Pre-gig Chat (2026–2027 gigs)
(from London onwards)
Use this page for getting excited about a gig, pleading for spare tickets, arranging a pub meet, getting a lift, and whatever else comes to mind. For any gig.
This is part of a continuing story – the previous page and links to earlier ones can be found here.
✉ Letters Sent (209)
Skip to the most recent comment
(2 hours ago by Andrew B)
Amanda warhurst
Does anyone know what the likely timings are for the Electric Ballroom gig? The start time on the website is 6pm, but I’m more interested in the curfew so I can figure out how I’d get home!
Last night’s in Manchester was very confusing – the signs at the venue said 11, someone on here said about 10.15 and I think the actual end was just after 10.30!
31 January 2026
eXXO
@Amanda – in Manchester, the venue signs said “curfew 11pm.” – that’s the venue curfew, i.e. only staff and bands, etc backstage remaining in venue at 11:00:01. The stage curfew was 10.30 pm, in order to be able to sure to clear for 11pm. The band estimated a finish of 10.15-ish, and I was the one who passed it on here. That’s all normal practice. But it’s also possible for things to over-run slightly, and thanks to the good grace of the stage manager, we saw NB able to negotiate first “5 minutes” for the encore and then make it 2 songs, which were in fact nearly 7 minutes. It will be very similar in London, but everything at least half an hour earlier, with the club night advertised to start at 10.30pm.
I’d guess it’s stage curfew 10pm and a very pro-active venue clearance by security thereafter.
31 January 2026
Frank Cooper
Thanks to CTSO for prompting me that this had moved on to a new page.
Can I renew my plea for 2 tickets for the Electric Ballroom please.
2 February 2026
Sylvian's Whippet
Can I stick myself at the back of the Electric Ballroom ticket queue?
Looking at the old gigs thread, I think I’m seventh in line after Froome-Dog #657, Frank Cooper #750 (and above), and Julian #925. Just one needed.
3 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Just an oddment – after having put this off for years, I’ve made a start on compiling a list of all the gigs ever, before we started doing reviews here in December 2009. You’ll find it on the Gig Reviews page here.
I don’t intend to start discussion threads on these older gigs, but if anyone has links to reviews elsewhere on the internet for any pre-2010 gigs, or even better, cuttings they can scan, please let me know by email. There are a few scanned cuttings on this page, which I’ll get linked to sharpish.
And I’m very aware that the list will be incomplete and possibly inaccurate, so comments and corrections are very welcome at the address above.
4 February 2026
Wobs
Oh, a trip down memory lane… Not sure if there was a Boardwalk in Manchester. I recall frequenting the Sheffield Boardwalk a lot in that era.
Also Adelphi in Hull in about 1995 is missing. I have the poster on my wall for that, so you may have seen it posted on the FB group a while ago.
As I’m sure you’re aware, there were many reviews on Gez’s site from the 2000s. Might also find some on the old Yahoo group if someone can access the archive.
(Would love a photo of the poster, and a date! – CtSO)
4 February 2026
EXXO
I’ve been meaning to contact Gez and tell him that his news archive, the only source of such treasures from about 95, is down, as of the last couple of months.
Meanwhile, I don’t have any reviews, but do have some information (i.e. dates and venues) about a few of the many missing ones from 1986, when (as Nigel’s comments about the Dutch tour confirm), they were driven hard. Far too hard, one has always assumed.
4 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Thanks both – photos of pre-2000 tickets and posters would be very, very welcome. I won’t link to all Gez’s site reviews unless he wants me too, as it seems a bit predatory, but reviews from elsewhere are definitely wanted! chris@chrisrand.com
4 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
If anyone knows the year of this gig at The Venue, New Cross, do let me know below!
4 February 2026
EXXO
’86. I was there, though few memories, as I saw them 5 times in London within 3 months or so. April-ish? I have the exact date somewhere.
(28th March – it says so. Thanks! – CtSO)
4 February 2026
D list paul ross
28 March 1985 wasn’t a Thursday though. Cross-referencing Thursday 28 March and 081 telephone numbers seems to suggest 1991 as a possibility?
4 February 2026
EXXO
Doh yeah. Reading skills.
If you like posters, etc, this interview from August 1992
https://gjpromo.home.blog/2018/12/14/the-journey-begins/
Has a nice little thumbnail of the poster from the 1992 gig the interview was done at, a gig photo therefrom, and also a thumbnail of the poster for the August 1986 anti-apartheid gig they played at the NEC.
Like I say I have more 1986 dates somewhere, not too far away. Not as lost as all my qualifications certificates. Last year I couldn’t find any of them and had to send off for a couple of them again, pretty expensive. Showed them to my employer (who’d seen them plenty of times before), then I promptly chopped them up by accident when I needed a hard envelope of a certain size and thought that one was empty …. but yeah the gig dates will be easier to find.
4 February 2026
EXXO
He’s right you know. Thanks Richard, 1991 it was. I wasn’t there, but I do remember that very image from research of all the early gig dates from when I was going to talk to Geoff about it all (but never did in the end). basically I went to the British library at Boston Spa and looked through all the NMEs from 1986 and 90-91.
That makes me all the more determined to find those 1986 dates of the ones I was at, in and around the Deptford Abyss.
4 February 2026
Paul f
That 1992 interview suggests that Renfield’s Afoot had a very long gestation period.
4 February 2026
Janet from accounts
“Get the ‘Chunnel’ built” he says in that interview. That really jarred me. I have to think back a long way to remember the opening being in the news. Feels like it’s just always been there.
4 February 2026
Paul f
The irony of course being they did build it, and Nigel has (presumably) never used it.
4 February 2026
Paul f
And also the interviewer asking somebody who lives on the Wirral if they’d feel claustrophobic going through a tunnel.
4 February 2026
dr DEsperate
There was definitely a Boardwalk in Manchester from 1986-99, on Little Peter Street across the road from where Rebellion is now. There’s a blue plaque on the building (now converted to offices and apartments) describing it as “Madchester Venue” with that stupid yellow circular face now known simply as a smiley*.
The (New) Adelphi in Hull is still going strong, and has the names of many of the bands who’ve played there stencilled on the wall behind the stage, including HMHB. I saw Thurston Moore (q v) there in 2013, and he spotted their name and said “I love Half Man Half Biscuit”.
*Get the Manc poetry reference, @Exxo?
