A fine evening out of the rain. Almost ten years after the first trip to The John Peel Centre, we are back and all is well. I thought it was less crowded, the sound was good (lyrics were very clear, which is nice), and a good mix of tunes.
Speaking of which (as I want to go to bed)……
Light Tunnel Joyce Evening Sun Checkatrade Buried Morning Renfield Look Dad Slippers (refrain) Terminus Sieves Wrong Grave Chatteris Bob Todd Colombia DPAK URC NSD Tess Trad Arr Tune Trumpton Lark When I look at my baby Oblong JDOG ……………………………….. MMM How I wrote Elastic Man (The Fall) Bell Rings
Until tomorrow. Not often we get to say that in this context.
Pleased that James Scowcroft was in attendance. He could well have been, of course. He’s still local, coaching at the Town Academy. An aside.
Three video links so far (Light/Tunnel, Bob Todd & JDOG).
Looks like the whole thing might be available later today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGgB-2fD3w). There seems to be a chain of links, might have to register somewhere.
15 April 2023
Roberto
Any news on the guy who collapsed just as the support act were finishing? Hope all is okay with him.
16 April 2023
Hendrix-tattoo
@Roberto, Peter is tip top. He was fit and well and and made it to part 2 in Cambridge, Thanks to the care from the doctor and our KOHV and also the Goalkeeper with blue hair…
We were looking at some of the videos from 2013, when HMHB last appeared here. The band’s following travels in bigger numbers than ten years ago, so we were apprehensive about breathing space, particularly after the problems that some folk were having with the heat at the Leamington gig in March.
Trawling through the internet, Karen came across something that Chris had posted. Being HMHB’s version of A Legend In My Time, the cover played at their last gig here. He had linked it to an on-air quote from Peel. “We get more requests for Half Man Half Biscuit than for any other band I think, through emails and text messages.” More than any other band? That was interesting to hear.
Over in the book corner, I read Wally… Did You No Wrong by Ron Evans. This is the story of Wally Nightingale, an original Sex Pistol who was hoofed out of the band just before things started to take off. Face didn’t fit. That kind of thing. A sad tale of a bloke who was seemingly airbrushed out of history. From there, I have moved on to “Pele: The Autobiography”. Apart from references to a Brazil shirt with a Number 10 on the back, I can’t imagine there are too many HMHB mentions. But I’ll let you know as I go along. Not a bad player. In the sixties, most teams would have found a space for him.
Don’t tell her, but I’ve sorted my first Christmas present for Karen. This being John Robb’s comprehensive door-stopper The Art Of Darkness – A History Of Goth. I got a signed copy when he was being interviewed about it, at Jumbo Records in Leeds. Maybe I’ll dip into it myself to see if I can pick up advice on mascara and all things undead.
Later that day, more Goth was on the agenda. The Webb live just down the road from HMHB, but they were headlining an evening at The Library in Leeds, called Carpe Noctem. The only Biscuit news was that Joy Division Oven Gloves got a spin during the interval. It felt a bit out of place, but it’s always good to hear.
Friday night and the gates are low? I wasn’t there when Tranmere were at home to Harrogate the other week, so couldn’t say. But a draw saw them slide a little further down the table. The crowd will be even lower next time.
Changes are afoot at 6 Music. They seem to be planning various cuts and mergers. HMHB don’t get a lot of airplay to start with. So there probably won’t be much difference.
Big thanks to Andrew for undertaking driving duties over the weekend. Karen drove the first leg, to Andrew’s house, then was in the front dealing with IT queries, such as looking up the cover version (SOS) from the last time the band played in Stowmarket. And I was in the back hitting the wrong keys while trying to put these notes together. We called at Cambridge Services for refreshments. Decent bacon and sausage butties on offer there if you’re ever nearby.
I always thought that John Peel lived in Stowmarket. In fact, it was a couple of miles away in a place called Great Finborough. A blue plaque on The Pettiward Hall marks this fact. “John Robert Parker Ravenscroft OBE (1939 to 2004). Pioneering and influential BBC broadcaster who helped the careers of many artists. Lived in this village from 1971 to 2004.” Karen, Phill, Andrew and I had a walk round the graveyard at the nearby St Andrew’s Church, where Peely is buried. It was moving to see him there. A great man. Even now, the majority of my music collection is from folk that I first heard on his show. The gravestone has become a little worn over the years. It certainly isn’t a “celebrity grave”. He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
We travelled into Stowmarket itself afterwards, to check out the venue. “JPC” written on the bins outside gave the place away. Inside, we spoke to the lady at the front desk. She had been dealing with a lot of returned tickets. I hope these were matched against folk who were wanting to go. Small venue, big demand. It happens.
After that, it was time for more refreshments. We went to the Lime Tree Café. Nigel, Denise and Neil had the same idea. Andrew and Nigel got into a discussion about the prospects for Bolton and Tranmere, as well as games gone by. There was a slight controversy over the two free biscuits with our order. Andrew and I thought they were with our cups of tea. But they were actually supposed to go with Karen’s coffee and Phill’s hot chocolate. We scoffed them anyway. The situation was rectified by a further supply of biscuits. Just something to look out for, if you are ever part of a group in such a situation.
We got back to the Travelodge, by which time Tony had arrived from Birmingham. After a bit of rest and recuperation, we were all back in Andrew’s car for another drive back into town. And we were outside The Centre in good time for the doors opening at 7.00. Phill was stopping at a pub in Woolpit and wasn’t far behind us. When inside, I saw a poster showing what was coming up at the centre. There was a quote from Peel, about HMHB…”I’ve said it before. They’re a national treasure. When I die, I want them to be buried with me.” Well, he didn’t quite get his wish, but I think we all know what he meant.
There was a steady flow of Biscuiteers arriving. We had seen Howie and Daz at the beginning of their trek. They had made light work of the pubs of Stowmarket. Postman Tony, John, Steve, Brian and Graham Le Taxi all made one in, along with Mr and Mrs Exford. Examining the interior of the building, you might think it would have been a chapel in its previous life. But I was told that it was a corn exchange.
The support band was Birds Of Hell. There is just the two of them. When they began they were seated opposite each other, a bit like one of those Alas Smith And Jones sketches, with a couple of keyboards. From there they moved on to being a conventional guitar-and-drums duo. Multi-talented and a little strange. That fits just fine with me. Just a shame they didn’t have a CD for sale. I’m still struggling with this download business, but I’ll keep an eye out for them, although they are not from my part of the world. You can’t go wrong with song titles like like I’ve Really Got To Know My Neighbours Since The Apocalypse. And there was the added bonus of the singer being a lookalike of a few people. A bit of Don Van Vliet, Roy Wood, Mickey Dolenz and even Mr Rusty in there. I hope the people of Suffolk can give Birds Of Hell their support.
Their set list was on stage before they were. I scribbled what it said…
Apocalypse Where Do You Fall MEU Practice Punching My Hands Los Yarmouth Tesco Express Unicorn
There was also a note “Switch From Guitar Amp To PA”. But I think that was an instruction, rather than a song title. At the end of their set, there was a bit of a medical drama when a guy near us passed out. Dr John swung into action, and all appeared to end well.
