Band:
Silver Ginger 5 Venue:
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Date:
4 November 2001
Now this was one
band we'd waited a very long time to see play our hometown. It may not
have been a total sell out, but the hall was packed with a good few people
who had turned out to see them play here tonight. There's not that many
bands we've seen play the bigger room this year, but tonight SG5 were not
only playing in it, but it was good to see that the room was fairly packed
out too.
Opening with one of their most popular tracks off their Black Leather Mojo
album, the band went straight into Sonic Shake. They stood up there
playing away while the room below exploded into a wave of eager fans going
totally mental. Right from that first song they had us in the palm of
their hands and they knew it. With a grin as big as a Cheshire cat, head
honcho Ginger knew he'd made the right decision to bring his latest tour
to Geordieland.
3 tracks down the line and we got to hear some of their newer material in
the form of W.L.A.M.F. (Walk Like A Mother Fucker). Charming song title
for a song that was in essence quite strong, and rather heavier than we've
come to expect from this rock band. In fact it sounded not a million miles
away from some of the newer Almighty material.
Ginger said hello to all his family and friends that had turned up tonight
to see him play. These included the wonderful Danny McCormack (Ex
Wildhearts stable mate), Stidi and of course the support band The Jellys.
He thanked them all for their friendship and support over the years.
Always one to court controversy he just couldn't resist continuing his
little speech by giving the fans a lecture of the easiest way to take
Hash!
Apparently he favours sticking it into a pepper grinder and putting it
onto your food. Saves staining your fingers he told us. Knowing fine well
that they last time he graced this particular stage was the night Danny
finally lost it to drugs during the Wildhearts set, was this a sly dig at
him, the fans, or was he just trying to be a clever b*stard?
Whichever it was it wasn't particularly clever. Taking drugs has never
been a clever thing to do and one of these days you'll come a cropper my
lad. When you do don't expect us to be any more understanding than you
were to Danny.
Later in the set Ginger told us that they'd sold out every show except
this one in Newcastle. Well it just goes to show you that Geordies won't
pay to see just any old sh*t.
Throughout the whole night we saw the marvellous Connie Bloom entrance us
with his almost god-like presence. That man certainly knows his way around
a guitar I can tell you! The whole set through he just glideded back and
forth across the stage looking as cool as a cucumber and in total control
the whole time. To the other side of the stage we saw another popular
favourite, fellow Clam Abuse buddy Jon Poole. It doesn't seem that long
since we saw Mr. Poole on tour with Ginger on his acoustic tour with
fellow nutter Alex Kane from Anti Product.
Nine songs down and one guitar smashed to smithereens. Ever so original
Ginger, never seen a rock band do that before! Actually it has been a long
time since we'd seen a band do that onstage. I guess this particular
individual has raked in too much money from the sale of all those singles
and the years of drug abuse have scrambled his brain? The audience enjoyed
it and the younger ones among the crowd were treat to sight of a truly
possessed man on a mission.
We'd had a great night out the band said their goodbyes and left the
stage. Most of us thought that was it, but hell no, the rest of the crowd
were still buzzing with the adrenalin off the smashed guitar and were
baying for more. They cried out for more and more was what we got!
A full 5 songs more to be exact, together with a full blown debate on
whether the wonderful Mr. Bloom should loose him beard or not. I think the
outcome was that he could keep it, but I wonder what would have happened
if it had gone the other way?
'Last Bastard In Heaven' we were informed was going to be one of the
tracks the band would be releasing as a single. Come on Ginger, we love
your music, we love the band, but all this single stuff you're keen to do
it just a blatant rip off of your die-hard fans. Give us a proper album or
nothing at all. You know us Geordies want value for our money and singles
are not the way to go!
The set wound up with 'Motorvate', a song we've heard so many bands cover
recently, it's fast becoming almost compulsory to include it in a bands
set list. Still it's always good to hear a master do it full justice.
Excellent gig, excellent band. Well worth the £8 cover fee. Ginger for
goodness sake, forget all those other band side projects you're playing
about with, Silver Ginger 5 is as tight as a fishes butt-hole and it's got
that wild abandoned party feel to it that we crave soooo much. Keep em
coming old boy, but make sure it's in album format!
Setlist:
Sonic Shake
Anyway But Maybe
Girls Are Better Than Boys
W.L.A.M.F.
I Wanna Be New
Too Many Hippies
Church Of The Broken Hearted
I'm A Lover
California Man
Channel Bop
Encore:
Take It All
Groovus Maximus
Last Bastard
Divine Imperfection
Motorvate
