Regular readers will know that I left day 1 of the Leeds Festival early to come to this show, was it worth it? read on to find out! This was the last date in a four-date spin around the country titled “Ginger Wildheart Presents Summer Lovin'”. They also played Hastings, Birmingham, and Wigan. First to take the stage was one of York’s finest musical talents, Mr. Boss Caine, the Barry White of Country (thanks to Ginger for that description, yes Daniel Lucas! The new songs Dan played bode very well for his next release, there are some gems there. I would say the highlight for me, and there were plenty to choose from, was “Ghosts And Drunks”. It was also great to hear Dan dedicate a tune to “the pricks in Westminster”. This was a sublime solo acoustic set from Mr. Lucas which has made me look forward even more to the next Boss Caine (or solo?) release. Carol Hodge was up next and what a great performance it was. She has the voice of an angelic demon with the purity of tone of a Karen Carpenter for the 21st Century. It was like she was playing a small intimate show in your living room. This was the first time that I had seen Carol live and it definitely won’t be the last!
Ginger Wildheart was joined on stage by Jon Poole and the aforementioned Carol Hodge. There was some great delving into Ginger’s huge canon of stunningly good tunes, including some Wildhearts songs. “Boxes”, “Geordie In Wonderland” and “Why Aye (Oh You)” were superb, but the song that stood out in this marvellous set was “Paying It Forward” which is an absolute classic. But I can’t let this go without mentioning the beautifully eclectic range of cover versions performed. “Summer Nights” was there, but given the title of the mini tour/ 4 date extravaganza, I guess that was no surprise. “How I Survived The Punk Wars” (Hey! Hello!) was ace and “Run For Home” (Lindisfarne) gave us all the opportunity for a great singalong, as we did for the opening song which was a cover of the theme from Cheers a.k.a “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”. The most fascinating cover for me though was Focus’ “Hocus Pocus”, including the yodelling. Acoustic prog anyone? On paper that should not have worked, but on stage it certainly did! What I loved so much about this set was the intimacy, it was like we were all sat around a huge campfire (it certainly felt that hot!) listing to Ginger, Jon and Carol entertain us.
All pictures, except the gig poster, were taken by me using my very cheap Chinese Android phone. The videos were found on YouTube. If the video is yours and you would like a credit or for it to be removed please let me know.
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