 tour dates

Apr 20: Olsztyn New Andergrant, Poland
Apr 21: Gdansk Old Manege, Poland
Apr 22: Poznan B17, Poland
Apr 23: Wroclaw A2, Poland
Apr 26: Walbrzych An Old Mine, Poland
Apr 27: Katowice Mega Club Poland
Apr 28: White Rude Boy, Poland
Apr 29: Bydgoszcz Estrada, Poland
May 05: Berlin Columbia Theater, Germany
May 06: Worpswede, Music Hall, Germany
May 07: Hamburg Market Hall, Germany
May 09: Aschaffenburg Colos-Saal, Germany
May 10: Pratteln Z7, Switzerland
May 12: Lyon MJC O Totem, France
May 13: Barcelona Salamander 1, Spain
May 14: Madrid Teatro Barcelo, Spain
May 16: Bordeaux Krakatoa, France
May 17: Paris Divan Du Monde, France
May 19: Edinburgh Liquid Room, UK
May 20: Bristol Marble Factory, UK
May 21: Leamington Spa Royal, UK
May 22: London Islington Assembly Hall, UK
May 24: Maastricht Muziekgieterij, Netherlands
May 25: Zoetermeer The Farm, Netherlands
May 26: Zwolle Hedon, Netherlands
May 27: Uden De Pul, Netherlands
May 28: Cologne The Canteen, Germany
May 30: Krakow Bath, Poland

Riverside on life, death and the Eye Of The Soundscape

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.