4 February 2026
EXXO
Meh. Verse. Glorification. Implying that there’s something exceptional about one shitty northern city over another, without analysing the factors that really enable local cultures to develop. No, I no longer recognise it.
4 February 2026
EXXO
I must admit I’m someone to whom the ‘Chunnel’ feels like it was built yesterday, too, and have never used it either, just because it’s never been the easiest or cheapest way to go somewhere I was going, and that includes plenty of events and holidays in Belgium and northern France. Nigel still hasn’t used it, no, but that’s probably just ‘cos he hasn’t got round to it.
4 February 2026
mister tubbs
@CtSO – There definitely was a gig at the Venue, New Cross in 1991, as I specifically remember them playing Christian Rock Concert, which was a new song to me, so it must’ve happened before the album was released
5 February 2026
D list paul ross
Nothing on Setlist FM (which means next to nothing) so I also tried the Levellers and they played there on 17 March 1991, so maybe they were just hanging round New Cross looking for gigs. Wikipedia says they played a number of low-key shows as Levellers 2 in 1991 so it all fits together. Probably performing tasters from their new LP.
5 February 2026
D list paul ross
But that says Levellers 5 so I can’t read either.
5 February 2026
D list paul ross
Although it says Easter special and Good Friday 1991 was 29th March so that seems to seal it.
5 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
By coincidence I was just reading a review of JD Meatyard’s new album where it reminds us that he fronted Levellers 5 (as well as being a long-time HMHB associate).
5 February 2026
D LIST PAUL ROSS
Right, so not for the first time and probably not the last, I’m talking shit. Levellers 5 were an entirely different band fronted by JD, who changed their name to Calvin Party when the Levellers, in 1991 known as Levellers 2, got big.
5 February 2026
EXXO
Yes, I knew as soon as I blurted out “1986” that if it had been 1986, the support would have been Gone to Earth or (later in the year) Jegsy Dodd & the Sons of Harry Cross, and that Levellers 5 as support meant c.1991.
John Peel, incidentally, gave a huge amount of support to the Levellers 5 when they emerged in Spring 1990, and then throughout that year and 1991, saying essentially that their stuff didn’t immediately strike him as brilliant, but he stuck with it, because they were Probe Plus (he didn’t say this, but you knew it was what he meant) and it grew on him. I would imagine that would have given great encouragement to other Probe acts, knowing that they would still have Peel’s full support when their new material was ready ….
I notice that Levellers 5’s second Peel session was recorded the day before the actual Levellers released their second LP, the brilliant Levelling the Land, one of the great indie albums and of course a nineties Britannia Music Club staple.
5 February 2026
Hendrix-tattoo
I’ve had a couple of listens of Jd’s latest album, and it’s not bad.
So I’ve bought the C.d, well worth eleven quid….
5 February 2026
transit full of keith
@CTSO. For your big gig list, I knew someone who said he definitely saw HMHB play at the Alma in Cambridge, probably in 1985? A small pub, then and now. I don’t know the date.
5 February 2026
EXXo
Blimey. You’ve mentioned that one before and I still find it (him) slightly hard to believe.
But then I’m not completely sure I didn’t front a band meself at the Alma early in 1985. Three shit gigs supporting Harsh, sort of thing.
5 February 2026
Sylvian's Whippet
I’ve just signed up for a seven day free trial with Newspapers.com, so may be able to fill in some of the gaps.
5 February 2026
Transit full of Keith
Sadly I can’t really enquire further on the supposed Alma gig as he is no longer with us. He wasn’t the kind of guy to just make stuff up, and had vivid recollections of other gigs he’d seen in the same era (Fall, Bunnymen, etc) so I’m inclined to think it was true.
6 February 2026
dic aberdaron
i think gerald sinstadt mentioned that gig in his autobiography “the only man in harpurhey”
6 February 2026
EXXO
No way I was suggesting that my slight disbelief was him making things up – it’s just that as you know, the venue size would make it a real outlier, and nobody was promoting touring bands there at that time as far as I recall, just because the money to be made would be minimal. I was just wondering if he confused the event with another.
The venue – always known locally as the “Alma Brewery” (though brewing had ceased before WW1) was “the centre of the Cambridge music scene in the late 70s/early 80s. Soft Boys, Duncan and the Darts, Riff Raff (Billy Bragg & Wiggy’s 70s punk band)… Had to stop having bands due to idiot neighbours” tells a blogger, or a reply to a blogger, and that fills in with my recollections – the venue was just about big enough for “own bed, own bog” local & regional gigs, or people sleeping on mates’ floors.
But then Chris has told the story, long ago, of his mate seeing them at Churchill May Ball – which would have to be ’86 – so I do wonder if Geoff just rang around and filled in the schedule around that? Or just to fill in the itinerary when they were on the way somewhere else, which apparently Geoff was liable to do, and not always with geographical common sense. He might have noticed the venue from listings in the music press – even though in the eighties that would have been local bands. The town lacked medium-sized venues for touring bands. Punk bands used to play the Sea Cadet Hall till maybe 82, CCAT saw a few touring bands in the mid-eighties, but such initiatives tended to get squashed and it was all very difficult if you weren’t at Corn Exchange level. So if they played the Alma Geoff would have had to sell a lot of merch just to cover their petrol & accommodation costs at the , but yeah the more I think about it, the more the absurdity of it, and you not doubting your mate, would make it fit. I’d like it to be true, like you.
This is all why I wanted to speak to Geoff about it years ago. As I’ve said before he said yes to that, but it never happened.
But I still think the chances are we will find out, somehow.
6 February 2026
Sylvian's Whippet
I’m quiet at work for a change so have been digging around on the Newspapers archive, looking at gig guides and What’s On sections for 1986. Much has been gleaned.
Nothing about the Alma so far, but it’s possible the archive doesn’t have the Cambridge papers. There is, however, a mention in an interview of a posh May Ball in Cambridge, as well as a cancelled gig in Dublin, and even a couple of hints at a US tour.
And there’s a few mentions of cancelled gigs from October 86 onwards, before the split is reported in November.
@CtSO I’ll send my findings over at some point this weekend.
(superb, thanks! – CtSO)
6 February 2026
Lee's 21st
Am also looking for a London ticket if anyone has one spare. (Just one)
16 February 2026
Sylvian's Whippet
I’m now sorted for London (ta Chris) so can take me off the list.
