Legendary front man of punk outfit The Wildhearts and all-around lovely guy, Ginger Wildheart doesn’t need an introduction, and tonight in Leeds punk is well and truly alive. Benjamin Gladstone was there!
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A sea of mohawks, denim and studs is flooding into Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club and fans of the lovable geordie and The Wildhearts are in for one hell of a special night.
Up first is The Main Grains, a relatively new band fronted by ex-The Wildhearts and The Yo-Yo’s bassist, Danny McCormack. The Main Grains sets the mood for the evening with their brand of raw punk’n’roll and even have time to throw in a few classic sing-alongs to warm up the crowds voice.
Next, we have Ryan Hamilton and The Traitors. Ryan, formally of Smile Smile and People on Vacation fame, captivates the audience with his punk rock/indie anthems and charismatic stage prescence. Firing through sing-alongs such as ‘Karaoke With no Crowd’ and ‘4 Letter Verb’, Ryan keeps the crowd dancing through the show and thanks to his brilliant wit keeps them laughing in between.
Finally, it’s Gingers turn to take to the stage. With a career spanning 27 years containing so many highs and lows, it would seem an impossible task to pick a setlist that shows off just what Ginger is about, but their are no introductions needed tonight and the crowd are loving every second of it.
Picking songs from many of the workaholic’s different projects, Ginger along with his band, Toshi (Bass), Denzel (Drums) and Conny Bloom (Guitar) smash through SG5 hits such as ‘Sonic Shake’, ‘I Wanna Be New’ and ‘Take It All’.
Mixed in with some of Ginger’s solo tracks such as Ostracide we also get treated to some classic Wildheart songs such as ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’.
But this evening, the true magic is in the encore. Tonight, at Brudenell Social Club, we are witness to a very special event. In the same building tonight, we have Ginger Wildheart and Ryan McCormack, original bassist of The Wildhearts, and for the first time in 13 years, we see them united on stage. Performing three classic Wildhearts songs, ‘My Baby is a Headfuck’, ‘Suckerpunch’ and ’29 x The Pain’, the pair couldn’t look happier. Smiling and laughing together like a couple of love-struck teenagers they look like they are back where they belong. This is something fans of The Wildhearts has been waiting for for a long time and us lucky few feel very lucky to be witness to such an event!
Images by Benjamin Gladstone
