Solus, Cardiff gig – 25 August 2011
A rare Welsh excursion, to just outside the famous Kent-Gwent-Senegal Triangle. Over to you for the reviews.
A rare Welsh excursion, to just outside the famous Kent-Gwent-Senegal Triangle. Over to you for the reviews.
✉ Letters Sent (31)
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(15 years ago by John Mouse)
Colin
Just got in from Cardiff: £2.45 for Pringles!
……………..How much?
26 August 2011
Narberther
Factually correct, although morally so, so wrong
26 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
Just at Cardiff Station. Comprehensive 2-hour set, large crowd, and Ken’s uncle being the ‘first man in Wallasey to be clamped’.
26 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
“Saw Michael J Fox in the Garden Centre, but he had his back to the fuschias”. Oh, and 24 Hour Garage People was the greatest version ever, in my humble opinion. Audience booing at the new cost of Pringles!
26 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
“What’s with the teenagers all dressing like ’60’s East End gangsters? Must be the new craze” (Krays). Utter, utter, genius.
26 August 2011
Charles Exford
So was the new album available at Geoff’s emporium ? It’ll make me feel so much better about not going down if someone says it wasn’t.
26 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
Exxo. You can relax. You could have bought the entire Jegsy Dodd back-catalogue, though.
26 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
So, I have already released – in my excitement – a few of NB57’s bon mots above. I should also have added his (paraphrasing from memory) “I’ve taken up meditation. Better than sitting ’round doing nothing”. There were also references to messing about with the spotlight at the castle; Jason Koumas and Ronnie Moore’s ill-advised moves to Ninian Park; and having a moussaka in ‘Usk'(?). Good anecdote about a previous South Wales gig when Neil bantered to an unsmiling Police Constable about the Trumpton Riots (when the band’s van was accidentally damaged). Really good venue, and a healthy turnout to say the least. Support from the lunatic John Mouse (backed by ‘Prince Edward Island’), and some splendid moshing during the Biscuits’ set for those so inclined. I am hopeless at set-lists, but, in no particular order and with huge gaps: ‘The Light at the End of the Tunnel’; ‘Fred Titmuss’; ‘Left Lyrics’; ‘Joy Division Oven Gloves’; ‘Them’s the Vagiaries’; ‘Running Order…’; ‘Trad Arr Tune’; ‘Look Dad…’; ‘Shite Day’; 24 Hour Garage People; ‘Vatican’; ‘Trumpton’; ‘Dukla Prague’; my perennial blind-spot on the title one (Luton Town, Millwall, 1985); ‘Monmore’; ‘Tending the Wrong Grave’; ‘Bob Wilson’; ‘Chatteris’; ‘Restless Legs’, and encoring with ‘Tommy Walsh’; ‘Help me Rhonda (with that Welsh lead-in)’; ‘AOR’ and ‘99% of Gargoyles’. Loved the improv’d “Oh when the kids go back to school” (to the tune of ‘When the Saints’). Someone much better equipped than I will post the proper set, I’m sure, and include the ones that I have omitted.
26 August 2011
Ceri
“Welsh lead-in” to ‘Help me Rhonda’ was the first verse and a chorus of ‘Calon Lân’, sung quite well.
26 August 2011
Nick
Seen the band several times and thought this the best gig I’ve seen. Played comprehensive set lasting nearly two hours and whole band, particularly Nigel, on top form during and between songs. Big crowd there too. Any Englishman who goes to the trouble of learning the first verse and chorus of a Welsh hymn ( which most Welsh people can’t do ) to connect with his audience, as Nigel did with Calon Lan, has my utmost respect and admiration. A hugely enjoyable night, thanks boys
26 August 2011
Twistedkitemike
Set-list for the impatient amongst you: –
Light Tunnel
Evening Sun
Fred Titmus
Monmore
Wassail
Petty
Bob Wilson
Surging out of Conv.
Squabfest
Turned Up
DPAK
Restless
Wrong Grave
Chatteris
Left Lyrics
Shite Day
24 Hour GP
Look Dad
Trad Arr Tune
Vagaries
** There Stands The Glass (some of) **
(leading into) Vatican B
Trumpton
JDOG
Encs.
Tommy W
Calon Lan/Help Me Rhonda
AOR
Bob Todd
No new album. Nigel was very “Fringe”. High comedy and banter content. Good sound, too.
M………………………………..
26 August 2011
MISTER TUBBS
great show last night. So many highlights, not least the revelation that they’re working on a cover version of the Pete Beale classic “Can’t get a ticket to the World Cup”
26 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
Thanks for the explanation re Calon Lan. It was quite emotional actually. And I shall lose sleep over my rogue ‘s’ in Titmus.
26 August 2011
Bill Stow
Great Cardiff gig – couple of issues – support John Mouse was a very strange act very in your face music and lyrics but final song something about shaking your head like David Gray pretty good.The bar was a disgrace with no draught beer/lager/cider only bottles of bulmers ? cider and coors and different prices charged every time you went up for more. Never did see Ritchie Burnett or Bradley Dredge!!
