The Wildhearts

I'm finally, for the first time in my life, after waiting for about 15 years, seeing the Wildhearts in Spain next Saturday, October 18th, yeah!

I'd like to bring with me my New Flesh 7" single because I'd love to have it signed by the band, but I'm not sure if this is possible at a Wildhearts gig or not.
I mean, is it usual for the band to take a walk around the venue and have a few drinks with the fans before/after the gig, are they bothered when somebody asks them for a pic or brings something to get signed?

I thought I'd ask first because you know, carrying a vinyl single with you all night, even if it's only the sleeve, is a real pain in the arse!

It varies from gig to gig. There have been some where they've been in one of the local pubs before the gig (at Nottingham last year, Ritch, CJ, and Scott were all in the pub around the corner from the venue at various points during the evening, and apparently Ginger had been in earlier in the afternoon as well), and then at others I haven't spotted any of them.

Which is no help to you at all....

On the plus side, whenever I've seen them out and about, I've never seen any of them them say no to a request for a photo or an autograph, so if you manage to spot one of them, you should be ok

I managed to get the last album signed by walking past the venue (just round the corner from work) at lunchtime just as CJ stepped off the tour bus. He very kindly took it on board to get the other guys to sign it for me

thanx a lot for the replies guys.

so anything can happen, eh? I thought maybe they had some tradition of coming out of the dressing rooms a while after the gig to meet the fans and stuff, or something like that.
it's the last of the three dates in Spain, I think it's a small and pretty intimate venue (never been in Bilbao though), so maybe there's a chance.

I guess I'll try to find a way of bringing the 7" with me without it bothering me too much (you never feel comfortable at a gig if you know you're carrying something that can break hehe), and see what happens. it would be great to have a pic, a few words with the band and a signed record

i've never risked bringing any vinyl along to get signed due to the bouncy nature of wildhearts gigs. no matter how much i plan on watching the gig calmy from the back of the venue, i'll always end up bouncing my way into the middle for a mosh & a sing along

because of this, the stuff i've got signed over the years are ticket stubs, t-shirts, backstage pass, leather jacket and gig poster from outside the venue. i did once get all the bands signatures on my arm under my newly aquired smiley bones tattoo.. was planning on getting them tattooed on but told Ginger this and he politely talked me out of it

You can always ask the venue staff to help you. Just ask beforehand or be there early enough. Perhaps they can take your 7" and give it to the band: I assume that some bands can sign stuff for example before/during soundcheck... This way you won't (most likely) meet the band, but you will get your autograph.

Ginger signed tickets for me last year. He wasn't in the best of moods at the time but he still did it.

Scott always seems happy to meet fans and sign stuff.

I've been to four of their shows.

Baltimore: I sat down at the bar beside Ginger before the show and we chatted for a good ten minutes as he signed all my stuff. The first I'd heard about the release of "Riff After Riff" was from Ginger himself. I didn't get to talk to the rest of the band though.

Philadelphia: I got to chat a little with everyone but Ginger before the show, and then everyone together after the show as they signed stuff for people out front of the club.

New York (club): There was a small second-floor room with couches and tables and stuff and saw the band walking in and out of it all night before the show. My girlfriend found out it was open to the public so we went up and found the entire band up there just hanging out. We went over and sat on the couch beside Ritch, who appeared to be half asleep. We talked to everyone, but I ended up talking more to Ritch and Scott than anyone. My girlfriend (now wife) was particularly excited when CJ changed his clothes right there in front of us.

New York (boat): After the show we got pictures and signatures from everyone and ended up getting probably a good half-hour's worth of on and off chatting with the various members on the dock as security was trying to get us to leave.