Ginger Wildheart
Viper Room
Hollywood, CA
August 26, 2009
By Victoria Joyce
(SugarBuzz Hollywood)
SugarBuzz Magazine
When we heard Ginger of the Wildhearts was playing the Viper Room on the last Wednesday of August 09, we remembered the Sugarbuzz Virgin Podcast interview with this amazing veteran in the depths of the Key Club a year or so ago. This guy is a giant.
A quick call to Editor-in-Chief of the Shug, Mr. Lucky who asked “Is he doing the acoustic thing?” Didn’t know. “I am just not meant to ever see this guy!!!” Much to his regret, once again, the Luckster would miss him again due to rock and roll conflicts. So it’s all on me.
Dear Lucky, I hate to tell you this. You missed the show of the year. And, oh, yeah, it was not acoustic. Not at all. Ginger agrees. On his blog, he writes about this show, “The greatest day of the year has been replaced.”
The hour-plus, multi-encore set ended with the audience chanting the chorus of the last song, “Don’t worry about me” with pumping fists. It sounded like a World Cup Match. These hard-core rockers did NOT want to leave. Could they be blamed?
The packed club was filled with fans and friends, mostly fellow musicians (Mickey P, Paul Cook, Casey Chaos, Duff McKagan, Donnie Vie. FYI: The Wildhearts are cited as inspiration by everyone you love.) Steve Stevens even joined Ginger and his one-nigh-only band mates; Billy Morrison (The Cult, Camp Freddy, Circus Diablo) playing guitar, Mike Booker on bass and Scott on drums for this momentous date.
A kilted Ginger wore an oversized tee with silouetted eyes, lips and nose of a beautiful woman that was either Annie Lennox or Marilyn Monroe. His long hair is now all wispy twisties and, thank God, he got rid of the beard. Ginger looks like a kid.
Songs went back and forth from solo stuff and The Wildhearts. “Vanilla Radio” got a big response with its pretty Bowie-like jangly guitar progressions and gun-shot drums. All of these songs had a fury and energy bigger 
than life (and the club) and left everyone exhausted.
Ginger did a lot of kibitzing and goofing with the happy fans. Bordering in cornball, “I love you and you love me back!” and “I’m an Englishman, I only deal in truth.” Going into “When She Comes,” “Be Tonight,” and “Someone Who Won’t Let Me Go.” After which Ginger joked “I’m too old to do two sets.”
“Revolution Will Be Televised,” followed with very Irish and Clash - Catholic lyrics “crucified” rhyming with “suicide.” The song “Skitzophrenic” is huge and Who-like with the fast fury of the Ramones.
The club’s AC was either off or broken and The Viper was hot and sticky like a rock club should be. Flyers for the upcoming Sunset Strip Music Fest made great fans and were being flipped like butterflies throughout. The song “Sucker Punch” hit hard and was buffered with Beatlesque back up harmonies from hardworking Morrison and Booker. Throughout this set, the instrumentation was rough and ragged with a lovely and genuine musicality on the edges. Just gorgeous.
“This is Only a Problem” had double-guitar solos with Ginger and Billy Morrison doing Allman Brothers-like harmonies soaring to the skies. “Dreams come true if you stay positive,” Ginger shared his theory about life and everyone agreed. Then Ginger told a story about the band, Stars and how they inspired him.
The Stars lead singer liked a song Ginger wrote way back. Tonight, that lead singer, Michael Lee Smith joined him on stage. It was all so sentimental. Michel let us know that, “the last time I sang on the Sunset Strip, it was at the Starwood in 1979. (Editor's Note: The Starwood was actually on Santa Monica Blvd., but we understand the confusion. That was a long time ago mate.) ” From the crowd’s reaction, some were there and remembered. Ginger was smiling like a little kid.
For the next song, “So in to You” Steve Stevens was called to the stage and everyone (including me) screamed really really loud. I would not recognize Steve if he didn’t have a cigarette hanging from his mouth. I know it’s debatable, but for me, Steve Stevens is the best.
“I’ve never sung this before,” Billy Morrison came to the front and humbly informed the fans before beating “Rebel Yell” to death. Billy’s voice is similar in timbre and texture to the other Billy’s (Idol) and his anxiety only added to the amazing energy of this eternal rock anthem. “More, more, more.” Everybody sang along and meant it.
On arrival, we got to say a quick hello to Mr. Ginger as he was whisked up the stairs by one of his handlers. “Hey, Ginger, remember SugarBuzz? We did an interview with you at the Key Club? Lucky is bummed he can’t be here tonight.” We got a big slow smile from the man, “Oh, yeah.” And he was abruptly pulled away to the upstairs stage with a fast “Sorry”. Note to talent management: Be nice to the press.
Walking in we found out that Jet Boy was a last minute replacement for an opening band. And we missed em. Arrrgh. It was almost a perfect evening.
Extra goodies: New song from Ginger and the Wildheart’s “The Snake, The Lion, The Monkey And The Spider” is avail as a free download on their website. Go now. The Wildhearts continue on tour hitting the UK and Japan through October.