16 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Breaking News:
LONDON AND NOTTINGHAM DATES POSTPONED
Due to health reasons (Nigel needs a routine op), the band have had to postpone the London and Nottingham dates. The Nottingham gig is being rescheduled for January 2027 and the band hopes the London gig can take place early next year too. Tickets will be valid for the new dates or can be refunded.
17 February 2026
No chips allowed
Good luck with the op and subsequent after sales care.
18 February 2026
JOHNNY KWANGO
… and here’s me not long since booked my non-refundable train tickets and looking to see what’s on in The Big Smoke on Saturday and Sunday that won’t be an anticlimax after the gig. Not looking forward to telling Mrs Kwango and her brother, they’ll be most disappointed.
Hope everything goes swimmingly Mr. B.
18 February 2026
Hendrix-tattoo
Good luck with the Op, Nigel. And get well soon…
18 February 2026
Sloppy
Ooops there’s me thinking I’m being clever with non-refundable flights.
Hope all goes well and speedy recovery Nigel.
18 February 2026
dr DEsperate
Good luck and get well soon, Nigel. At least you can say you’re due for the op.
18 February 2026
Cream Cheese and Chives
Routine op has the ring of a future lyric. Good luck Nigel. And so to Leeds or Oxford.
18 February 2026
Alice van der meer
Juat adding to the chorus of those hoping the op goes well and the recovery is a speedy one, Nigel.
Commiserations to those unavoidably drawn to London & Dottigub as a result.
18 February 2026
GORDON BURNS
Guess I won’t be staying in that Paddington hotel with the grim reviews then. Don’t want to guess what a “routine op” might be, hope it really is routine though. If any Biscuiteers are locked into making the trip down south for that April weekend, it would still be great to meet up.
18 February 2026
Injured Buzzard
According to JD Meatyard’s FB page, the London show is rescheduled for 19/02/27.
18 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Yep. Provisional replacements are:
• Nottingham – 22 Jan 2027
• Camden – 19 Feb 2027
We’ll wait for official notifications from the venue before confirming these.
18 February 2026
ALEX
Hopefully ‘routine’ is a genuine description and he will be right as rain soon after. Having had a routine op myself, 3 weeks before Glasgow, memories are still fresh as to how damn sore you are a few weeks later. I was in agony before JD had even walked on stage: the trip up to the away section at St. James’ Park the night before can’t have helped much.
If Nigel had been waiting on being given a date, it might explain why it was quiet on the gig announcement front.
18 February 2026
Sloppy
I’m still going down that neck of the woods Fri-Sun @GordonBurns. Definitely up for a pizza.
Fingers crossed all goes well and nice to have something to look forward to next year!
18 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Nottingham now confirmed by the venue as 22 Jan 2027. Amused to see the message I put on this site being used in the See Tickets email as “the artist statement”. (Current mood: Bogus Official)
And Camden now confirmed by the promoter as 19 Feb 2027.
18 February 2026
johnny kwango
The artist formerly known as Chris.
18 February 2026
Sylvian's Whippet
Sending best wishes to NB for a speedy recovery. Roll on February 2027, hip hip hooray.
Wonder if there’ll be a rush on the other two dates now… I can’t commit to either yet, but might well pop up asking for an Oxford ticket in a few months.
18 February 2026
transit full of keith
Wishing Nigel the routinest of routine ops and best of health before and after.
18 February 2026
Coops
Can I just add my own best wishes to Nigel, guess I’ll be doing some sightseeing in That London then.
On the upside, the rearranged gig in Camden falls the day after my birthday next year, which means, yes, Happy Birthday to me today!
18 February 2026
Irish Niall
Chiming in with best wishes to Nigel for a speedy turnaround.
Selfishly I’m somewhat relieved that procrastination had hindered action on my part regarding London. Just this week I’d formulated a plan that involved Shannon-Stansted-Liverpool St-a scandalously priced Hub by Premier Inn in Clerkenwell which in fairness set me up nicely for a tidy connection and bolt for home via Gatwick on the Saturday evening.
But y’know what even if I’d booked it all I’d just head for the Science/Natural History/Imperial War Museum instead.
And my co-workers will be relieved I’m not going off dossing with you lot on the countdown to our end of semester exhibition the following Tues/Wed/Thurs. I’m still not right after the skinful of Newcastle in the Salisbury three weeks ago now.
Notts was looking like a tricky assignment anyway so onward to Leeds in August.
18 February 2026
dr DEsperate
As it happens I have my own selfish considerations concerning the Camden postponement: we’d also not made any travel or accommodation plans, which would have perforce involved us zooming back to Manchester on the Saturday morning to be in time for my Medical School reunion.
Every cloud, etc.
18 February 2026
Stadler’s caddie
17th April is my birthday (national shite day!) as well, disappointed but wishing NB all the best
18 February 2026
JED THE HUMANOID
Well well I never knew there was an operation to cure restless legs.
All the best for a speedy recovery.
18 February 2026
EXXO
Yeah, double drat and tarnation about the Rock City lock-out. I liked that even the ticket price practically spelt out my birthday, which does not fall on a Friday again until 2037, when I will presumably have around a 10% chance of a Biscuit gig even if they are still going, and anyway I don’t think even I will be moshing quite so lustily when I hit 74.
Might have to make both the Band-Its and Half Arsed HB offers they can’t refuse for me 69th (which falls on a Saturday), or summat.
But on the plus side, we got that epic night in Manchester, which we might not have, and what I managed not to say in my little “family”-themed report after that gig was that it was evident the support from the Biscuit family was helping Mr. B through the pain barrier (which I sensed had been there even in Wolverhampton). But everyone can be reassured that it really is just a routine repair of the broadly sports-injury/bck at the front of the bus type, and the postponements are all about finally getting dates from the NHS and advice about the post-op cautionary weeks when it is not advised to wield the strat or strut the stage.
Gobeithio y byddi di’n gwella cyn bo hir, bardd
18 February 2026
Tonto's expanding waist band
Initially disappointed to hear of the postponement of the Notts gig (to be my 3rd)… but happy to find out the rescheduled gig next January is on my birthday, so I’m looking forward to a weekend with my lovely Notts friends and the “Biccies For My Birthday Bash”, as I’m unofficially naming it…
Having said all that, I do wish Mr NB10 a safe procedure and speedy recovery… may your pyjamas never be ultimate nor your dressing gown final…
Only downside is having to book more (unrefundable) Ryanair flights… somewhere I can hear Mick O’Leary rubbing his hands with Glee (found on the shelf under the Swarfega in Bunners)…
18 February 2026
The shed checker
Somewhat belatedly wishing Nigel all the best for a swift recovery and return to match fitness. Fortunately (selfishly), I’m not affected by the cancellations, my next one being Oxford, which was booked in a state of wild euphoria in a hotel room in Manchester the morning after the splendid evening at the O2 Ritz last month.