In the interval, Andrew noted that the music on the PA was “not very John Peel”. Yes, I suppose Undertones / Nightingales / Cocteau Twins would have been more apt, rather than the funky stuff that we heard. The Exfords were diverted by a skull and crossbones sticker on Carl’s drums. It wasn’t the Achtung Bono variation. They suspected it was from St Pauli football club.
HMHB appeared at nine o’clock. I spotted Sheila Ravenscroft holding the door open for them. Thanks to Tony for identifying the walk-on music, as Theme One by Van Der Graaf Generator. Karl was wearing a Status Quo t-shirt, featuring the band’s silhouettes. Might have been one to commemorate their final gig. Carl was wearing a Be A Refugee shirt (a Van Der Graaf Generator reference). And Neil’s was his bass guitarist number.
After the opening song (The Light At The End Of The Tunnel), Nigel sang the jingle “Washing machines live longer with Calgon.” And he asked “Is anyone in from Aberystwyth?” He answered his own question… “There never is.”
James Scowcroft was the first celebrity spotting of the evening. Later on, Nigel also called out Orla Guerin. He wants his foot spa back. Through the evening, Nigel had repeated guitar strap problems. It kept coming unhooked. Ever the professional, he soldiered on. As before, in Renfield’s Afoot, patrons were invited to bring a torch – “But not a police torch!”
Nigel had been told that today was New Year in Sri Lanka. He also pointed out that it was the anniversary of the demise of the Titanic. “It’s going to sink in about three hours.” Nigel said he preferred the Kenneth More film above the Leonardo DiCaprio version. Although he didn’t like the way that the baker from Birkenhead (Charles Joughin) was portrayed as a drunkard. He was a hero, and was also on the SS Oregon when it sank. Not exactly a lucky charm, though. Tony reckons he died by drowning in the bath, having survived those two traumas.
In the course of a conversation, Exxo shouted out “Deffo!” in reply to a point. Nigel said that that was the first time that the word “Deffo” had been used in Stowmarket. With two ‘f’s of course. A visit to Woodbridge Farmer’s Market was highly recommended.
The closing line of Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes was “That’s when I was saying Foot Golf in the UK just won’t work.” I’m sure I heard the opening line of Song To The Siren ahead of For What Is Chatteris. Ninety-Nine Per Cent Of Gargoyles is about an electrician from West Virginia who went to Inverness, to buy a Vauxhall Viva from his brother-in-law. Nigel referred to the song What Made Milwaukee Famous before the song about Colombia. And that song had the traditional snippet of Black Night at the beginning.
There was some banter between Nigel and Postman Tony about being a resident of Collyhurst. And Nigel recalled a recent funeral he went to for a traffic warden. As the coffin was being lowered into the grave there was a knocking sound, and the occupant said “I’m not dead.”. The Vicar said it was too late now as he has already filled in the paperwork.
Persian Rug Sale At The URC is “another true story”. There was a shout from the floor of “How many of yous lot know?” Nigel had to think about it before recognising the song. “Oh yes, I know it. We’ll do it next time.” For years now, he has been sticking a plectrum to his forehead during the “job on the bins” bit in Lark Descending. It happened again tonight. Ahead of Joy Division Oven Gloves, Nigel announced “We’d better do this in tune.” It all sounded OK to me.
After four decades, Neil is still easing his way into the band. He got mixed up between the opening notes of Oblong Of Dreams and When I Look At My Baby, playing one while the rest of the band was playing the other.
Midnight Mass Murder was dedicated to the Reverend Sarah Jenkins. “Every Christmas Eve she gets them coming out of The Chestnut Horse.” The song says it all. We were invited to “join in if you want” when they played How I Wrote Elastic Man. All grand stuff, as usual.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train Ode To Joyce When The Evening Sun Goes Down Swerving The Checkatrade I’m Getting Buried In The Morning Renfield’s Afoot Look Dad No Tunes The Best Things In Life (just the “slippers” bit) Terminus Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes Tending The Wrong Grave For Twenty-Three Years For What Is Chatteris Ninety-Nine Per Cent Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd What Made Colombia Famous All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit Persian Rug Sale At The URC National Shite Day Tess Of The Dormobiles We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune The Trumpton Riots Lark Descending When I Look At My Baby Oblong Of Dreams Joy Division Oven Gloves
And then in the encore…
Midnight Mass Murder How I Wrote Elastic Man Every Time A Bell Rings
Thanks to Karl for handing me his setlist. No changing the order, no additions, no deletions. This was exactly how it all went.
I exchanged Hellos with Mike, in his Ipswich Town reserves shirt. There was a quick chat with Sheila on the way out. I asked her to get this band back as soon as poss. It was throwing it down as we made it back to the car. Andrew got us back to the Travelodge. And that was the end of the evening. Not really all that long to go until the next gig…
17 April 2023
EXXO
Great stuff from Roger as ever.
It should be mentioned that the epic Van der Graaf Generator walk-on music was actually John Peel’s theme music for ‘Sounds of the Seventies'(and indeed the theme music of other R1 presenters of the same show). As it was basically written by George Martin for R1, it was also sometimes used by other R1 shows as a bed (by Tommy Vance, for example?) but I can find no record of it ever being used as a TV theme. For Fantasy Biscuitball genre purposes, please speak now if you can identify any TV theme use
Apologies therefore to anyone on Fri/Sat to whom I said I thought, pending research, that it had been a TV theme. Apologies too that I even sang the tune to Transit Full of Keith as we tried to fix his bike chain between pubs on Saturday.
Another small point of order about that sticker on the drum. We only mentioned it to Roger because we thought he might want to know more detail about what he had wondered in his Leamington report, where he said he thought it might be a St. Pauli sticker. Looking in forensic detail on Friday, we saw that it seemed to be only the skull and crossbones of a St Pauli sticker which had been cut out (so chopping off the FC name) and placed over whatever unremovable logo was already on the drum.
17 April 2023
Chris The Siteowner
No ‘Vatican Broadside’ meant that ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’ has now pulled ahead in the ‘number of plays’ on the Big Set List Chart – 147 to 146 after this gig. The two had been level at the top for the past year.
17 April 2023
hudson ford
What a brilliant gig. Different from Cambridge the night after. Not better, not worse, just different. Much more intimate venue, in fact to the point I had hoped they might do an acoustic set!!
A question though. I bought one of the (newish) t-shirts; the one with the drum kit and two crossed guitars. There is writing underneath that looks (to my untrained eye) like it may be Greek. Any idea what it says or means?
Nearest guess we’ve come up with so far is that it’s “Molon Labe”, the Spartan “Come and take them” comments supposedly made to the Persians. However it’s not an exact fit, the Omega symbol for example doesn’t work.
I’m sure a website like this, with its assorted intellectual misfits, must contain at least one scholar of Ancient Greek.
17 April 2023
Woodnoggin
@Hudson Ford, yes it’s a Sparta reference. A defiant response to those who would steal the band’s instruments.
17 April 2023
transit full of keith
I’m not a scholar, but yes it’s molon labe, “Come and take them!”, the remark the Spartans sent to Xerxes in response to “Hand over your weapons!” before the Battle of Thermopylae (480BC) – the omega is correct I think. It’s a great T-shirt (notwithstanding the use of the slogan by US gun lobby nutjobs who use crossed assault rifles rather than guitars).