26 August 2011
NEIL
Sorry Dave, the anecdote about Neil was the other way round. The Police Constable was laughing and talking to Neil about the Trumpton Riots as he was on duty and wanted to be there at the Gig.
27 August 2011
Adam
The band were great in Cardiff, but the venue was awful. No draught beer, just bottled Coors Lite (3 for £10 initially) was disgraceful. And I thought the sound was shite. The only time the lyrics cut through was during the (brilliant) version of 24hr Garage People.
But despite two such substantial obstacles, the band were excellent.
Thought John Mouse was trying a bit too hard. But his backing band – Prince Edward Island – have a pretty good album out this week. If you think you may be drawn to an Arab Strap / Flaming Lips hybrid.
27 August 2011
ian a
shout out to the couple in joy division oven gloves.
27 August 2011
ian a
Sorry to be pedantic but the ill advised move was more in respect of Moore.NB also highlighted the fact that Koumas was the best footballer to come out of Tranmere
27 August 2011
Dave Wiggins
Charlotte; aha! Many thanks for that! I wondered….particularly when Nigel speculated on whether or not the said bobby was at the gig that night! Appreciated.
29 August 2011
TAYLO
Me and Loop (aka Victoria the 5th Biscuit) were the couple in the Joy Division Oven Gloves…as usual everyone asking where we bought them but she makes her own….I also told NB57 the Michael J Fox joke….and labelled him NB57 come to think of it!
odd venue, had to climb a set of stairs like Rocky training in Philadelphia to get in and then no draught beer…I think it was because I was drinking Coors Light that when I went flying over the stealth step in the standing section I managed not to spill a drop despite carrying 4 bottles.
Excellent gig…can’t wait for album now.
30 August 2011
Roger Green
I called in at Bristol on the way through. In addition to having a spectacular choice of railway stations (I tend to be more of a Temple Meads bloke, myself), this is also a city that is crying out for a HMHB gig. My niece and her husband were able to weigh up the relative merits of Thekla and The Fleece as we tucked into our tapas grub at The Olive Shed. The King William and The Old Duke look like useful pre-gig stop off points. For the time being though, the good folk of Bristol will have to make do with a proliferation of model gorillas promoting some goings-on at the zoo.
Next thing I knew, I was meeting Tony in the precinct in Cardiff, and we were making our way to Solus. (Do we need an asterisk here? Tony had turned his nose up at the chance to see Birmingham City playing in the Europa League. Band loyalties are obviously stronger than club loyalties.) It was a bit of a walk towards what were starting to look like leafy suburbs. The was a bit of a queue outside, but that’s what you expect when you are dealing with these fancy new e-ticketing arrangements. It never happened with proper tickets back in the old days.
There was a degree of uncertainty about the name of the support band, but we settled on John Mouse. You can’t really fault a band that uses an ironing board as a keyboard stand. A bit of crowd participation (half-hearted waving of arms) and a non-traditional version of Ilkley Moor Bah T’At made for a fine set.
With HMHB, everything fell into place once Nigel had sorted out a slight problem with his guitar. Changing the lead seemed to do the trick. He talked to us about the traffic problems at Monmouth Show. His introduction was in Welsh, the clever clogs. We got a rendition of “Let The Kids Go Back To School” to the tune of When The Saints Go Marching In. Nigel pointed out Richie Burnett and Bradley Dredge (not together) in the audience. Am I right in thinking that we don’t normally get the “which was quite expensive in those days” line from Dukla Prague? Either way, it was there tonight. There was a bit of chat about Cardiff City, which may just have been an excuse to mention Ronnie Moore. Ken’s guitar work on Tending The Wrong Grave was compared to an osprey. “Does anyone else whistle along to the Greenwich Pips?” asked Nigel. Silence. “No, well it’s just me.” He also pointed out that he has developed a habit of checking the next song on the set list, but then forgetting it by the time he gets back to the microphone. Gets worse as you get older. Apparently Ken’s uncle was the first man to be clamped at Morrisons. Nigel announced that he (Nigel) suffers from CDO. It’s like OCD except that you are compelled to put everything into alphabetical order. Reference was made to the confused state of fifteen-year-olds who think all rock music is also cricket based, as with Gary Gilmour’s/Gilmore’s Eyes. The crisps at the garage were a horrendous £2.45, which was met with all-round booing. Deservedly so. Pear halves and allen keys were on the shopping lists of the people in the queue behind Nigel. Even an ambulance turned up on the forecourt, but they just wanted Monster Munch. The guy behind the counter was particularly annoyed to be taken away from his Word Search (which included “Relationships/Unlikely”, “Irritable/Charmless” and even “Parfitt/Rossi”). The audio book coming out of his headphones sounded great… “the game of cricket was about to begin”. The four of them on stage were all wearing silver VIP wristbands. Nigel ripped his off, saying “Unleashed!” as he tossed it onto the floor. He was also wearing a cardigan for much of the show. Very rock and roll. Thanks to the two locals who helped me out with the spelling and translation of the Welsh song that appeared in the encore. Sorry I didn’t get your names, but you know who you are.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Fred Titmus
Monmore Hare’s Running
Uffington Wassail
Petty Sessions
Bob Wilson Anchor Man
Surging Out Of Convalescence
Running Order Squabble Fest
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Restless Legs
Tending The Wrong Grave
For What Is Chatteris?
