Gig Review - Ginger And The Ghost

Ginger And The Ghost

Live @ Black Bear Lodge (30/03/2014)

Words and pics by Nayt Housman

Once in a while I am introduced to a voice and sound that is pretty much unique and unmistakably individual. In September 2013 at Big Sound was one such introduction when I happened along the Sydney duo Ginger & The Ghost. Although it was only a half hour set, they pulled out all the trimmings. Bold props, bright colourful costumes, light projections and attitudes to match their respective band names, Ginger, spicy and vibrant, The Ghost, steely and haunting.


Taking the stage six months later at Brisbane’s Black Bear Lodge it’s the usual deal of two support bands and a bunch of cute hipster kids waiting patiently, looking nonchalant, or as I like to think, the perfect time for nachos. I missed the first support but made it in time for the second, AViVAA, who pleasantly surprised me with what I’d like to call an electro-classical sound reminiscent of Kate Bush with maybe a hint of Enya (that’s a good thing) a beautiful, powerful voice (19 year old singer Aviva) and a lot of big drums and rhythmic guitars.

Then came the glorious and eccentric Ginger And The Ghost. The stage was decked out with elaborately decorated Iron Man masks covered in many, many, layers of colourful wool, lengths of tinsel and other such textural and visual joys. The atmosphere was then layered in patterned light from a projector (which in Black Bear Lodge is bliss because their own lighting is dodgy at best) and the Sydney duo was costumed and ready to blow some minds. Sadly being a Sunday night possibly wasn’t the best night to perform in Brisbane, as it seems everything pretty much shuts down past 8pm including people’s enthusiasm for amazing music but as they say “The show must go on!” and those of us that were there were ready to throw our enthusiasm all over the place.

I gathered my small posse of friends and staked claim front row centre of the stage where we made ourselves comfortable. We all chirped and chimed over how much we loved their costumes while we eagerly awaited the tunes. I had my camera ready and a smile planted on my mug. Gingers is something special, highly animated with a look of Julianne Moore x Susan Sarandon and a voice that is both child like and beyond her years, smoky yet smooth. Then there is Ghost who, as his moniker suggests, haunts his space on the stage with an icy demeanor, looking like a young devastatingly handsome Marlon Brando as he wields his instrument like a weapon and casts the occasional cheeky smirk in Ginger’s direction, letting us know there’s warmth simmering inside.


With their fantasy laden, idiosyncratic electro pop encasing my ears I was rendered unaware and uncaring about my surroundings, it was just me and my camera being serenaded with songs like 'Where Wolf', 'The Mark Of Hearts', 'Red Balloon', 'One Type Of Dark' among others from their last and their forthcoming EP.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Ginger And The Ghost. They have a unique sound brimming with pop hooks, depth and fantasy bundled into a package that extends into different genres and is capable of piercing the mainstream music market. So if you haven’t yet experienced this divine world created by Ginger And The Ghost, open the door, walk through and lose yourself.