17 April 2023
Not Bishop Brennan
Thanks @Roberto for your concern and @Hendrix-Tattoo for providing the reassuring update. I can confirm that at no point was I ever near a Suffolk ditch. The close proximity of the good doctor in hi vis meant that at no point was I ever handed over to the ministrations of the NHS san junior doctors. Appreciate all the support and concern from the many well wishers I bumped into next day and thankfully normal service resumed at Cambridge Junction. I now have a bit of a gap until Llangollen – see some of you there I am sure!
17 April 2023
John Anderson
Glad all’s well Peter and well done for making Cambridge. I’ll have to buy you that pint another time.
17 April 2023
hudson ford
Thanks for the replies re the t-shirt and the Greek. I suspected that was the phrase but wasn’t sure. I’d absolutely love to think it’s a true story.
17 April 2023
EXXO
I had a few notes and queries to add to this thread, and have accidentally ended up writing my first gig/trip report in years.
It’s like Chaucer said: when April comes, you get the urge to go on pilgrimages and it pisses down. And Stowmarket, whose market charter was granted in 1347 by Chaucer’s great patron Edward III, is a pilgrimage not just for HMHB fans but for the band themselves. Nigel Blackwell does not like making statements, but let’s be in no doubt – this is not Achtung Bono, this is pro bono – a gig in memory of John Peel, for his widow Sheila Ravenscroft, to help support the 200 capacity John Peel Centre, and to finance it a proper earner for the band then added on the next evening for an audience of 850 in Cambridge.
Claire does the shopping and fills the van up, noticing a flattish rear tyre and going to top up the air before realising it’s a slow puncture, maybe not even all that slow, and a new tyre is needed. This delay, combined with various issues later on the M1, A1 and A14, means there will be no fishing today at our lakeside camp site, and probably fewer pints at the Royal William in Stowmarket. So I don’t tell her when I sneakily set the satnav for the thatched idyll of Peel Acres itself, rather than our campsite, which thoroughly worthwhile detour will later add at least another five minutes. Plus five more just to turn round at the end of Sheila’s lane.
The John Peel Show was all about interaction, and before we set out I dig out a few old random cassettes of his programmes that had turned up during a recent clear-out. I’m looking for a 1987 tape where Peel reads out an announcement about a football tournament I organised. He ended his spiel by telling me he would be in attendance if he wasn’t going away to Sweden (on one of a series of family holidays that he said were decided by where each of the Peel Acres domestic appliances were manufactured), but also assured me that “Special Branch are on their way, Nigel.” I can’t find that particular cassette. However, my urge for interaction with DJs is satisfied half way through our journey down the A1, when I hear 6 Music’s Craig Charles read out a gig preview from Mr. John Burscough, AKA Dr. Desperate, none other than the King of Hi-Vis himself. John says these will be his 71st and 72nd HMHB gigs and Craig is so impressed he commissions John to do a gig review for the following Monday’s programme. Of course this compels me to text in with a much higher claim, a guesstimate of 151st and 152nd, although I do say it’s an estimate as I stopped counting in about 1993. We do then think though that we can probably get Claire’s number of gigs accurate to within a couple, and it’s a decent way of passing time in a traffic jam. It seems these will be at least her 23rd and 24th, possibly one or two more.
The last time the band came to do this same double-header, in 2013, I cycled down to Peel Acres just as the band themselves arrived for pre-gig soup with Sheila and the next morning I ended up cycling away from Peel’s grave just as the band were arriving. I hope nobody thought I was stalking anyone, but it just ended up like that. It’s a small world (but I wouldn’t want to paint it). That time I was on me own and was camping rough in the woods near the grave, not far from the little river Rat. That night my slumbers were disturbed by the shufflings and scrapings from a rabbit warren beneath me. This time, after just a quick (stalker-ish) drive past pastel-pink Peel Acres, with Claire only slightly annoyed when we have to do a 3-point turn at the end of the lane (remember she thought the Satnav was set for the campsite?), we arrive at our destination and pay to park on the grass not far from the same river, where an unsightly otter fence protects the specimen carp in the fishing lake from the cute but voracious predators. Let them eat rabbits.
A quick pint of Abbot across the road at the Dog and Shepherd. Easy to dismiss Abbot after it has journeyed around the country, but within an hour of Bury St. Edmund’s this is usually a very decent pint, and one about which I can get very nostalgic as it was the pint of my student days, including guzzling plenty for free in the Greene King pubs and bars where I worked, most of which are long gone.
Next it’s a taxi to the Royal William, which it didn’t take long for a bit of whatpub.com research to reveal as easily the stand-out alehouse of this small town. But why is it that whenever we arrive at such pubs before HMHB gigs, Andy (Brumbiscuit) and his mate are just leaving, recommending as they go a fine dark ale that it turns out they have just drunk the last of? Nevertheless, the plum porter is very decent too.
Our research into the nearby pizzeria, the Biga Napoletana, turns out to have been less successful. It turns out to be a takeaway rather than dine-in, despite its very posh website featuring a shot tables outside. I’m shocked – I have never seen such a posh website for a take-away! And anyway it’s closed, the whole family not yet returned from Easter in Napoli. So, pressed for time, we have fish and chips leaning on the ballustrades overlooking the River Gipping (into which the River Rat runs). Proper southern prices too – one fish with large chips is exactly a tenner.
If I’d known the venue would have such fine Suffolk ales – the double-hopped one was fabulous, by venue standards – we’d have supported their precarious finances with more of our time and money, rather than downing another pint of Abbot somewhere else, somewhere anonymous, and we wouldn’t have got utterly soaked through by the monsoon-like downpour which started around 7.50pm and which then continued for several hours. But our spirits were soon revived by lashings of the double-hopped stuff and the good cheer of the Biscuiteers as we enjoyed the last few songs by support act Birds of Hell. At first they were reminiscent of the “quirky” kind of HMHB support act (e.g. that lot from Oswestry that lost it during lockdown), but lashings of depth and variety were soon revealed in a set which built up to the epic new single “Do I get to ride on a unicorn?” which I have been compelled to enjoy on repeat regularly ever since Friday, on this link:
If there is any justice, this fabulous song will be a world-wide smash hit. It would certainly go down a storm on 6 Music. And we heard it first here, during our musical pilgrimage.
The first encounter with that epic creation was so beautiful that at least one fan at the front – Peter, AKA Not Bishop Brennan – fainted about half-way through the song. To be honest, fainted is not a dramatic enough word. He toppled backwards without warning like a felled tree, crashing to the ground next to us, and seemed unconscious for quite a while. Luckily he had fallen right next to a certain retired GP amongst the fanbase. The crowd gave him plenty of space, and the support set ended with not as much applause as they deserved. But after what seemed an eternity, Peter got to his feet and was helped by the good doctor and the Peel Centre’s volunteer first aider (Iain?) out of the auditorium. We were soon reassured that all was fine, and indeed he seemed so the next night in Cambridge, although the story will forever be exaggerated in Biscuit legend I am sure (well, let’s face it, I was already doing so later the same evening and throughout the next day to whoever would listen and several who wouldn’t.)
HMHB’s walk-on music could not have been more appropriate – John Peel’s most dramatic of Radio One theme tunes, not the one from his 60’s/70’s ‘Top Gear’ or ‘The John Peel Show,’ but the majestic George Martin-penned Van der Graaf Generator number that was used for radio One’s ‘Sounds of the Seventies,’ and I think also often used as a “bed” by DJs like Tommy Vance. Was it also used as a “bed” on TOTP sometimes?