Left Lyrics In Practice Room
National Shite Day
24 Hour Garage People
Look Dad No Tunes
We Built This Village
Them’s The Vagaries
Vatican Broadside (preceded by There Stands The Glass)
Trumpton Riots
Joy Division Oven Gloves
And in the encore
Tommy Walsh’s Eco House
Calon Llan
Help Me Rhonda
Everything’s AOR
99% Of Gargoyles
And from there it was back to The Goat Major, for some excellent Brains Best Bitter, and a chat about strategy for the Leamington Spa gig with Tony, Howie, Gomez and Daz. Will/won’t the new CD be available? Will there be enough copies for all five of us? Watch this space.
3 September 2011
TAYLO
Great review Roger…just for the record the audio book coming out of his headphones was talking about a game of Quidditch about to start not Cricket…kind of makes the joke funnier.
5 September 2011
Charles Exford
Quality reportage as ever, Roger. What would we do without you? But was Ken’s uncle first man clamped in Morrisons or in Wallasey? Should we incline more towards Dave W’s local knowledge?
Meanwhile Dave W’s surprising assertion that this rendition of 24HGP surpassed even the heights of London (with the latter’s William Roache/My Family, the Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now) has led me to the usual half-obsessive half-typo-ridden transcription. See here and judge for yourselves.
Some of the non-regulation passages are as follows (feel free to correct me or complete the gaps):
£2.45 …(BOOO!) Apparently it’s officially correct, but morally so, so wrong.
He does it to annoy me of course, both with the price and the the presentation through the hatch
“…They’re all my pre-arranged friends.”
And he says “What even the nurse there ?”
And I say “That’s not a nurse, that’s my friend Bob actually – transvestite Robert in disguise.
At least one of them at the back there wants a tin of pear halves. The lad behind him is going to ask you for some post-apocalyptic allen keys, and if you haven’t got any, he still needs milk. Semi-skilled. Like you.”
He points out the ambulance that’s just come onto the forecourt, but it’s not as if he’s on fucking incident call-out or anything. Probably just wants a packet of monster munch or something. Not that that’s a fetish amongst ambulance drivers… (you’ll tell that to someone tomorrow)
WelL now he’s really annoyed of course and the wodsearch goes down. which means business
IRRATABLE, CHARMLESS, RELATIONSHIP UNLIKELY, PARFITT, ROSSI
And he puts down the pen he’s been doing it with, and it’s one of those pens that you turn upside down and the woman goes naked. but his is stuck and she remains fully clothed – He’s been rejected even by fluid.
And I notice the mug which says “I HEART BIG TRUCKS”.
So he takes his earphones off …he’s been listening to an audio book
“The game of quidditch was about to begin …Harry had butterflies …he should really perhaps have eaten something earlier on …like a sandwich … could have got it from the all-night garitch …”
5 September 2011
Charles Exford
Yes you’re right, it’s not you, it’s me – William Roache starred in ‘A Country Practice’ in London’s West End, not in that particular version of ’24HGP’. But that still remains the version I’d take to my desert island.
And I now realise that he says “no – that’s a fetish amongst ambulance drivers – they eat Monster Munch, yes, ‘cos it keeps them awake and keeps them alert …. you’ll tell that to someone tomorrow…it is bollocks obviously.”
5 September 2011
Dave F.
“The crisps at the garage were a horrendous £2.45, which was met with all-round booing”
Quite right too.
This begs the question (or maybe not):
What is the price cut-off point for booing, changing into “hmm… that’s a fair price considering the current economic climate and it’s from a shop that’s open at 3 AM”; and then into a Lidl style, stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap cheer, for value for money?
5 September 2011
Swanaldo
£1.74 by my reckoning.
6 September 2011
Swanaldo
Oh, and £1.25 to the second part of the question.
6 September 2011
jonnylag
The booing about the Pringles was definitely ironic. The bar prices were astronomical!!!!. 6 bottles of piss poor coors light and a coke for the driver came to 23 quid!!! Never mind the biccies were brill and one night not getting pissed gave my liver a rest!!!!
11 September 2011
jonnylag
Nigel mentioned the riot in a leisure centre in Treharris. Actually it was in Ystrad, which is near Tonypandy. A great gig which us poor souls in the Rhondda were absolutely delighted to attend. Rock on the Biccies!!!!
12 September 2011
mikey t
Thanks to Roger for my mention , I do know whom i is ,thank you.
I apologise for my impromptu spittle fleck to your manly rugger jersey that eve , whilst endevouring to regale the name of said Calon Lan.
Hope all is gravy !!
16 September 2011
john mouse
I always try too hard
24 January 2012