I found this via Gingers myspace page & wondered about other peoples views?
http://acceptable-plankage.blogspot.com/
Ginger - 02 Academy 2 Newcastle - 11/5/09
During the years that influential North East rockers, The Wildhearts were on hiatus, singer/songwriter/guitarist Ginger would often tour the country playing acoustic shows. These gigs would actually consist of the man himself, a second guitarist and a bassist (all playing electric instruments, not acoustics) bashing out songs from the majority of his various side projects, including Silver Ginger 5, and The Wildhearts to rooms full of adoring fans. I was at one of these gigs three years ago and it was a legendary show, as every person in the room sang back the words to songs that connect with people and hold a special place in the heart of North East music.
Fast forward to now however, and in the exact same venue, things could hardly be more different. For some ungodly reason the PA system at the Academy 2 is so decrepit as to be falling apart. Even though the sound girl battles valiantly with the equipment, the bass and drums still end up drowning the guitars out before the technological leprosy spreads to the onstage monitors, leaving the band unable to hear what they’re playing or whether they’re in key. Eventually, Ginger has to resort to playing several songs kneeling on the floor in an attempt to hear anything at all.
These problems clearly take their toll on the band’s good humour, with only the crowd’s reactions keeping them going. In this respect however, Ginger pisses on his own bonfire. Instead of the mixed setlists of old, he’s decided to play songs exclusively from his three solo albums. Each album has some fine tracks and a majority of them get an enthusiastic airing, such as “this is only a problem”, “yeah, yeah, yeah” , “black windows” and “why can’t you just be normal all the time”. For someone with as many stone-cold classic songs as Ginger though, to restrict the gig in this way just seems daft. It’s understandable that now the ‘Hearts are back together he may not want to play the songs he performs on every other tour, but when you’re playing a homecoming gig and don’t throw in at least “Geordie in wonderland” or “29x the pain”, an air of self-indulgence starts to creep in.
The show is largely rescued in the encore, with the band returning to the stage with a greater energy before launching into Silver Ginger 5 favourite “Church of the broken hearted” and ending with “sonic shake” from the same album. The energy on the floor and on the stage increases dramatically during these songs, as it did with several from the main set, but ultimately leaves you pondering just how good the gig could have potentially been, even with the sound problems.