Anyway, if the support act were well served by the superb sound and a maestro sound engineer, HMHB made just as good use of the opportunity to show off guitar skills. In this type of venue, it seems that monitors don’t matter so much and it seems they can just go off the same UHD version the audience are hearing of the instruments, adding in intricacies that we might not get elsewhere. There was some novel interplay between Karl’s guitar and Nigel’s on Terminus, which was played in more jingly-jangly style, and the already jingly-jangly Lark Descending was able to continue its recent ascent towards being one of the finest showcases for Nigel’s right hand work.
At the end of ‘Mountain Bikes’ the final line was – “That’s when I was saying, that’s when I was saying foot golf in the UK would never work.” NB then continued the diatribe after the song, basically advising us not to bother with foot golf, “as you just end up toe-poking the ball”. I can imagine this would irk a football purist with a silky left foot, but sounds fine to me. Scored some fine goals with the old toe-poke, I did. Not that I’m in any hurry to try it, though. In Roger’s report, he mentions NB telling me that my use of “deffo” was probably the first time that word had been used in Stowmarket – it was when I was loudly asserting that foot golf would be an Olympic sport by Qatar 2036. This is not my real opinion. I was in character.
I also want to clarify that when I shouted “so don’t do it kids!” at the end of ‘What Made Colombia Famous” I was just being silly. Just very silly and loud, as usual. It prompted NB to make the statement that “Yeah but it’s not a statement like that.” He doesn’t do statement songs. That has been clearly stated.
Another “by the way” is that in Roger mentions that NB mentioned that the Birkonian baker on the Titanic had also survived the SS Oregon sinking 26 years earlier. But NB didn’t mention that did he? He mentioned the Lusitania. There was one fella who survived both the Titanic and the Lusitania. But it wasn’t the baker. Did I miss two separate individuals getting mentioned (perhaps in a to-and-fro with Tony the Wizard?), or did NB get the two mixed up? Anyway my favourite moment in the whole Titanic anniversary interlude was that NB said something like “anyway she hits the iceberg in about twenty minutes from now. Sorry if that’s a spoiler for anyone.”
At one stage I think there was a particularly incoherent request for something or other. Did someone in the audience get a song title mixed up? Or did Nigel get a title mixed up? Or both perhaps? I can’t remember, but this is why a bunch of us suddenly starting chanting madly for ‘Everybody’s Doing the John Ganley Stance,’ mimicking a more than slightly wasted chap who had made that precise request at The Devil’s Arse last August. HMHB don’t do requests, not on the same night that they are requested anyway, but it does seem that our garbled mockery might just have had an effect on the next night’s setlist (the next day also being the start of the snooker world championship at the Crucible of course).
With such revels did the evening progress, with much shouting of nonsense and bouncing up and down and a perfect set of encore songs. A beautiful version of ‘Oblong of Dreams’ had us imaging Peel strolling with Nigel Blackwell along the Wirral shoreline and a storming cover of the Fall’s ‘How I Wrote Elastic Man’ was a fine tribute to Mark E. Smith’s greatest fan.
In the pub earlier on, I had told a friendly local with an even friendlier black labrador that HMHB we “John Peel’s favourite band.” He retorted that no, surely “Extreme Noise Terror were John Peel’s favourite band!” I could have given him quotes, asked him if Peel had wanted Extreme Noise Terror buried with him, etc., but instead, suddenly realising that in fact probably The Fall were John Peel’s favouritest band, I changed the subject. I do know that HMHB were the band for whom Peel did the most, as for the entire first half of their forty year “career” he was really all the support they had. The Fall had labels and hence publicists. HMHB had Geoff Davies and John Peel, and with it being Geoff’s 80th birthday tomorrow this was a weekend to think of them both and what they didst for our listening pleasure, etc.
As the final chant of “Get yer Fuckin’ Hedge Cut” faded, I remembered one final duty which was to publish the night’s setlist as soon as possible for ‘Fantasy Biscuitball’ purposes, so that my fellow obsessive predictors could get their setlist change predictions in before the next evening’s gig. Thanks to whoever’s lists I photographed and to Tony (the Wizard) for giving Claire his list, so that we could do our ultra-obsessive thing that I know John Peel would have thoroughly approved of. In fact, I am confident that if he were still broadcasting aged 83, be would be reading out our FBL results fairly regularly on his show.
So after saying a few words to Sheila, thanking all the centre’s wonderful volunteers and that stand-out sound man, praising the Birds of Hell one more time and watching HMHB load up their gear in the continuing downpour outside – well it would have been rude to help much, thus spoiling a faithful recreation of the Voltarol cover – it was time to head back to the camp site, trying not to think that it looked like we’d been needing a tractor the next morning to get us off the squelchy, saturated grass where we were parked up. As we sat in the slowly sinking van drinking a little red wine and saving the rest of the bottle for Peel’s grave the next morning, we didn’t realise that the tractor wouldn’t be available and that in fact we’d get towed off the marshy campsite by the very digger that had recently been used to build that otter fence around the lake. It kept raining off and on all night, and it’s a good job we were pissed enough not to worry about the River Rat potentially bursting its banks … which thankfully it didn’t, but even without that, by the next morning the water on the grass was up to our ankles and a delay waiting for that digger to pull us out did mean, when combined with other factors, that Peelie missed out on his glass of wine with us. People to meet in Cambridge!
Oh, talking of his grave, just for the sake of completeness, when Nigel dedicated ‘Midnight Mass Murder’ to the Reverend Sarah Jenkins, mentioning the throng coming from The Chestnut Horse, she is the actual vicar of the church where he is buried, and The Chestnut Horse is the actual pub in the village. Just in case Roger hadn’t made that clear.
[TBC in the Cambridge gig reviews thread].
19 April 2023
ROGER AS IS ROGER AS WAS
Great message, Exxo. Corrections are always welcome where I’ve not heard comments properly, or written down totally the wrong thing. Or, just as likely, where I’ve not been able to read my own writing. I have one thing to throw back to you. You mentioned your conversation in the pub, regarding Peel’s favourite band. It is perfectly understandable to think that this might be The Fall. He played them often enough, more sessions than anyone else etc etc… But I don’t think it’s right to say that they were his favourite band. My evidence being a comment he made during the all-time Festive Fifty at the turn of the century (as well as other occasions where he heaped praise). It sounds possible that you might have a recording of that Festive Fifty, in amongst your considerable collection. Have a listen. Big Eyed Beans From Venus by Captain Beefheart scores highly. Immediately afterwards Peel says something along the lines of “There was none finer. Not even The Fall.” Beefheart, it is.
20 April 2023
EXXO
Fair point, Roger – thanks, yes, case well and truly proven.
Your faithful note-taking skills and reports are always fully appreciated, Roger, and the very few additions/amendements I may occasionally provide should always be prefixed by “If my noble leaned friend would allow a humble query from an oaf who was too busy bouncing up and down and shouting nonsense to be certain, but…”
Twistedkitemike
A fine evening out of the rain. Almost ten years after the first trip to The John Peel Centre, we are back and all is well. I thought it was less crowded, the sound was good (lyrics were very clear, which is nice), and a good mix of tunes.