19 February 2026
Andrew Gof
Wobs, haven’t peruse this site in a little while and after seeing the past gigs bit, I thought of Adelphi in Hull in 1995.(More likely early 96).
My mate decided to jump the stage and do ‘Bez’ dancing, and quite a few others did the same.
Nigel went on a diversion about Red Dwarf fans and an audience member ticked him off off about it a little while later. Nigel looked alarmed.
I had a brief chat with Geoff at the merch store. Ah, memories.
22 February 2026
Gregg Z
Stay well, Nige. Hope the op is routine as can be.
24 February 2026
Chris The Siteowner
By my reckoning, The Leadmill in Sheffield squeaks into the top five venues where HMHB have played the most often. Sadly the venue was evicted last year, a few months after what turned out to be the band’s final gig there. Now the team behind the venue is attempting to raise £30,000 to go towards establishing a new, long-term home for The Leadmill. There are more details and a chance to donate here.
25 February 2026
Nigel richards
I also hope Nigel’s operation does not get cancelled.
My mum was due for a hip replacement yesterday (Thursday) but it was cancelled on Tuesday.
Cancelled hip replacement might make a good song title, though.
3 April 2026
The Tutor With The Beard and The Polio
@Nigel Richards. What genre would it be?
Hip-‘op.
3 April 2026
Cream Cheese and Chives
I vaguely recall a news item about there being a shortage of the appropriate cement. 90% of it comes from a single German manufacturer. Maybe that which is in both of my own hips could become a valuable heirloom. Any song relating to it may belong to the hardcore genre.
4 April 2026
Motty Mottysson
Discussing a road trip to Portmerion with my cousin, we realised there’s the fine reference on this site but no handy HMHB I-Spy book to carry!
Anyone got any, contacts/sway/interest/abilty?
Maybe have points for a Dukla away kit.
Points for spotting a Len Ganley stance when doing the shopping on a Friday night etc….etc…
Could make an ideal Christmas gift or not.
6 April 2026
Chris The Siteowner
I reckon some Ai agent could write this in a few minutes. That’s another good use for all this tech before it kills us.
6 April 2026
Motty mottysson
Never mind the I -Spy book idea. I bet these AI agents you mention, can spell Portmeirion properly – the bastards!
6 April 2026
Exxo
Friday night at 10pm saw much rejoicing in many households, as we realised that (all things being equal) we are now closer to the next HMHB gig than the last.
11 May 2026
dr DEsperate
Woah-oh, livin’ on a prayer.
11 May 2026
Irish Niall
Have signed up for Oxford.
Yet to work out flights and accommodation.
As I came within a hairs breadth (saw someone spell that hares breath once!) of scoring a Manchester gig the night before the last HMHB gig thanks to the tips and boots on the ground info gleaned on here I’d like to utilise the hivemind once more for suggestions in the Oxford area. Thursday or Saturday night. Indie/folkyish/punkish I s’pose. One man and a guitar looking to fall onto a lineup.
26 May 2026
Alice van der meer
In a perfect example of bad timing, Oxford music mag Nightshift has just closed down. I have a nasty feeling that the Oxford Ocelot has been gone a while too.
Daily Info might be a good place to start? https://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/ – you used to be able to post short free ads.
That’s the best I can offer, I’m afraid. Apart from Cropredy, the last gig I went to in Oxford was… err… HMHB in 2020, so I am right out of the loop.
Good luck, might see you in a pub somewhere on Cowley Road!
26 May 2026
Irish Niall
Thank you Alice. If memory serves you were very nearly my gig angel back in January and, though Oxford is smaller than Manchester, I’m confident of the win this time. Not least because Saturday is an option as well as Thursday.
26 May 2026
EXXO PROMOTIONS
The Half Moon* has open mic nights Thursdays with “featured guest artists” who get more time than the amateurs I guess.
https://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/places/food-and-drink/pubs/t4-p3049/the-half-moon
*Don’t be put off by the “Irish pub” thing, I hear. It’s not some fake chain but genuinely the pub where the Irish community has traditionally gone, and though may have lost most of that vibe it is supposed be genuinely decent. Live music most nights, most of it folk, but don’t let that put you off either.
Then there’s Truck records, who do 6pm gigs for anyone with anything to flog. Make them an offer they can’t refuse.
26 May 2026
Alice van der meer
That was probably Alice who is Alice, as opposed to this Alice, who isn’t Alice at all. I picked the name as I’m a bellringer.
26 May 2026
Phyllis Triggs
@ Irish Niall, ‘hares breath’ – beautiful. From now on, that is how I shall see that phrase.
26 May 2026
Paul f
@PT – careful with that one. My wife and I knowingly got into the habit many years ago of saying “damp squid” and can’t break the habit. I suspect whenever we do, people just think we’re a bit thick.
26 May 2026
Eric Ludlow
Written with some trepidation, given the depth of knowledge on here. But anyway…
Going to see HMHB at Leeds in August. This will be my 70th birthday treat, and just over 40 years since I first experienced them, at the Charlotte in Leicester, in April 1986. Cannot believe:
1. They are still going
2. I have got so old.
Anyway, staying in Leeds the night. If there is a meet in a pub prior to gig, it would be good to see folks…
19 June 2026
Stu
A hare’s breath.
A damp squid.
This site simply never stops giving, even when Britain’s greatest living poet is taking an even longer break than usual! Speaking of whom, are we to assume that all has gone well with the “routine op”, given that August’s gig is apparently still going ahead?
28 June 2026
EXXO
@Stu. The op went well, in mid-March I believe. The Bard said he only missed one home game (and that was 0-3 to bloody Harrogate, so no great regrets there). Rehab was on track at the end of the season, when I last spoke. Will ask if he’d like to give an update.
28 June 2026
EXXO
Been thinking about pubs for the Leeds gig.
There aren’t any near the venue. In fact there isn’t much near the venue. Many punters will I guess get a cab from city centre and drink at the venue from not long after doors. If some are tempted towards the Kirkstall Road area bars like the Kirkstall brewery tap, they will still be too far away from the gig.
