Not sure who's going to need a review of this gig but I'll do one anyway!
If you are a Ginger fan you know what he does. If you are a Wildhearts fan you know what they do. If you don't know, you should look him up on YouTube and make up your own mind.
Travelled down from Stockport to Kentish Town for Ginger's Birthday Bash and didn't regret the cost of using two days holiday or the travelling or hotel cost. As always Ginger and his cohorts delivered the expected pop / rock event of the year.
The solo band did 50 minutes of Ginger's own stuff and nicely warmed the crowd up for the long awaited return of The Wildhearts. The solo band have been going from strength to strength and now are pushing for equal billing as The Wildhearts, they don't yet have quite the depth of back catalogue as TW but what is lacking in albums is made up for in energy and entertainment. Great to see an outing of 'Swimwear' from Ginger and Victoria's 'Hey Hello!' album which has been released to pledgers in recent weeks. I'd have happily watched them for the whole night as they delivered a set that had a bit of everything from 555% to SG5 and it would've been good to hear more tracks from Hey Hello!
The Wildhearts bass player Scott Sorry retired from the band the week before this gig and Random Jon Poole has stepped into his shoes at short notice. The loss of Scott on a fans level was one I'd rather not have seen but RJP fits in well (as he's been in the solo band for so long) and his energy and sense of humour are a breath of fresh air. Ginger, Rich, CJ and RJP attacked the gig with a smile on their faces and belted their way through the set. They were joined by special guests along the way and to see Ginger's son playing alongside him brought a smile to our faces too. As I wasn't writing down the setlist nor do I worry about what was played or not, I won't give you a blow by blow account of the gig, suffice to say I danced badly all night and sang out of tune too.
What more could I ask for? A later curfew and cheaper beer!
Once again Ginger et al sent us home with a gig to remember and a short wait for The Darkness tour to enjoy it all again.....