A Growing Refrain: No Smoking

"I HATE smoking," says Wedding Present singer-guitarist David Gedge. "I've never liked it." As Gedge led both the guitar-driven English indie-rock band and his side project Cinerama around the world over the past two decades -- including stops at Washington's 9:30 club, Metro Cafe and Black Cat -- he endured night after night in smoky rooms in relative silence. "I assumed it was one of the downsides of my job," he says. "[Smoke] is part of rock venues, so I grew up believing it to be the norm."

Then he caught a cold.

Two months ago, as the Wedding Present set out on a U.K. tour to promote "Take Fountain," the band's first album since 1996, Gedge came down with a bad sore throat.

"We played in Newcastle, and it was really smoky, and it exacerbated the sore throat," he explains. "So I figured that at the next gig, in Glasgow, they could put up signs asking people not to smoke. [The promoters] said, 'Oh, it will never work,' but it did. It really reduced the amount of smoking, and we thought, 'This is quite nice.' It was a refreshing change."

So refreshing, in fact, that the band's North American tour -- which stops at the Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW; 202-667-7960) on Sunday -- is entirely smoke-free.

"It's a new thing in our contract," Gedge says. "I just asked the venues, 'Can people please refrain from smoking in front of the stage,' so people started going outside or to the bar, and for some reason, the merchandise stand became a magnet, so the people who sell our T-shirts said, 'Can you please ask people not to smoke at the merchandise stand as well?' No one's really complained, and people seem to respect it. We were quite surprised. Our crowd is older now, because the band's been away so long. I think you get more considerate as you get older.

"I wish I had thought of it years ago," Gedge says, wistfully.

He's not the only one. An increasing number of rock bands are asking for smoke-free shows, says Black Cat owner Dante Ferrando, where "before, it was more of a singer who wanted to protect their voice," or the monthly Mothertongue poetry night.

Ferrando knows that this fresh-smelling trend runs counter to rock's "whiskey bar" reputation for cigarettes and booze but says, "I know some bands don't like smoke. Some singers are really sensitive. And we had one show [by the West Coast duo Mates of State] where the singer was pregnant," so smoking wasn't allowed.

Over at the 9:30 club, Washington's largest rock venue, manager Ed Stack can tick off three nonsmoking concerts in recent weeks. "There was Moby [on April 14]; the next night was Victor Wooten. And the 'One Tree Hill' tour with Michelle Branch. That was the last week of March. Of late, it's been happening at least once a month. It's becoming more and more prevalent."

Stack remembers a rare smoke-free show by ex-King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew at the old 9:30 club a decade ago, but believes things have changed markedly since then. "I think people are becoming more aware of how bad for you smoking is," he says. "[The bands] are going through all these markets like New York and L.A. and saying that, 'Hey, playing a smoke-free show was pretty cool.' They'll ask [for a smoke-free show] when before they didn't even think it was an option."

Of course, Ferrando and Stack say they try to balance the needs of the artists with those of their patrons, many of whom show up with packs of cigarettes in their pockets and purses.