GINGER & FRIENDS

GINGER & FRIENDS

If you don’t know who Ginger is, I might actually take pity upon you. To call him a musical genius, really wouldn’t even be flattery, you would just be telling a truth already known by so many. So Ginger, man of many bands including The Wildhearts, Super Shit 666 and Silver Ginger 5 to name but a few, has decided to take a winter outing with some rockstar friends - how typical. Completing the lineup tonight is Tom Spencer from The Yo-Yo’s, Rich Jones of Amen fame and Denzil from Ginger And The Sonic Circus. Rock and roll madness. The Garage has filled up nicely as Ginger and Friends take to the stage. A setlist full of gems awaits the baying fans, kicking off with ‘Anyway But Maybe’ - suiting Tom’s backing vocals perfectly with its catchy vocals as Ginger bounces about on the spot with a massive grin. The sound tonight is pretty crisp and sharp, a welcome fact on this dreary winter night to get the crowd going. Belting out ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’, the sing-a-longs really kick in when The Wildhearts material is going, with the repetitive “wooooaaaahs” reaching almost deafening levels as you find yourself effortlessly bouncing along with the masses. Next are the classics that fire everyone (including the band) up, Rich has a massive smile on his face as Ginger commands a sea of people screaming “head fuck, head fuck, head fuck”, some of the bar staff in this venue are beginning to take a few steps back away from the crowd, it’s getting rowdy. ‘S.I.N (In Sin)’ and ‘Suckerpunch’ lead to hands, bodies and pints lurching through the air towards the stage. ‘Vanilla Radio’ is tearing every throat apart in this venue as the mass bounces and screams along to every word and the heat in the venue rises causing the typical nasty sight of the ceiling dripping back onto the unsuspecting punters below. ‘Brain Sugar’ comes with an impromptu (yet somewhat perfectly timed!) dance lesson from Ginger, causing many a laugh when the giddy crowd attempt to join in with the dance moves whilst still singing - a beautiful sight. Another Silver Ginger 5 song in the form of ‘Sonic Shake’ shows the variation Ginger holds in his different side projects, whilst showing how all of them in their own way are absolutely incredible. To keep the Wildhearts minded folk in the crowd happy, the classic ‘Sick Of Drugs’ comes screaming out of the band with tremendous precision. If you have never seen The Wildhearts, or Ginger, or any of Ginger’s side projects where they play ‘Geordie In Wonderland’ or ‘29x The Pain’, you must. Simple as that. Both songs show how much friendship can be spawned in a crowd, everyone has their arms round each other, screaming their hearts out to every word and bouncing along, never missing a beat. It is a real sense of community, and as Ginger takes his final glances out over the crowd, you can tell that what he has created is something that he loves, and whether you are a Wildhearts fan, Silver Ginger 5, Clam Abuse, we all share one thought - that we wouldn‘t change Ginger or his music for anything in the world. A fantastic live display as always; long live punk rock and roll, long live Ginger.

DATE:

VENUE:

Monday 20th December 2010

Garage in Glasgow, UK

Review by Siobhan Hogarty