The best walk is 20 mins along the canal towpath from near the station – if walking and talking in groups look out for fast bikes and e-bikes on the narrow towpath (more likely to break your arm than the swans) and then up the steps at the Wellington Place (A58) bridge, with still 5 mins more walk from there
So if we are going to arrange a city centre meet-up for mid-to-late-afternoon-very-beginning-of-the-evening pints, may I suggest near the station and the canal, and the massively spacious Archies Bar from the Ossett Brewery do a fine pint (and food incl pizzas) under the station arches. Then there’s the brilliant beer of the Northern Monk brewery 5-7 minutes from that side of the station too, but that’s a few minutes detour from the canal walk.
28 June 2026
Alan
Are they winding it down? 2 rearranged gigs for next year with no new ones announced for months
29 June 2026
EXXO
FWIW my uninformed impression is this. Last autumn, before NB became aware that an injury would need medical attention, there were then 5 gigs scheduled in 2026, and there could perhaps have been 1 or 2 more added, making the normal sort of quota. As soon as he was aware, and literally limping though, no new gigs were added, and 2 were postponed until when the op. date was confirmed. As and when he is fully recuperated, normal service may well be resumed. But he won’t do any more than he needs to and certainly won’t compromise on performance level. We might say “do a shorter set/bring on a throne/etc” but he wouldn’t. And wouldn’t want to schedule anything more until he knows he’s fit enough again.
Anyway, carpe giggem.
29 June 2026
EXXO
Soz obviously that was meant to be “postponed until 2027 when the op. date was confirmed.”
29 June 2026
Alan
Cheers Exxo
29 June 2026
Corpach BHOY
Saw the boys at Rendezvous Night Club (Rondies) in Chester back in ’86. From memory the support act were late stand-ins. Their lead singer was pissed. Pretty sure he fell of the stage at one point. But whatever, Security deffo stepped in and took the mic off him.
Top gig.
3 July 2026
Joeboy
Just wondeing if anyone has spare ticket for leeds.
Cheers!!
3 July 2026
Dickie davies
Need 2 for Leeds so please add me to the begging list. Cheers
5 July 2026
Mr Ed
Due to family travel commitments I won’t be able to make the Oxford gig, as such I have a ticket available. Ticket booked for Nottingham though, so roll on 2027.
6 July 2026
Morgo
I’m off over to Leeds Aug 14th to visit daughter, found out the lads are playing Project House that night. If anyone has 2 spares I’ll change plans to stay over. Two birds, one trip n all that… tia
12 July 2026
Chippy Minton (socialist)
Morning all. I am here to plead for a single ticket for Leeds 14/08. Would usually go with my dad who has followed since 87, so was holding off until he could confirm, but sadly he can’t make it. Any help much appreciated
17 July 2026
Retro ringo
I too am looking for a spare ticket for Leeds for my first HMHB gig..
I’ve done it the official way but thought I’d chance my (shit) arm here too…
A brilliant band I can’t believe took me 40 years to find!!
17 July 2026
EXXO
@myself [comment 84 above]
Cycling the same towpath yesterday, I realised I was exaggerating the distance to the gig along the towpath, which is the best walk from the back of station area. From the arches, it’s only three quarters of a mile, so say 15 mins stroll.
The Ossett Brewery bar I was recommending for a meet-up is actually called The Hop. The same owners’ ‘Archie’s’ eatery takes up the adjacent arches (see what they did there).
24 sleeps (I get out more than you’d think).
21 July 2026
Mick
Sadly I will not be able to go to the Leeds gig, so have one ticket available.
25 July 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Tickets wanted for Leeds (from the above; correct me if I’m wrong):
Joeboy
Dickie Davies (2)
Morgo (2)
Chippy Minton
Retro Ringo
(I’ll put Mick in touch with Joeboy)
25 July 2026
Phyllis Triggs
I am also in the market for a Leeds ticket please, Chris. I was going to swerve this one as the timing’s awkward for me – but what with the recent hiatus and now the possibility of a gig rapidly approaching, I find I’m getting a bit antsy!
25 July 2026
HVOSM
I’ll also take a Leeds ticket if one becomes available, but I’m quite happy to remain rooted to last-place in the pecking order including any others who join the queue after me.. and I’ll only take one if it’ll otherwise go to waste. Simply because I’m a bit brassic at the moment, but not completely so.
26 July 2026
Hedley verity
I’m presuming from Exxo’s chat with Nigel that there is little chance of a postponement for Leeds on 14th August, Sadly if it doesn’t change, I’m going to have to miss the gig as I’ve got a funeral set for that day. Looking at the options on DICE, the ticket can be sent to a friend if they are on your contact details, so that will probably be my best option.
27 July 2026
Phyllis Triggs
Very glad to say that I am now sorted for a ticket. Looking forward to Leeds Leeds Leeds!!!
28 July 2026
Hendrix-tattoo
That’s great news, Lou….
29 July 2026
Horror clown
Fees on tickets really annoy me. I don’t know what the Leeds ones are but here are the details for 2 tickets for the other three gigs:
Oxford: £12.80 fees, 23.3% of face value, 18.9% of total
Rock City Nottingham: £1.50 fees, 2.6% of face value, 2.5% of total
Electric Ballroom, Camden: £8.90 fees, 16.2% of face value, 13.9% of total
So Oxford is the most because it’s run by Ticketmaster. Surely there are non TM venues in Oxford?
29 July 2026
Alice van der meer
Likewise, especially as I can no longer dodge them by turning up in person, because there’s no longer a box office.
I can only think of the Bullingdon as an alternative – I can’t see any of the university venues or the town hall being HMHB-friendly.
29 July 2026
Lambchops
Aye, Jericho Tavern is a nice venue, but a bit on the small side.
Strangely enough, the only time I got myself to an HMHB gig was at Cambridge Junction, despute being based in Oxford at the time. Despite such traitorous behaviour the quad remained mercifully blood free.
Speaking of getting to gigs, Youtube was pushing The Electric Ballroom at me. Couldn’t see any tickets though, my understanding is that this is a rearranged gig and as such unlikely to be tickets, is that right?
30 July 2026
Irish Niall
@Hendrix-tattoo: Thanks for pointing out the Mixtape podcast, Tone! I was wondering when that’d see the light of day.
Looking forward to catching up with you all or as many of you as possible next week in Leeds. We’ll have the 14 year old in tow popping his HMHB cherry so I’ll be relatively well behaved. Staying in the Premier Inn closest to the venue if anyone else is up for a scoop afterward (guessing you can’t bring a 14yo into anywhere more convivial at that hour in the UK either. Reasonable enough I suppose).