Speaking of which (as I want to go to bed)……
Light Tunnel
Joyce
Evening Sun
Checkatrade
Buried Morning
Renfield
Look Dad
Slippers (refrain)
Terminus
Sieves
Wrong Grave
Chatteris
Bob Todd
Colombia
DPAK
URC
NSD
Tess
Trad Arr Tune
Trumpton
Lark
When I look at my baby
Oblong
JDOG
………………………………..
MMM
How I wrote Elastic Man (The Fall)
Bell Rings
Until tomorrow. Not often we get to say that in this context.
Pleased that James Scowcroft was in attendance. He could well have been, of course. He’s still local, coaching at the Town Academy. An aside.
See you in Cambridge.
Mike……………………………..
15 April 2023
parsfan
Ta Mike & Exxo.
Setlist now up on the Data Retrieval System.
Three video links so far (Light/Tunnel, Bob Todd & JDOG).
Looks like the whole thing might be available later today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksGgB-2fD3w). There seems to be a chain of links, might have to register somewhere.
15 April 2023
Roberto
Any news on the guy who collapsed just as the support act were finishing? Hope all is okay with him.
16 April 2023
Hendrix-tattoo
@Roberto, Peter is tip top. He was fit and well and and made it to part 2 in Cambridge, Thanks to the care from the doctor and our KOHV and also the Goalkeeper with blue hair…
16 April 2023
Chris The Siteowner
Roger Green’s review, originally published on Gez’s site and reproduced with thanks to both Roger and Gez.
We were looking at some of the videos from 2013, when HMHB last appeared here. The band’s following travels in bigger numbers than ten years ago, so we were apprehensive about breathing space, particularly after the problems that some folk were having with the heat at the Leamington gig in March.
Trawling through the internet, Karen came across something that Chris had posted. Being HMHB’s version of A Legend In My Time, the cover played at their last gig here. He had linked it to an on-air quote from Peel. “We get more requests for Half Man Half Biscuit than for any other band I think, through emails and text messages.” More than any other band? That was interesting to hear.
Over in the book corner, I read Wally… Did You No Wrong by Ron Evans. This is the story of Wally Nightingale, an original Sex Pistol who was hoofed out of the band just before things started to take off. Face didn’t fit. That kind of thing. A sad tale of a bloke who was seemingly airbrushed out of history. From there, I have moved on to “Pele: The Autobiography”. Apart from references to a Brazil shirt with a Number 10 on the back, I can’t imagine there are too many HMHB mentions. But I’ll let you know as I go along. Not a bad player. In the sixties, most teams would have found a space for him.
Don’t tell her, but I’ve sorted my first Christmas present for Karen. This being John Robb’s comprehensive door-stopper The Art Of Darkness – A History Of Goth. I got a signed copy when he was being interviewed about it, at Jumbo Records in Leeds. Maybe I’ll dip into it myself to see if I can pick up advice on mascara and all things undead.
Later that day, more Goth was on the agenda. The Webb live just down the road from HMHB, but they were headlining an evening at The Library in Leeds, called Carpe Noctem. The only Biscuit news was that Joy Division Oven Gloves got a spin during the interval. It felt a bit out of place, but it’s always good to hear.
Friday night and the gates are low? I wasn’t there when Tranmere were at home to Harrogate the other week, so couldn’t say. But a draw saw them slide a little further down the table. The crowd will be even lower next time.
Changes are afoot at 6 Music. They seem to be planning various cuts and mergers. HMHB don’t get a lot of airplay to start with. So there probably won’t be much difference.
Big thanks to Andrew for undertaking driving duties over the weekend. Karen drove the first leg, to Andrew’s house, then was in the front dealing with IT queries, such as looking up the cover version (SOS) from the last time the band played in Stowmarket. And I was in the back hitting the wrong keys while trying to put these notes together. We called at Cambridge Services for refreshments. Decent bacon and sausage butties on offer there if you’re ever nearby.
I always thought that John Peel lived in Stowmarket. In fact, it was a couple of miles away in a place called Great Finborough. A blue plaque on The Pettiward Hall marks this fact. “John Robert Parker Ravenscroft OBE (1939 to 2004). Pioneering and influential BBC broadcaster who helped the careers of many artists. Lived in this village from 1971 to 2004.” Karen, Phill, Andrew and I had a walk round the graveyard at the nearby St Andrew’s Church, where Peely is buried. It was moving to see him there. A great man. Even now, the majority of my music collection is from folk that I first heard on his show. The gravestone has become a little worn over the years. It certainly isn’t a “celebrity grave”. He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
We travelled into Stowmarket itself afterwards, to check out the venue. “JPC” written on the bins outside gave the place away. Inside, we spoke to the lady at the front desk. She had been dealing with a lot of returned tickets. I hope these were matched against folk who were wanting to go. Small venue, big demand. It happens.
After that, it was time for more refreshments. We went to the Lime Tree Café. Nigel, Denise and Neil had the same idea. Andrew and Nigel got into a discussion about the prospects for Bolton and Tranmere, as well as games gone by. There was a slight controversy over the two free biscuits with our order. Andrew and I thought they were with our cups of tea. But they were actually supposed to go with Karen’s coffee and Phill’s hot chocolate. We scoffed them anyway. The situation was rectified by a further supply of biscuits. Just something to look out for, if you are ever part of a group in such a situation.
We got back to the Travelodge, by which time Tony had arrived from Birmingham. After a bit of rest and recuperation, we were all back in Andrew’s car for another drive back into town. And we were outside The Centre in good time for the doors opening at 7.00. Phill was stopping at a pub in Woolpit and wasn’t far behind us. When inside, I saw a poster showing what was coming up at the centre. There was a quote from Peel, about HMHB…”I’ve said it before. They’re a national treasure. When I die, I want them to be buried with me.” Well, he didn’t quite get his wish, but I think we all know what he meant.
There was a steady flow of Biscuiteers arriving. We had seen Howie and Daz at the beginning of their trek. They had made light work of the pubs of Stowmarket. Postman Tony, John, Steve, Brian and Graham Le Taxi all made one in, along with Mr and Mrs Exford. Examining the interior of the building, you might think it would have been a chapel in its previous life. But I was told that it was a corn exchange.
The support band was Birds Of Hell. There is just the two of them. When they began they were seated opposite each other, a bit like one of those Alas Smith And Jones sketches, with a couple of keyboards. From there they moved on to being a conventional guitar-and-drums duo. Multi-talented and a little strange. That fits just fine with me. Just a shame they didn’t have a CD for sale. I’m still struggling with this download business, but I’ll keep an eye out for them, although they are not from my part of the world. You can’t go wrong with song titles like like I’ve Really Got To Know My Neighbours Since The Apocalypse. And there was the added bonus of the singer being a lookalike of a few people. A bit of Don Van Vliet, Roy Wood, Mickey Dolenz and even Mr Rusty in there. I hope the people of Suffolk can give Birds Of Hell their support.
Their set list was on stage before they were. I scribbled what it said…
Apocalypse
Where Do You Fall
MEU
Practice Punching My Hands
Los Yarmouth
Tesco Express
Unicorn
There was also a note “Switch From Guitar Amp To PA”. But I think that was an instruction, rather than a song title. At the end of their set, there was a bit of a medical drama when a guy near us passed out. Dr John swung into action, and all appeared to end well.
