Thanks, you guys.

[SteveP]

Gotta say I'm getting pretty excited about this tour. Really looking forward to meeting you all.

Gx

You already did meet me once, outside St James' Park, VDC had just come out and you were with Jake, he kept asking me why I wasn't wearing my black and white shirt if I was going to the match.
I seem to remember I made a bit of a tongue tied ARSE of myself seemingly being unable to get a coherent sentence out that you could understand.
The lads I was at the match with couldn't understand why I had a right cheesy grin on my face for the next few hours.

Right, my questions:
1, If the Crue do a Uk tour to get ready for Download (or after it), being as you're good friends with Nikki Sixx, would you be getting in touch to see if you could possibly support them? and
2, Was the fact that Nikki was in Brides of Destruction the main (or one of) the reasons you joined them. (not sure if I've actually got my facts right there, had he left to go back to the re-formed Crue by the time you joined?)

[wez_wildheart]

so will catch you in Newcastle instead

Ooooo, so I will finally get to meet Mr John Beresford lookalike Wez then!! hahahahaha

haha you cheeky shite

might wear me Mackems style Ramones shirt on badness LOL

yep i'm up for a pint then if you are

[Chris Davies]

Hi Ginger, Looking forward to the newport gig, it's been awhile since you last graced south wales.

I know you're probably bored with the set list questions but I was just wondering if you will be playing anything from the Singles Club/A Break In The Weather, there are lots of great songs from that time that you haven't played in awhile.

Cheers

[WiredOut]

Just thought I'd pop on to say thanks Ginger. Thanks for all the music, and I must say I'm looking forward to see what you do with the next solo album. Don't get me wrong, the Wildies are great and all, but the variety and the musicality of the solo stuff really gets my juices flowing.

And thanks for Monkey Zoo, that song got me through a tough time.

I think Monkey Zoo's an astonishingly moving song. I'm not sure I've heard anyone else nail the often faltering relationship between sex, love and, er, relationships as in the first verse there. Certainly not in a song anyway. The song doesn't appear to get mentioned a lot here either though. Hm.

[Nik]

Got my tickets for Leeds and I can't wait. Always seem to enjoy the solo gigs more than Wildhearts gigs, they just seem a little bit more special and personal. Feels like ages since the last time round!
Nik

[Assmask]

I've also got my Belfast tickets - apparantly they're selling very well.

[Mick G]

An honour to find the man himself posting on the forum. Bless you Ginger. You know we're doing our best to contain our excitement and not blow too much smoke up your ass, but it's difficult!

I will defo try to say hello after the London show, and try to be more coherent and less of a dickhead this time! I hope that the bare minimum 'you're the greatest' will suffice yet again, as I cannot guarantee I will be in a fit state to converse with anyone, let alone my all-time musical hero. I know, drink bad, me dumb.

Am totally digging Market Harbour right now, it's climbing its way into my favourites list along with Yoni and Valor (especially). SO pleased to hear you'll be wheelin' out some SG5 also.

Black Leather Mojo is one of the most played albums of my lifetime - perfect for sunny days, walks to the shops, drives out - you name it!

[Mick G]

I found it interesting when I saw the track title 'Perilous burden..' It was this subject that I posted about for the 'ask Ginger' topic -

How hard it must be every time you step into a studio, or write a new tune in your hotel room or wherever, knowing that so many (but not enough!) people appreciate your songwriting genius, how high you have set the bar - and how high our expectations are of your next release.

I'd sort of come to the conclusion that like with anything else, when you practice, you get good. As Tiger Woods said, "the more I practice, the luckier I get". I'd also factored in the Keith Richards outlook - he likened his best musical moments to kinda plucking sounds from above.

It would be interesting to know how many of your songs come from the Keith 'strategy' and how many from the Jimmy Page one. Jimmy admitted that rather than being drug-fuelled wig-outs, he actually worked very hard to get the sounds in his head down as guitar parts.

[Mick G]

I guess most rock fans prefer the romantic view of music being kind of 'God-given' or somesuch, i.e. totally inspired moments that you have to execute, to capture the feeling and emotion of the time - but clearly many good ideas are turned into even greater ones with a bit of fine-tuning, listening back and outsiders opinions.

Would be fascinating to know which camp you fall into, and whether it is a mixture of both inspiration and perspiration that help create the majority of your songs.

(and which songs in particular were of the former, and which of the latter)

So much of your stuff throughout your career is just so vital, the common conception would be that you just live and breath music, and that it all comes so naturally, that writing songs really isn't hard for you at all. I've personally laboured under this (mis?)conception for years.

Am I right to think this, or were there some songs you really pored over before you got them the way you imagined or heard them in your head?

Doesn't diminish the achievement if so. On the contrary, I think it would give myself and others a new light on a particular track if we knew it was a bugger to make, but you nailed it eventually, after some tinkering!

Long post, sorry.