But first we’re off to The Netherlands this week to visit the older lad in Eindhoven AND go see Mr Ice-T with his Body Count chums (@exxo -that No Lives Matter ditty really is top drawer indeed isn’t it?). We’re making our own fun that night as the lad we’re visiting has settled in so well he’s scored a box ticket for PSVs season opener. No fear of him. He’s even found and signed for the local GAA team Eindhoven Shamrocks!
Talk soon y’all
4 August 2026
dr DEsperate
Excellent Niall, I’m Premiering too.
5 August 2026
dr DEsperate
Did we reach a consensus on the pre-match pub?
5 August 2026
EXXO
I’ll put some more pub thoughts here a bit later. Niall and John being at the Premier Inn does change things for afterwards. You’re defo in the Wellington Street Prem, John? I think there are 6 Premiers in Leeds, and 2 more that claim to be, in that “Frankfurt (Hahn)” sort of way.
5 August 2026
dr DEsperate
Defo Wellington St Prem. From what I can make out it doesn’t have a bar, so after-match drinks would have to be in an adjacent hostelram. With a 14-year-old on the strength this would have to be somewhere with a “children’s certificate” (?)
5 August 2026
EXXO
@Doc (and Niall). It has a bar counter adjacent to the reception, with spirits and a few bottles in the fridge: Peroni, Doom Bar, Kopparberg etc.They tell me they don’t serve after 11pm if non-guests are involved in the group. This means non-guests arriving after a likely10.30 pm+ gig finish, at say 10.43pm, might be stretching it if they say stockpiled 2 bottles …
(Plus some nights they can just decide the bar is closed earlier, according to recent website feedback – I have known this to happen meself at other Premier Inns, TBH).
Most pubs close at midnight on Fridays. But it’s another 5-10 minute walk across dual carriageways, etc, to the nearest pub, which also takes anyone not staying at that Premier Inn out of their way…
I have another possible solution to the after-gig get-together, if there is one. Will message Niall on FB.
Will post more about pre-gig meet-up pub in the morning. Hey Tony, do you reckon you’ll be in Leeds mid-afternoon?
5 August 2026
Irish Niall
Yep, Wellington Street’s the one.
Looking forward to it. I like a nice Premier Inn me. Soulless, utterly charmless yet …consistent.
We’re getting one in Limerick y’know!
5 August 2026
Phyllis Triggs
Does anyone know the stage times for the Leeds gig please? It is unlikely I will be staying over for this one, and as I don’t want to drive into Leeds I’m currently considering driving to Skipton and getting the train in from there. Post gig the late train to Skipton leaves at 23:20 which should be do-able?
5 August 2026
Irish Niall
@Phyllis Triggs
Venue is 10-15 minute walk from the station so even if they ran well beyond 10.30 you’d be fine I daresay.
5 August 2026
Hendrix-tattoo
@Exxo
If all goes to plan, I should get into Leeds at ten past two in the afternoon. And then checking in at the Ibis.
6 August 2026
EXXO
Ibis. Marlborough Street? You’re practically neighbours with the Wellington Street Premier Inn lads then, Tony. Handy for the gig, but not for a city centre meet-up. It’s a damn shame there isn’t a decent pub right there, but partly I guess that was the idea in starting Project House – that people don’t have much choice but to drink at the venue.
6 August 2026
EXXO
So – one week to go – who’s up for meeting up by the canal near the station next Friday?
Guide 1: The Leeds station / The Granary Warf/ Canal area
The south entrance of Leeds station- the ticket barrier at the top of the escalators from platform 16 is little-known and little-used. But it brings you down further escalators, to the coolest place in Leeds – literally, temperature-wise – the famous “dark arches” where the sacred river Aire runs under the station, through caverns measureless to man. Two of the first arches you come to outside house the cavernous Ossett Brewery bar The Hop. Always cool on a hot day. I had imagined buying Tony a quick pint of Guinness there, before maybe sitting and whiling away some of the afternoon at a table just over the canal, next to a restored 200-year old crane, outside a stately 249 year-old canal warehouse that is now the Water Lane Boathouse pub. There are usually free tables there any afternoon, where if you’re lucky you might even see some 4 mph action from some narrow boats coming through the locks.
I do recommend this ‘Granary Wharf’ area as a different side to the normal experience of Leeds, and from there it’s just 15 minutes walk along the towpath to the gig at Project House. The sign on the towpath says “Liverpool 127 miles” and when you get near the gig you haven’t quite reached the sign that says “Liverpool 126 miles.” It really is the best way to get there and back from the city centre (but allow an extra 5-6 minutes on the way back, as that south entrance of the station may be closed and it’s best to leave the towpath at Whitehall Road).
If you have a couple of hours to spare in this area just south of the station, some of the best old boozers in Leeds are not far away – the Midnight Bell and its neighbour the Cross Keys are the nearest, with the legendary Grove a few minutes further away (behind the ‘Dalek’ building). If you get as far as the Grove, play the game of trying to identify all the musicians portrayed on the gig room walls. Any of these pubs would be a good destination for a pint after walking back from the gig at 11pm, if you’re staying near the station maybe. They all close at midnight on Fridays. All have a range of fine ales, but none of those beer ranges can compare with the Northern Monk taproom, a few minutes deeper down into the industrial heritage landscape of our local Holbeck area. If you get that far, don’t miss the ancient Egyptian-inspired ‘Temple Works’ mill, one building of which is currently unwrapped and therefore visible, while its larger neighbour lies wrapped in plastic and awaiting its restoration to one day, eventually, become The British Library (Leeds). You’ll notice there are almost zero shops in this area, which helps it retain that post-industrial feel, but tower-blocks are going up everywhere you look, including some that have cut off the view of those lovely Italianate mill chimneys you used to see when arriving by train.
So yes, who’s up for meeting in the afternoon, near the station, for a pint or two by the canal?
[Incidentally, this Granary Wharf/Holbeck are is also a great place to visit if anyone’s heading to/from Elland Road on Saturday for the friendly match]
Guide 2: Boozers not too far from the hotels by the gig (if you’re in Premier Inn Wellington Street, the Ibis over the road from there, and whatever that other one on Wellington St is called)
Galleria bar, attached to Project House, open all afternoon, same ownership, but a separate entity, does sell decent keg beer. So does Project House itself, which opens at 7pm, and let’s face it the support act look decent. So you might just want to meet your mates there.
