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Oh, Ginger Wildheart, how we have missed you. If ever there was a man to provide some much-needed escape from these crazy, fucked-up times then that fella is the lean-looking, all-smiling, wise-cracking Ginger Wildheart bouncing around the stage at The Garage in Glasgow for the first time in 30 years (social media posts from the venue owner suggest that The Wildhearts might even have been one of the first bands to play The Garage).
What a difference a few years make. The last time this reviewer caught The Wildhearts live was in 2021 when a last-minute venue upgrade from the promoter meant that instead of the band playing at a sold-out 250-capacity venue in Stirling, they performed in a venue 4 times the size. With the usual Wildhearts regulars crowded at the barrier, there was a huge gap until you reached those standing at the very back, a gap so huge that you could have driven a train through it without bothering anyone. Cue a not-too-happy Ginger Wildheart trying to get the crowd moving. Nope. Not to be. He hurriedly left the stage after the last strains of encore ‘I Wanna Go Where The People Go’, and took to social media to lambast (deservedly so) the apathetic crowd. Tonight though, not a fucking chance of that happening…that was reserved for the Norwich crowd.
As always, The Wildhearts have some decent support acts; first-up UK punk rock and rollers Dirt Box Disco.
Led by the balaclava-wearing Spunk Volcano, Dirt Box Disco are perfect for The Wildhearts. Great fun in a Viz-meets-Macc-Lads kinda way, the four-piece are the ideal antidote to a world that is rapidly losing its sense of humour. Not so much “You can’t say that anymore”, because, well, you can, more of a case of “Fuck it, we think it’s funny, so sod you”. Songs about shagging, sex dolls, yer girlfriend’s best friend’s sister, and eventually, how shit life is, all find a home amongst tonight’s crowd. For all their joking and fucking around, Dirt Box Disco are decent musicians and the common denominator is that each three-minute roaster comes chocka with earworm moments that rattle around for days afterward, especially the ludicrously catchy ‘Second Hand Sex Toys’. Headline dates will follow later this year, get on it.
Jim Jones All Stars is the latest project from “Garage Godfather” Jim Jones – formerly of Thee Hypnotics, Black Moses, The Jim Jones Revue, and Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind – and calls on all of his previous incarnations for influences, and comes with lashings and lashings of rock and roll soul. At times during the set, Jones and the other 7 band members cause flashbacks to what it must have been like during the 50’s and 60’s when square, bible-toting white liberal parents referred to rock and roll as “The Devil’s music” and blamed the guy downstairs for taking control of their kids. Little Richard performed ‘Tutti Frutti’ in 1955…imagine the heads that turned when he started that one up and the loins of teenagers everywhere exploded in a maelstrom of sexual awakening.
A dynamic live performer, Jim Jones is exhausting to watch as he rarely stands still, and it’s not that long before both he and the crowd have worked up a sweat. Opening track ‘Cement Mixer’ (1 of 4 tracks from The Jim Jones Revue aired tonight, and led furiously by stand-in drummer Blake Davies) is an ideal introduction to Jim Jones for anyone unfamiliar with his work. Sleazy, stomping, greasy, and full of bite thanks to the dual-saxophones, it is spellbinding in its execution.
It’s almost like a spirit takes over Jones when he is performing, and when he discards his guitar and jumps down to the barrier to get close to the audience it’s a surprise that he doesn’t go further into the crowd and baptize them with fiery water from the pits of hell. Special mention has to go to guitarist Carlton Mounsher. This guy can play, and some of his licks on moments like ‘Shakedown’ are utterly sublime and prove that not all guitar Gods come wearing black leather trousers and sport a Gibson Les Paul. Catch these guys on their headlining tour next month.
6 months after the gig mentioned in the opening, The Wildhearts imploded again and were back on hiatus. With Ginger though, it was never going to be permanent, and the only question was who would be in the band once they reconvened. Step forth and welcome back bassist “Random” Jon Poole, and joining The Wildhearts community are Ben Marsden on guitar, and powerhouse drummer Charles Evans, with Carol Hodge providing backing vocals from behind the screen at the rear of the stage. Both Marsden and Hodge regularly appear with Ginger on his end-of-year acoustic Christmas shows where anything goes, and there is a fantastic chemistry growing among this group of musicians and the result is the beaming Ginger Wildheart who greets his adoring crowd gathered in front of him.
Opening with a knockout one-two of ‘Suckerpunch’ followed by ‘I Wanna Go Where the People Go’ is a statement of intent from Ginger. He’ll do things his way, and if he wants to open with songs that normally close the show, then he will (sidebar: remember when Frank Turner joined The Wildhearts in Glasgow for ‘I Wanna…’ in 2018 on the “Britrock Must Be Destroyed” Tour and took a header into the crowd during the song? That was a fucking good night). There is a surreal/scary moment during the intro to ‘I Wanna Go Where the People Go’ when plumes of smoke are set off, followed by Roman candle pyros, catching one of the photographers in the pit off his guard and he gets a bit too close and has to jump back – Ginger notices this and points and smiles at the look of horror on the photographer’s face. Thankfully, it’s not a rerun of James Hetfield catching fire in 1992 and all is well.
With the belting new album ‘Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts’ just released, new material is to be expected, and given the quality of the album; it is welcomed. ‘Eventually’ is first up and packs so many Wildhearts-isms that it is a classic in the making. One of the many highlights on the album it sounds larger than life in a live setting thanks to those trademark Ginger Wildheart melodies and hooks. ‘Troubadour Moon’ is another highlight, and pulls on the same string that made the Ginger Wildheart and The Sinners album one of the best albums of 2022. Add ‘Failure Is The Mother of Success’, and current single ‘I’ll Be Your Monster’ (complete with long-time tech Dunc on tiny, toy saxophone) to the mix, and ‘Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts’ gets a fair crack of the whip and judging by the reaction from the crowd packed in like sardines; it gets two thumbs up.
This isn’t Ginger’s first rodeo though and he is canny enough to make sure that the new tracks come either side of more established fan favourites such as ‘The Jackson Whites’, ‘Vanilla Radio’, and ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’. The comeback period that ended in 2022 saw Ginger reunite with CJ, Danny McCormack, and Ritch Battersby, and produce 2 top-notch studio albums ‘Renaissance Men’ and ’21st Century Love Songs’; ‘Diagnosis’ from the former is one of Ginger’s finest songs, period, and was always going to make the set, but it’s a thrill to hear ‘Sleepaway’ from the latter for the first time. The younger new blood in the band bring youthful piss and vinegar to proceedings and give the songs a bit of a boost in the oomph department and in Ben Marsden The Wildhearts have one of the finest young guitar players currently treading the boards. Charles Evans? Jesus that guy hits hard.
Ending with the familiar strains of ‘My Baby Is a Headfuck’, Ginger and company send the crowd out into the night with the promise to be back soon (a new album is being demoed very soon) and next time it will be the infamous Barrowland Ballroom. Ginger, with these guys, and these songs, in the ultimate rock and roll venue in Scotland, with a sprung floor supposedly set on tennis balls, can only mean one thing: carnage.
Welcome back Ginger, you have been missed.
Forthcoming dates:
May
04th Bonfest, Kirriemuir, Scotland
07th Wolf, Barcelona, Spain
08th Loco Club, Valencia, Spain
09th Nazca, Madrid, Spain
10th Psilocybenea, Hondarribia, Spain
24th The Big Yard Party, Old Woollen, Leeds
July
06th Time To Rock Festival, Knislinge, Sweden
25th Steelhouse Festival, Ebbw Vale, Wales
Review – Dave
All images – Dave Jamieson