In the interval, Andrew noted that the music on the PA was “not very John Peel”. Yes, I suppose Undertones / Nightingales / Cocteau Twins would have been more apt, rather than the funky stuff that we heard. The Exfords were diverted by a skull and crossbones sticker on Carl’s drums. It wasn’t the Achtung Bono variation. They suspected it was from St Pauli football club.
HMHB appeared at nine o’clock. I spotted Sheila Ravenscroft holding the door open for them. Thanks to Tony for identifying the walk-on music, as Theme One by Van Der Graaf Generator. Karl was wearing a Status Quo t-shirt, featuring the band’s silhouettes. Might have been one to commemorate their final gig. Carl was wearing a Be A Refugee shirt (a Van Der Graaf Generator reference). And Neil’s was his bass guitarist number.
After the opening song (The Light At The End Of The Tunnel), Nigel sang the jingle “Washing machines live longer with Calgon.” And he asked “Is anyone in from Aberystwyth?” He answered his own question… “There never is.”
James Scowcroft was the first celebrity spotting of the evening. Later on, Nigel also called out Orla Guerin. He wants his foot spa back. Through the evening, Nigel had repeated guitar strap problems. It kept coming unhooked. Ever the professional, he soldiered on. As before, in Renfield’s Afoot, patrons were invited to bring a torch – “But not a police torch!”
Nigel had been told that today was New Year in Sri Lanka. He also pointed out that it was the anniversary of the demise of the Titanic. “It’s going to sink in about three hours.” Nigel said he preferred the Kenneth More film above the Leonardo DiCaprio version. Although he didn’t like the way that the baker from Birkenhead (Charles Joughin) was portrayed as a drunkard. He was a hero, and was also on the SS Oregon when it sank. Not exactly a lucky charm, though. Tony reckons he died by drowning in the bath, having survived those two traumas.
In the course of a conversation, Exxo shouted out “Deffo!” in reply to a point. Nigel said that that was the first time that the word “Deffo” had been used in Stowmarket. With two ‘f’s of course. A visit to Woodbridge Farmer’s Market was highly recommended.
The closing line of Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes was “That’s when I was saying Foot Golf in the UK just won’t work.” I’m sure I heard the opening line of Song To The Siren ahead of For What Is Chatteris. Ninety-Nine Per Cent Of Gargoyles is about an electrician from West Virginia who went to Inverness, to buy a Vauxhall Viva from his brother-in-law. Nigel referred to the song What Made Milwaukee Famous before the song about Colombia. And that song had the traditional snippet of Black Night at the beginning.
There was some banter between Nigel and Postman Tony about being a resident of Collyhurst. And Nigel recalled a recent funeral he went to for a traffic warden. As the coffin was being lowered into the grave there was a knocking sound, and the occupant said “I’m not dead.”. The Vicar said it was too late now as he has already filled in the paperwork.
Persian Rug Sale At The URC is “another true story”. There was a shout from the floor of “How many of yous lot know?” Nigel had to think about it before recognising the song. “Oh yes, I know it. We’ll do it next time.” For years now, he has been sticking a plectrum to his forehead during the “job on the bins” bit in Lark Descending. It happened again tonight. Ahead of Joy Division Oven Gloves, Nigel announced “We’d better do this in tune.” It all sounded OK to me.
After four decades, Neil is still easing his way into the band. He got mixed up between the opening notes of Oblong Of Dreams and When I Look At My Baby, playing one while the rest of the band was playing the other.
Midnight Mass Murder was dedicated to the Reverend Sarah Jenkins. “Every Christmas Eve she gets them coming out of The Chestnut Horse.” The song says it all. We were invited to “join in if you want” when they played How I Wrote Elastic Man. All grand stuff, as usual.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train
Ode To Joyce
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Swerving The Checkatrade
I’m Getting Buried In The Morning
Renfield’s Afoot
Look Dad No Tunes
The Best Things In Life (just the “slippers” bit)
Terminus
Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes
Tending The Wrong Grave For Twenty-Three Years
For What Is Chatteris
Ninety-Nine Per Cent Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd
What Made Colombia Famous
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Persian Rug Sale At The URC
National Shite Day
Tess Of The Dormobiles
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
The Trumpton Riots
Lark Descending
When I Look At My Baby
Oblong Of Dreams
Joy Division Oven Gloves
And then in the encore…
Midnight Mass Murder
How I Wrote Elastic Man
Every Time A Bell Rings
Thanks to Karl for handing me his setlist. No changing the order, no additions, no deletions. This was exactly how it all went.
I exchanged Hellos with Mike, in his Ipswich Town reserves shirt. There was a quick chat with Sheila on the way out. I asked her to get this band back as soon as poss. It was throwing it down as we made it back to the car. Andrew got us back to the Travelodge. And that was the end of the evening. Not really all that long to go until the next gig…
17 April 2023
EXXO
Great stuff from Roger as ever.
It should be mentioned that the epic Van der Graaf Generator walk-on music was actually John Peel’s theme music for ‘Sounds of the Seventies'(and indeed the theme music of other R1 presenters of the same show). As it was basically written by George Martin for R1, it was also sometimes used by other R1 shows as a bed (by Tommy Vance, for example?) but I can find no record of it ever being used as a TV theme. For Fantasy Biscuitball genre purposes, please speak now if you can identify any TV theme use
Apologies therefore to anyone on Fri/Sat to whom I said I thought, pending research, that it had been a TV theme. Apologies too that I even sang the tune to Transit Full of Keith as we tried to fix his bike chain between pubs on Saturday.
Another small point of order about that sticker on the drum. We only mentioned it to Roger because we thought he might want to know more detail about what he had wondered in his Leamington report, where he said he thought it might be a St. Pauli sticker. Looking in forensic detail on Friday, we saw that it seemed to be only the skull and crossbones of a St Pauli sticker which had been cut out (so chopping off the FC name) and placed over whatever unremovable logo was already on the drum.
17 April 2023
Chris The Siteowner
No ‘Vatican Broadside’ meant that ‘Light at the End of the Tunnel’ has now pulled ahead in the ‘number of plays’ on the Big Set List Chart – 147 to 146 after this gig. The two had been level at the top for the past year.
17 April 2023
hudson ford
What a brilliant gig. Different from Cambridge the night after. Not better, not worse, just different. Much more intimate venue, in fact to the point I had hoped they might do an acoustic set!!
A question though. I bought one of the (newish) t-shirts; the one with the drum kit and two crossed guitars. There is writing underneath that looks (to my untrained eye) like it may be Greek. Any idea what it says or means?
Nearest guess we’ve come up with so far is that it’s “Molon Labe”, the Spartan “Come and take them” comments supposedly made to the Persians. However it’s not an exact fit, the Omega symbol for example doesn’t work.
I’m sure a website like this, with its assorted intellectual misfits, must contain at least one scholar of Ancient Greek.
17 April 2023
Woodnoggin
@Hudson Ford, yes it’s a Sparta reference. A defiant response to those who would steal the band’s instruments.
17 April 2023
transit full of keith
I’m not a scholar, but yes it’s molon labe, “Come and take them!”, the remark the Spartans sent to Xerxes in response to “Hand over your weapons!” before the Battle of Thermopylae (480BC) – the omega is correct I think. It’s a great T-shirt (notwithstanding the use of the slogan by US gun lobby nutjobs who use crossed assault rifles rather than guitars).
