Face Of Cheam

Had a half day at work today for me and Andy to have our overdue best of 35 pool championship. Having made a solid start having never been behind in the first ten frames, I started to flag a bit and eventually lost 18-12. Andy won the final frame by potting the black by coming off a cushion to get out of a snooker. A couple of beers later it was only six o'clock so I decided to head up to town to see if I could get to the Ginger and Sonic Circus gig at the Academy in Islington.
Tickets were availiable and were £16 on the door. I entered at half eight just in time to see the support, The Cardiacs, who were Tim Smith with Ginger and Random on guitars. They were bizarre, with songs about goblins and various prog rubbish. At least they were on on stage 30 minutes, although 30 minutes of my life I won't get back as their singer Tim Smith said.
Ginger (ex leader of the Wildhearts) came on about twenty past nine and did a two hour set of proper rock music. His band had nine musicians including Vix (ex-Fuzzbox singer) on backing vocals. Surprisingly she still looks fab!
The set was mainly from his new album with highlights being Drinking In The Daytime, My Friend The Enemy and Bulb. There was also some good banter from Ginger with the crowd and despite being geordie you could actually understand him! The encores provided two excellent covers, Boys Keep Swinging from Bowie and Elvis Costellos Pump It Up. The show ended with The Wildhearts classic 29x The Pain, where the band were also joined on stage by body piercers The Psychotic Cyborgs. Can't really see the point really of sticking metal through your skin in public. Thankfully by this time I had positioned myself by the exit to ensure I managed to get the tube back to Morden. Despite this pointless guest appearance, the show was good modern rocknroll, being melodic and tuneful in the classic rock fashion, much as one would expect. Hopefully Gingers solo career, mainly being spread via the internet, will continue to rise. It has so much already, he is apparently headlining a tent at the download festival! (although sensibly this doesn't appeal to me!)
The audience had a few rock chicks in attendence, always a good thing, and also the normal hairy metal fans. However, it was quite diverse with some normal people there too of all ages from 16 to 40 meaning this sort of music is not only for rock lovers!
My giging life however gets heavier on Friday this week though with the Priest! Let's Rock!