By the way, you can take the virtual tour of a very empty Project House on their website and you’ll get a good idea of how un-glamorous the rock’n’roll backstage life can be – the bands get a couple of sofas, a kettle and a view of some white breeze blocks! A video on the venue’s website shows food vans like a pizza van for a past event – dunno if there will be any this time though, because although you’ll notice an outdoor stage, they are currently having some difficulties with their outdoor license, I’ve heard.
Of course at the Premier Inn there, if you’re a retired liberal, you’re only 950 metres from where Countdown was filmed for its first 27 years -ooh Carol. About two thirds of the way along that road, so let’s say 600m from the Premier Inn, 800m from the gig, is the Kirkstall Brewery tap. Some of the best beer in Leeds with decent stonebaked pizzas (more substantial than the stonebaked flatbreads at the Galleria by the venue – the latter does look overpriced). Link to pizza menu etc at the Kirkstall tap https://kirkstallbrewerytap.co.uk/ That might be somewhere to meet before the gig for folks parking at those hotels, or otherwise near the gig, but a bit of a detour for anyone walking from the city centre.
(Next to the Premier Inn, by the way, is a Persian restaurant that also does a few pizzas but I wouldn’t expect the non-Persian food to be decent there. the Iranian crepes may be another matter)
Another very decent boozer about 200m north of the Ibis is the Fox and Newt. All such places open till midnight. Likewise a bit of a detour for anyone not staying in those hotels. Most roads around there are difficult-to-cross dual carriageways that will remind you of the Wolverhampton gig in November.
7 August 2026
Chippy Minton (socialist)
Thankfully, I have managed to secure myself a ticket for next week.
I have actually purchased 2 as that was the only way of getting one, but only need 1. I have a spare as a result – I believe Retro Ringo was next in line for a single ticket on the list if still in need? If anyone could put us in touch that would be great, cheers.
Looking forward to it and potentially see you all at the pub beforehand, although I might be driving back same night and unable to enjoy some fine Yorkshire ales.
7 August 2026
Eric Ludlow
Thanks Exxo, if I may be familiar enough to be on first name terms? The canal route and hostelry looks great. As an aside, and not sure if this is permitted, I have found myself in possession of two copies of Back in the DHSS (vinyl, logistical error). Happy to bring it to Leeds and part with it for £20 beer voucher 😉
9 August 2026
Chippy Minton (socialist)
Still have x1 ticket available for Friday.
Apologies – it is not long after my most recent post, but hopefully can sort a fellow disciple (and aware the clock is ticking).
@Retro Ringo still need one?
10 August 2026
Ali bongo
Hi Chippy, certainly interested in your Friday spare if it’s still going?
10 August 2026
Michael
@chippy minton (socialist) – do you still have your spare ticket? If so, I’d like it please.
..and if anyone has another one, please let me know! Ideally my lad Peter would like to come too. We thought we were going to be away so didn’t get tickets. But we’re not.
10 August 2026
Chris The Siteowner
I’m feeding these requests through to the people offering tickets, as much in order as I can, so hopefully it’ll work out. Any more spares anyone? Let me know direct at chris@chrisrand.com if you like.
10 August 2026
EXXO
Fingers crossed for you and Peter getting tickets, @Mike. I’d wager you’ll get sorted sure enough. Hope to see you there!
@Tony. Quick pint at the station before you go to your hotel? Text me if so.
From about 3.30pm, Some of us will be near Granary Wharf, at the Water Lane Boathouse hostelry, at one of the tables near the canal, by the old iron & wood crane. The quickest way across the canal from the station is the first lock gate, where the canal starts its 127-mile trek along the Pennine contours, right by the ‘water taxi’ place. And you will know us by the trail of piccalilli and maroon.
Niall has an early flight Saturday it seems, so understandably isn’t up for a small gathering I had tentatively suggested after the gig. I do therefore think that the Fox & Newtwould be the logical post-gig watering hole for those in & around the Premier Inn/Ibis area. Well, that’s where I’m offering to buy Tony a post-gig pint and hoping Johnny B and who knows, others might join us? (The pub is also by a couple of late-night takeaways). It’s 200m north of the Ibis, so what’s that, about 500m from the gig? Closes midnight.
11 August 2026
chippy minton (socialist)
I’ve been posting under this daft pseudonym but worth noting, real name is Rory – hi all. I will be driving from Liverpool after work as sadly on a course I can’t get out of (which has the potential to run until 5:30 or even 6).
I was wondering if anybody might have caught wind of the set times? Likely I will sadly miss the support and a pre-match pint but hopeful I can get there in plenty time before kick off. Cheers.
11 August 2026
EXXO
Nothing official yet @Rory, but ‘doors 7pm’ means HMHB won’t start earlier than 8.30, and history shows they won’t start later than 9pm. The support have a “big stage presence” and such acts inevitably over-run slightly, so the overs/unders market will probably be set at about 8.45 pm. We’ll probably hear officially before Friday.
11 August 2026
dr DEsperate
There’ll be a few of us Premieristas at the Kirkstall Brewery Tap from 3 onwards, pizza-ing there from 5 then down to the gig early doors at 7. I may be in-city earlier in the afternoon, possibly sampling the wares at Whitelock’s.
11 August 2026
Rory
Some serious intel. Thanks @Exxo, much appreciated.
I’ll check what price PaddyPower have for the under.
11 August 2026
EXXO
That is excellent news. I am sure that he whom Bridge 225D is named after would approve this deployment. By use of towpath and velocipede I shall be able to span both flanks.
11 August 2026
D LIST PAUL ROSS
Last time I went in Whitelock’s, a few weeks back it was rammed with (ugh) young people, with hair and teeth and a lack of beer guts, very distressing. Better than the time in 1993 when the side room was holding a National Front meeting though.
11 August 2026
EXXo
I can’t remember the last time I went to a pub in the central shopping area, or why.
11 August 2026
dr DEsperate
Whitelock’s is equidistant between two excellent comic book shops, which is the main reason I go there, except that I once met Steve Lamacq (q v) there by chance.
11 August 2026
Cream Cheese and Chives
Hoping to get to the Kirkstall Tap , train willing. I am intrigued by the thought of a band with a support band with ‘a large stage presence’.
12 August 2026
Retro ringo
Thanks to the most excellent Chippy Minton, I’ll be there tomorrow, will aim to get to the Kirkstall Tap pre gig festivities!