17 April 2023
Not Bishop Brennan
Thanks @Roberto for your concern and @Hendrix-Tattoo for providing the reassuring update. I can confirm that at no point was I ever near a Suffolk ditch. The close proximity of the good doctor in hi vis meant that at no point was I ever handed over to the ministrations of the NHS san junior doctors. Appreciate all the support and concern from the many well wishers I bumped into next day and thankfully normal service resumed at Cambridge Junction. I now have a bit of a gap until Llangollen – see some of you there I am sure!
17 April 2023
John Anderson
Glad all’s well Peter and well done for making Cambridge. I’ll have to buy you that pint another time.
17 April 2023
hudson ford
Thanks for the replies re the t-shirt and the Greek. I suspected that was the phrase but wasn’t sure. I’d absolutely love to think it’s a true story.
17 April 2023
EXXO
I had a few notes and queries to add to this thread, and have accidentally ended up writing my first gig/trip report in years.
It’s like Chaucer said: when April comes, you get the urge to go on pilgrimages and it pisses down. And Stowmarket, whose market charter was granted in 1347 by Chaucer’s great patron Edward III, is a pilgrimage not just for HMHB fans but for the band themselves. Nigel Blackwell does not like making statements, but let’s be in no doubt – this is not Achtung Bono, this is pro bono – a gig in memory of John Peel, for his widow Sheila Ravenscroft, to help support the 200 capacity John Peel Centre, and to finance it a proper earner for the band then added on the next evening for an audience of 850 in Cambridge.
Claire does the shopping and fills the van up, noticing a flattish rear tyre and going to top up the air before realising it’s a slow puncture, maybe not even all that slow, and a new tyre is needed. This delay, combined with various issues later on the M1, A1 and A14, means there will be no fishing today at our lakeside camp site, and probably fewer pints at the Royal William in Stowmarket. So I don’t tell her when I sneakily set the satnav for the thatched idyll of Peel Acres itself, rather than our campsite, which thoroughly worthwhile detour will later add at least another five minutes. Plus five more just to turn round at the end of Sheila’s lane.
The John Peel Show was all about interaction, and before we set out I dig out a few old random cassettes of his programmes that had turned up during a recent clear-out. I’m looking for a 1987 tape where Peel reads out an announcement about a football tournament I organised. He ended his spiel by telling me he would be in attendance if he wasn’t going away to Sweden (on one of a series of family holidays that he said were decided by where each of the Peel Acres domestic appliances were manufactured), but also assured me that “Special Branch are on their way, Nigel.” I can’t find that particular cassette. However, my urge for interaction with DJs is satisfied half way through our journey down the A1, when I hear 6 Music’s Craig Charles read out a gig preview from Mr. John Burscough, AKA Dr. Desperate, none other than the King of Hi-Vis himself. John says these will be his 71st and 72nd HMHB gigs and Craig is so impressed he commissions John to do a gig review for the following Monday’s programme. Of course this compels me to text in with a much higher claim, a guesstimate of 151st and 152nd, although I do say it’s an estimate as I stopped counting in about 1993. We do then think though that we can probably get Claire’s number of gigs accurate to within a couple, and it’s a decent way of passing time in a traffic jam. It seems these will be at least her 23rd and 24th, possibly one or two more.
The last time the band came to do this same double-header, in 2013, I cycled down to Peel Acres just as the band themselves arrived for pre-gig soup with Sheila and the next morning I ended up cycling away from Peel’s grave just as the band were arriving. I hope nobody thought I was stalking anyone, but it just ended up like that. It’s a small world (but I wouldn’t want to paint it). That time I was on me own and was camping rough in the woods near the grave, not far from the little river Rat. That night my slumbers were disturbed by the shufflings and scrapings from a rabbit warren beneath me. This time, after just a quick (stalker-ish) drive past pastel-pink Peel Acres, with Claire only slightly annoyed when we have to do a 3-point turn at the end of the lane (remember she thought the Satnav was set for the campsite?), we arrive at our destination and pay to park on the grass not far from the same river, where an unsightly otter fence protects the specimen carp in the fishing lake from the cute but voracious predators. Let them eat rabbits.
A quick pint of Abbot across the road at the Dog and Shepherd. Easy to dismiss Abbot after it has journeyed around the country, but within an hour of Bury St. Edmund’s this is usually a very decent pint, and one about which I can get very nostalgic as it was the pint of my student days, including guzzling plenty for free in the Greene King pubs and bars where I worked, most of which are long gone.
Next it’s a taxi to the Royal William, which it didn’t take long for a bit of whatpub.com research to reveal as easily the stand-out alehouse of this small town. But why is it that whenever we arrive at such pubs before HMHB gigs, Andy (Brumbiscuit) and his mate are just leaving, recommending as they go a fine dark ale that it turns out they have just drunk the last of? Nevertheless, the plum porter is very decent too.
Our research into the nearby pizzeria, the Biga Napoletana, turns out to have been less successful. It turns out to be a takeaway rather than dine-in, despite its very posh website featuring a shot tables outside. I’m shocked – I have never seen such a posh website for a take-away! And anyway it’s closed, the whole family not yet returned from Easter in Napoli. So, pressed for time, we have fish and chips leaning on the ballustrades overlooking the River Gipping (into which the River Rat runs). Proper southern prices too – one fish with large chips is exactly a tenner.
If I’d known the venue would have such fine Suffolk ales – the double-hopped one was fabulous, by venue standards – we’d have supported their precarious finances with more of our time and money, rather than downing another pint of Abbot somewhere else, somewhere anonymous, and we wouldn’t have got utterly soaked through by the monsoon-like downpour which started around 7.50pm and which then continued for several hours. But our spirits were soon revived by lashings of the double-hopped stuff and the good cheer of the Biscuiteers as we enjoyed the last few songs by support act Birds of Hell. At first they were reminiscent of the “quirky” kind of HMHB support act (e.g. that lot from Oswestry that lost it during lockdown), but lashings of depth and variety were soon revealed in a set which built up to the epic new single “Do I get to ride on a unicorn?” which I have been compelled to enjoy on repeat regularly ever since Friday, on this link:
https://birdsofhell.bandcamp.com/track/do-i-get-to-ride-on-a-unicorn-2
If there is any justice, this fabulous song will be a world-wide smash hit. It would certainly go down a storm on 6 Music. And we heard it first here, during our musical pilgrimage.
The first encounter with that epic creation was so beautiful that at least one fan at the front – Peter, AKA Not Bishop Brennan – fainted about half-way through the song. To be honest, fainted is not a dramatic enough word. He toppled backwards without warning like a felled tree, crashing to the ground next to us, and seemed unconscious for quite a while. Luckily he had fallen right next to a certain retired GP amongst the fanbase. The crowd gave him plenty of space, and the support set ended with not as much applause as they deserved. But after what seemed an eternity, Peter got to his feet and was helped by the good doctor and the Peel Centre’s volunteer first aider (Iain?) out of the auditorium. We were soon reassured that all was fine, and indeed he seemed so the next night in Cambridge, although the story will forever be exaggerated in Biscuit legend I am sure (well, let’s face it, I was already doing so later the same evening and throughout the next day to whoever would listen and several who wouldn’t.)
