Words by Adora Mekuleyi

Photos by Olly Bromidge

Gingerella. A name I haven’t asked the meaning of, only accepted the concept of, Gingerella. Either way Gingerella’s authentic brand of upbeat indie sleaze has been rapidly gaining them a following on the grassroots London scene. Think fleeting fancies, shimmering guitar riffs floating around tongue-in-cheek lyrics with an air of youthful cynicism and genuine vulnerability. Whether it’s the shifty backroom of a pub or a festival stage, they know how to command attention and keep an audience hooked from first chord to final encore. Some may call it a throwback to The Libertines however it’s sincere and far from pastiche; a kindle to the early 2000s movement, they’re about girls, girls, girls, but in Gingerella’s case, maybe boys. What better way to close out 2024 than with their final gig of the year?

For me and many others, Gingerella’s monthly gigs have become more than just a chance to hear good music- they’re a ritual, a reunion, and a reason to dress up in all of your finery.

You never know who you’re going to bump into; an old friend, an ex you’d rather not see, or someone who swears they’ve met you but you can’t quite place their face. 

The one constant is that you’ll leave with your ears ringing and a desire to see the band all over again.  This night at Water Rats was like no other Gingerella gig in the best way possible, faces new and old flocked into the backroom of the pub; I myself caught the last melodic muses of the Paisley Daze who set the tone for the headlining band.

After weeks of being sung Gingerella lyrics by photographer Olly, unfortunately quite badly and listening to the almost illicit Gingerella demos found on Soundcloud, it was nice to hear the real deal and see it in action.

A drink from the bar, an illicit cigarette, small talk and big talk with friends, “How have you been, how’s the band?”; nervous anticipation from everyone but the band who sat inside patiently waiting for their set time.

The opening bars of ‘The Art of Seduction’, beckoned the crowd including myself from the smoking area and bar towards the band with drummer Ed leading the opening of the songs with heavy drums filling the space. 

Quickly the room was engulfed in heat, jackets were stripped, makeup mistakenly wiped, half half-drunk beers quickly chugged and strewn on any available surface that was out of the way, making room for dancing. I found myself in the front row, a rare occurrence at any packed Gingerella show, something about a notepad and pen made everyone think I was somewhat important enough to make room for.

There is a stark difference between Gingerella and other boy-centred rock bands; a feminine touch, capsulated in style with loose button-downs exposing tufts of wiry chest hair, sweat clinging on to bleach blonde bangs; capsulated in music with stark hard hitting fleeting analogies about past people and events as well as a playful connection with audience with Tommy occasionally catching the eye of the crowd, including me, later revealing that the notepad and pen was an interesting sight.

Songs about longing, the feeling of lost love trapped in a memory and they aren’t afraid to drop some names as well, further bridging the songs and audience, turning them into a story that could be told over a few beers. Bouncing bass lines with witty guitar riffs come together putting their own unique twist on their songs of stories told with an undeniably English air of existence.

Songs like my personal favourite, ‘A Sophisticated Affair’, push and pull between the bittersweet and the comedic parts of relationships, with lines like, “…you wouldn’t share a heart but you’d share a mattress” contrasting comedic lines such as “She introduced herself said “Hello I’m Kirsty” but for every word I had it seemed that she had thirty.”

There was no time for elaborate solos, with the band leaving it up to the audience to hear each intricate part of the machine that is Gingerella. It’s not about showing off; it’s about creating something cohesive, something greater than the sum of its parts. In slower moments you might pick up on the gentle fill of Ed’s cymbals or a melodic guitar riff from Noah but what’s great about Gingerella is that they work. They look great, sound great and have a discography of great songs casually in their front breast pocket.

The crowd gaggled for one last song, a parting gift for the night as was given, ‘Back To London’, by this time, notepad and pen were placed carefully on the edge of the stage allowing me to enjoy the last moments of Gingerella’s last gig of the year, and what a year they’ve had, with personal favourites being their gig at the Troubadour in May, my gig with them in July and the early morning spent with Tommy and Noah after a party debating lyrics and opinions on everything and nothing.

The set list swiped from the left-hand side of the stage reads:

‘The Art of Seduction’, ‘Only You’, ‘In The Presence of a Woman’, Bid Farewell’, ‘What She Did Next’, ‘Miss 20 Something’, ‘Fuck Sake Kate’, ‘A Sophisticated Affair’, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Party Girls’ with ‘Back 2 London’ as a possible and played encore. Each song hit like a perfectly aimed punch, leaving just enough time to catch your breath before the next one.

With that the night was over, goodbye slowly said, “Nice seeing you, catch you at the next one, it was great, wasn’t it?”, Tommy’s signature red lip left its mark on his microphone, a nice lasting touch of the night, reminding me of Bowie’s lipstick microphones, one of them being famously stolen by Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols… or so he says.

Social media: https://www.instagram.com/gingerellatheband/ Sound cloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-233081658/sets/gingerella-who-dear-me-dear/s-IiiFkWogi1P?si=9fe0284fd682422380edaeef26e301f1