« Sonic Shake Appeal | Home | Ginger Says – The industry knows what flavours you will put up with for the rest of your munching lives. They know how sensitive your little stomachs are »
Ginger Says – Since when did we get together and pay for distant friends to visit our country for nostalgia? Insulted? I know I am…
By Ginger | November 23, 2000
December it is. Xmas it will soon be. And fucking hungover we are all destined to find ourselves come December 18th. Oh, throttle my exit with the raggy end of a pineapple, yes! You see, there is something strange going down in the darkest portals of SilverGingerVille, and it looks like a keeper.
I have known, or suspected, for a long time now that I / SilverGinger 5 / The Wildhearts / stuff-that-I-do-type-thing have the best fans around. I know this is a popular concept with all musicians currently ploughing the crevices of their own arses, but I was convinced – nay sure, nay surely convinced – that in this instance it was true. And then it was proven. And that, my small but very eager and constantly gaining momentum, bunch of cohorts, is a damn good feeling. Beaten only by childbirth and / or truly amazing quality cocaine.
Not only have you, the fans, voted Black Leather Mojo top of the nme.com readers’ album chart, but you also took us to the top of the Music Event Of The Year poll on the same site, with a voting margin of 20 thousand between us and the number two slot. And just as this is settling in and making some kind of sense, they / you / the fantastic bunch that call themselves ‘listees’ (ie, members of The Wildhearts Mailing List) decide to rig the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard in all the years I have been drawn to ridiculous ideas: the Fly The Buggers Over campaign, or FTBO, which entails someone from a foreign country so far away that they narrowly avoid being extraterrestrial being flown to the next SilverGinger 5 show (this time at the London Astoria on December 17th), following a whip-round from the fans themselves to cover the cost of the flight. Yes, we all know a whip-round can help pay for someone’s make-up to be replaced if their bag gets stolen… but over £800?! This is madness, with a capital THIS IS MADNESS.
I have been floored by surprise at the sheer generosity of human spirit in the past, but never by generosity channelled purely to enable someone to see one of my gigs! And from bloody Australia! Twenty-four hours on a plane. Animals with pockets in their guts. Shit, that place is so far away it’s warm there. So, it’s official – SilverGinger 5 fans are the coolest fans in the world. Can you imagine someone disagreeing? Me neither!
I read, after the Scala show, that a lot of people were looking forward to December so that they could see the “second best gig of the year”. I read, recently, that the Scala was like a first date, but come December that crush will have turned into full blown love. And we’re talking messy love that you can smell for weeks after. To me, the Astoria has overshadowed the achievements of the first date already. There is now a common bond that, if it had existed previously, has never been put into practice. We all fucking like each other!!! Now, compare that with the current rock scene. (OK, compare it just for a second then forget about it – those miserable fuckers don’t deserve your thoughts.) We are creating something here. Something new. Something a thousand times more scary than another American cutting himself. This is an army!
That is why Melody Maker can only give the Scala show 3 out of 5, the middle score. Sitting right on that fence with their passports in their hands waiting and hoping it will reach them, rub off on them, that they will feel it, that their time will come to be happy. Yet never really expecting it. Preparing themselves for the inevitable fall. The inevitable fall? Well, if you will go shopping with pennies, you will come back with jumble. And they actually wrote in that review, on the subject of the audience “how many will maintain a vigil when nostalgia gives way to more radical needs?” (copyright: Pippa Lang). Who is she talking about? What is more radical, in this day and age, than things that the very people she is writing about are actually doing for other people? Since when did we get together and pay for distant friends to visit our country for nostalgia? Insulted? I know I am… but not enough to override the sadness I feel for this poor journo that had to sit through one of the most joyful nights in recent memory, and force herself to have a bad time! Oh man, you can’t imagine how much that must hurt.
And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen. We are on a quest, and the going will be rough. There are so many miserable bastards out there that will attempt to kill our fire. But we burn brighter and for longer… and we touch people. And we help. We are few compared to the unhappy millions in this country, but we can invite them onboard… and we can fill the fucking Scala theatre without so much as an advertisement, let alone an album release!!! And, hopefully we can fill the Astoria. And if we do, we will have made history. Again. Our own version of the way the books should be written in the future.
Oh man, if any of you are looking forward to December 17th with the same zeal as I am then I salute you. If you are all looking forward to the Astoria this much then this ain’t no gig… this is a fucking rally. We are the future. This is good. Can you feel it? Can you feel it, I ask you, my brothers and sisters, CAN YOU FEEL IT?!!
We came… we saw… we didn’t agree so we made a few changes. Small steps first (yeah right, like flying people from all over the world), but with time, confidence and belief we will do some great things. And people will remember. So, for now, just give yourself a big fucking slap on the back because you deserve it. All of it. This is all yours. And for now all we gotta do is have the best night of our lives at the London Astoria on December 17th. We are really in this together. We are family. NICE WORLD… WE’LL HAVE IT!!! Next year is going to really fucking rock like none before.
I am so proud of you. The truly radical.
Peace, love and respect…
Ginger
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.