Ginger and Friends at The Garage

[baratron]

Just back from seeing "Ginger and Friends" play at Ginger (of the Wildhearts) birthday party. Way back in 2001 Ginger played a solo show 2 days after his birthday, and members of The Wildhearts Mailing List (email) clubbed together to buy him presents and sign a big card. Ginger had so much fun that the same thing happened in 2002, and since then there's been an annual birthday show. Sometimes it's been The Wildhearts, sometimes it's been Ginger solo with a backing band. Today it was Ginger "and Friends".

There was no support band - Ginger played two sets. During the sets, Ginger had something like 20 "friends" from various bands on stage with him, rotating the lineup after each song and sometimes changing the lineup completely. As he got other people to sing the songs he'd normally sing, it was kinda like seeing karaoke or a cover band - only with some of the actual band members there. Confusing, but cool. In particular there were three female singers who were all really good solo vocalists.

And wow - he's so much nicer now that he's given up (most) drugs. He actually stayed on stage the whole time and played host, introducing the various "friends" who came on and making witty banter. He was even coherent and comprehensible! (not always a given considering he's a Geordie).

During the first set they played 2 Super$hit 666 songs, 3 Clam Abuse songs (I *love* Clam Abuse, even though it's a joke band. The Clam Abuse show we saw years ago during one of the most acrimonious Wildhearts splits renewed my faith in music), 4 solo Ginger songs and 4 covers. In the second set they played 14 Wildhearts songs, including some that are *never* played live. And the encore was 2 Silver Ginger 5 songs. Richard is talking about "needing" to form a Silver Ginger 5 cover band again (I don't know with what spare time, but I am totally in favour of seeing Richard dressed like Silver Ginger).

Here's a set list, as posted to the Ginger and the Sonic Circus message board, not from my memory.

Set 1:
You Smell Canadian (Super$hit 666)
Yeah Yeah Yeah (Ginger solo)
Surrender (Cheap Trick, cover)
Queen of Leaving (Ginger solo)
When She Comes (Ginger solo)
Message to Geri (Clam Abuse)
I think I Love You (Clam Abuse)
Unlucky in Love (Clam Abuse)
Mother City (Ginger solo)
Rambling Rose (MC5, cover)
Victoria (The Kinks, cover)
Crank it Up (Super$hit 666)
Pump it Up (Elvis Costello, cover)

Set 2:
Loveshit (Wildhearts) - announced by Ginger's 8 year old son Jake
2 Way Idiot Mirror (Wildhearts) - AWESOME, I have never heard this live before.
Sick of Drugs (Wildhearts)
Red Light Green Light (Wildhearts)
Mindslide (Wildhearts) - another B-side classic that never gets played
(S.I.N.) In Sin (Wildhearts)
Beautiful Thing You (Wildhearts)
I Wanna Go Where The People Go (Wildhearts) featuring Random on drums!
Give the Girl a Gun (Wildhearts) featuring BAGPIPE PLAYER! Rokk!!
Vanilla Radio (Wildhearts)
Suckerpunch (Wildhearts)
My Baby is a Headfuck (Wildhearts) with FOUR guitarists (possibly the only way to do justice to Mick Ronson's solo, the last thing he recorded before he died)
29 x the Pain (Wildhearts)
Love You Till I Don't (Wildhearts)

Encore:
Girls Are Better Than Boys (Silver Ginger 5)
Sonic Shake (Silver Ginger 5)

We really need to go and see more bands. We like basically all rock music (hard rock, metal, modern punk. Not Oasis-type "rock"), and also geeky/nerdy artists (like Lemon Demon and Jonathan Coulton). It would help if people told me whenever bands were playing in London, because I don't ever seem to hear about gigs (and Richard never seems to notice adverts even if he does see them)!

Comments

[the-maenad.livejournal.com]

Trust me, when my band finally gets to play a gig, you won't be able to avoid hearing about it...

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I take it you found a drummer, then? Sorry I didn't reply to your comment a few months ago about that. Richard's drumkit isn't very portable (being electronic, and thus having stupid plastic clips) and neither of us can drive.

What sort of music do you play?

[the-maenad.livejournal.com]

We did, finally. Although he wasn't at this weekend's practice, having a prebooked visit to his mum in Scotland, so we still haven't actually played with him yet...

We are basically an indie rock band (two guitars, bass, keyboards, drums), only the bassist won't let us use the word because he thinks that 'indie' is a meaningless term these days. This is us:

http://www.myspace.com/thedonutsh

Oh, and this:

http://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/naQSJav3xZ8

[lovingboth]

Hooray for going and having a great time.