HMHB’s walk-on music could not have been more appropriate – John Peel’s most dramatic of Radio One theme tunes, not the one from his 60’s/70’s ‘Top Gear’ or ‘The John Peel Show,’ but the majestic George Martin-penned Van der Graaf Generator number that was used for radio One’s ‘Sounds of the Seventies,’ and I think also often used as a “bed” by DJs like Tommy Vance. Was it also used as a “bed” on TOTP sometimes?
Anyway, if the support act were well served by the superb sound and a maestro sound engineer, HMHB made just as good use of the opportunity to show off guitar skills. In this type of venue, it seems that monitors don’t matter so much and it seems they can just go off the same UHD version the audience are hearing of the instruments, adding in intricacies that we might not get elsewhere. There was some novel interplay between Karl’s guitar and Nigel’s on Terminus, which was played in more jingly-jangly style, and the already jingly-jangly Lark Descending was able to continue its recent ascent towards being one of the finest showcases for Nigel’s right hand work.
At the end of ‘Mountain Bikes’ the final line was – “That’s when I was saying, that’s when I was saying foot golf in the UK would never work.” NB then continued the diatribe after the song, basically advising us not to bother with foot golf, “as you just end up toe-poking the ball”. I can imagine this would irk a football purist with a silky left foot, but sounds fine to me. Scored some fine goals with the old toe-poke, I did. Not that I’m in any hurry to try it, though. In Roger’s report, he mentions NB telling me that my use of “deffo” was probably the first time that word had been used in Stowmarket – it was when I was loudly asserting that foot golf would be an Olympic sport by Qatar 2036. This is not my real opinion. I was in character.
I also want to clarify that when I shouted “so don’t do it kids!” at the end of ‘What Made Colombia Famous” I was just being silly. Just very silly and loud, as usual. It prompted NB to make the statement that “Yeah but it’s not a statement like that.” He doesn’t do statement songs. That has been clearly stated.
Another “by the way” is that in Roger mentions that NB mentioned that the Birkonian baker on the Titanic had also survived the SS Oregon sinking 26 years earlier. But NB didn’t mention that did he? He mentioned the Lusitania. There was one fella who survived both the Titanic and the Lusitania. But it wasn’t the baker. Did I miss two separate individuals getting mentioned (perhaps in a to-and-fro with Tony the Wizard?), or did NB get the two mixed up? Anyway my favourite moment in the whole Titanic anniversary interlude was that NB said something like “anyway she hits the iceberg in about twenty minutes from now. Sorry if that’s a spoiler for anyone.”
At one stage I think there was a particularly incoherent request for something or other. Did someone in the audience get a song title mixed up? Or did Nigel get a title mixed up? Or both perhaps? I can’t remember, but this is why a bunch of us suddenly starting chanting madly for ‘Everybody’s Doing the John Ganley Stance,’ mimicking a more than slightly wasted chap who had made that precise request at The Devil’s Arse last August. HMHB don’t do requests, not on the same night that they are requested anyway, but it does seem that our garbled mockery might just have had an effect on the next night’s setlist (the next day also being the start of the snooker world championship at the Crucible of course).
With such revels did the evening progress, with much shouting of nonsense and bouncing up and down and a perfect set of encore songs. A beautiful version of ‘Oblong of Dreams’ had us imaging Peel strolling with Nigel Blackwell along the Wirral shoreline and a storming cover of the Fall’s ‘How I Wrote Elastic Man’ was a fine tribute to Mark E. Smith’s greatest fan.
In the pub earlier on, I had told a friendly local with an even friendlier black labrador that HMHB we “John Peel’s favourite band.” He retorted that no, surely “Extreme Noise Terror were John Peel’s favourite band!” I could have given him quotes, asked him if Peel had wanted Extreme Noise Terror buried with him, etc., but instead, suddenly realising that in fact probably The Fall were John Peel’s favouritest band, I changed the subject. I do know that HMHB were the band for whom Peel did the most, as for the entire first half of their forty year “career” he was really all the support they had. The Fall had labels and hence publicists. HMHB had Geoff Davies and John Peel, and with it being Geoff’s 80th birthday tomorrow this was a weekend to think of them both and what they didst for our listening pleasure, etc.
As the final chant of “Get yer Fuckin’ Hedge Cut” faded, I remembered one final duty which was to publish the night’s setlist as soon as possible for ‘Fantasy Biscuitball’ purposes, so that my fellow obsessive predictors could get their setlist change predictions in before the next evening’s gig. Thanks to whoever’s lists I photographed and to Tony (the Wizard) for giving Claire his list, so that we could do our ultra-obsessive thing that I know John Peel would have thoroughly approved of. In fact, I am confident that if he were still broadcasting aged 83, be would be reading out our FBL results fairly regularly on his show.
So after saying a few words to Sheila, thanking all the centre’s wonderful volunteers and that stand-out sound man, praising the Birds of Hell one more time and watching HMHB load up their gear in the continuing downpour outside – well it would have been rude to help much, thus spoiling a faithful recreation of the Voltarol cover – it was time to head back to the camp site, trying not to think that it looked like we’d been needing a tractor the next morning to get us off the squelchy, saturated grass where we were parked up. As we sat in the slowly sinking van drinking a little red wine and saving the rest of the bottle for Peel’s grave the next morning, we didn’t realise that the tractor wouldn’t be available and that in fact we’d get towed off the marshy campsite by the very digger that had recently been used to build that otter fence around the lake. It kept raining off and on all night, and it’s a good job we were pissed enough not to worry about the River Rat potentially bursting its banks … which thankfully it didn’t, but even without that, by the next morning the water on the grass was up to our ankles and a delay waiting for that digger to pull us out did mean, when combined with other factors, that Peelie missed out on his glass of wine with us. People to meet in Cambridge!
Oh, talking of his grave, just for the sake of completeness, when Nigel dedicated ‘Midnight Mass Murder’ to the Reverend Sarah Jenkins, mentioning the throng coming from The Chestnut Horse, she is the actual vicar of the church where he is buried, and The Chestnut Horse is the actual pub in the village. Just in case Roger hadn’t made that clear.
[TBC in the Cambridge gig reviews thread].
19 April 2023
ROGER AS IS ROGER AS WAS
Great message, Exxo. Corrections are always welcome where I’ve not heard comments properly, or written down totally the wrong thing. Or, just as likely, where I’ve not been able to read my own writing. I have one thing to throw back to you. You mentioned your conversation in the pub, regarding Peel’s favourite band. It is perfectly understandable to think that this might be The Fall. He played them often enough, more sessions than anyone else etc etc… But I don’t think it’s right to say that they were his favourite band. My evidence being a comment he made during the all-time Festive Fifty at the turn of the century (as well as other occasions where he heaped praise). It sounds possible that you might have a recording of that Festive Fifty, in amongst your considerable collection. Have a listen. Big Eyed Beans From Venus by Captain Beefheart scores highly. Immediately afterwards Peel says something along the lines of “There was none finer. Not even The Fall.” Beefheart, it is.
20 April 2023
EXXO
Fair point, Roger – thanks, yes, case well and truly proven.
Your faithful note-taking skills and reports are always fully appreciated, Roger, and the very few additions/amendements I may occasionally provide should always be prefixed by “If my noble leaned friend would allow a humble query from an oaf who was too busy bouncing up and down and shouting nonsense to be certain, but…”
20 April 2023