13 August 2026
EXXO
Having recommended that Granary Wharf area for its position for anyone walking to the gig along the towpath, its refreshing waterside breezes (created inter alia by the wings of the swans when you annoy them), and its sheltering umbrellas on these sweltering days … I now note (with no added opinionating) that tomorrow afternoon it will be about nine degrees cooler than it is now. I still recommend it, and will still be there outside the Water Lane Boathouse pub at some point, but some other factors have changed for me & Mrs Exxo and there is no arranged gathering of folks off here there.
I’ll see some of you in the Kirkstall Brewery Tap.
13 August 2026
CHEMtrail brian
Any other early arrivals in Leeds fancy going for a glass of beer?
13 August 2026
Chris The Siteowner
I’ve posted the Leeds gig reviews page a day early as it comes with a tribute that gig-goers might want to know about beforehand. Raise a glass.
13 August 2026
Exxo
There’s a free gig at the Brudenell tonight. Local post punk. I should have told folks a couple of days ago as the free tix may need booking thru See Tickets – nice to see a total of £0.00 +£0.00 fees though.
13 August 2026
Boris the walrus
Folks,
Not at Leeds. Have a wonderful evening and can’t wait to read the reports and the stories. I’ll raise a glass* to you all tomorrow evening.
*OK, it will be more than one.
13 August 2026
Wobs
Because I’m an idiot, I forgot to get a ticket for a friend. Does anyone have a spare ticket please?
14 August 2026
Rory
Last minute query. What time will folk be going from Kirkstall Brewery to the venue? Despite being a 25 year old solo attendee, I’ll be on the later side of arrival times so just wondering where I’m best heading.
14 August 2026
JED THE HUMANOID
@142 Rory. I’ll be at Kirkstall Brewery at 6:30 with my son around your age, booked in for a pizza and aiming to leave there around 7:30.
If the time suits more than happy to meet up.
14 August 2026
Tim Tam
I’m staying at the Ibis, so I think I’ll join some of you for beer & pizza at the Kirkstall Brewery Tap if I’m welcome…
14 August 2026
deaddogsmoking
If anyone pre-gig spots a grumpy looking guy sporting an Ipswich Town away shirt and a pair of Ernie Wise tribute legs then please say ‘hello’. The grumpiness is just a defence mechanism built up over 50 years or so and I am nearly always perfectly approachable.
14 August 2026
Cream Cheese and Chives
Having driven from Kendal, I am now sat at Clapham station near Ingleton. It is the quaintest station I have ever seen and I fully expect my train to disgorge perky squaddies coming home on leave and urchin evacuees wary of the fields and the welcoming committee of ruddy faced locals. A great start to the first gig of 2026 for me. I fully expect not to bother the scorers in the prediction stakes but the lovely tribute at the head of the gig’s review page has captured perfectly what special nights these can be. What a beautiful piece to post! Good luck Sarah. Hoping to meet some of you in the Kirkstall Tap later.
14 August 2026
Eric Ludlow
Assuming folk who wouldn’t necessarily take HMHB as their Mastermind subject are welcome, see y’all at Kirkstall Tap 🙂
14 August 2026
EXXO
Just been past what used to be the awful TGI Fridays eatery next to the Premier Inn. I just wanted to stress the fact that as it has literally in the last couple of days changed from the “Persian and Mediterranean restaurant” that I mentioned to just a “Mediterranean restaurant,” with the new logo for its different name very similar to the last quite distinctively styled one, this does not necessarily mean that
(i) all my other info is shite as well
or (ii) that it’s gonna be any good (the garish pictures of the food suggest that its shite but that kids might like it).
14 August 2026
Wobs
Snatched victory from the jaws of defeat….. Got ticket from friend off Dice resale thing.
14 August 2026
Trelford Mills
Appreciate it’s a bit last minute, but I’ve found myself with a spare ticket for tonight. Something’s come up and my son is now unable to attend with me.
I guess time is a bit on the short side but if anyone within travelling distance of Leeds needs a ticket, it’s yours for the price of a small Whitbread Trophy Bitter (or equivalent).
Can arrange to meet outside venue or transfer ticket, though think you need the Dice app to do this whatever that is.
14 August 2026
Tony & jo
Any idea of stage times for tonight?
14 August 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Thanks to Mike C for his enormous collection of tickets, now uploaded to the Pre-2010 gigs listing page. VAR has now checked and verified another couple of dozen gigs.
Oooh, this is also the 65,000th comment on the site.
17 August 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Bloody hell, now I have to make a decision between the two loves of my life. Bollocks to Sky TV.
17 August 2026
nige nnto
Re old gigs
I have a poster for the MT and D album and the no regrets single that has “appearing live” all 1991
19 Oct Oxford Ice Rink
29 Oct Wolverhampton civic centre
then the 3 November gigs on the site
Manchester Uni, Mean Fiddler and MK the pits
17 August 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Photos of any posters or tickets would be very welcome. Email to chris@chrisrand.com – cheers.
17 August 2026
GORDON BURNS
Just got myself a ticket direct from the venue. Holmfirth, 28th May 2027:
https://www.picturedrome.net/tickets/Half-Man-Half-Biscuit/20270528.htm
18 August 2026
Phyllis Triggs
Noooo! That’s Bearded Theory weekend!!!
18 August 2026
EXXO
HMHB making their eleventh appearance at the definitive HMHB venue. Certainly the only venue they’ve played that many times without me missing any! EFL play-offs weekend at Wembley, my “will you still need/feed/wine/dine me?” birthday weekend, Premier League last game on the Sunday.
18 August 2026
eric t'viking
Splendid tip there, @Gordon Burns. Have followed your fine example; accommodation too. Now I’d better get some work done…
18 August 2026
Hendrix-tattoo
Cheers, Steve. But what a bloody kerfuffle….
18 August 2026
dr DEsperate
In (inc in Inn).
18 August 2026
johnny kwango
Walking past Tickets Scotland I see in their window Half Man Half Biscuit Friday 9th April 2027 Liquid Room, yet nothing on their website …
24 August 2026
EXXO
Our intelligence network, their beaks to the ground everywhere from the Firth of Forth to the firth of the Holm, is surely the envy of the gig-seeking world. even Putin must envy how we glean. Thanks for the heads-down, JK!!
24 August 2026
johnny kwango
Phoned up. Tickets go on sale on Friday.
25 August 2026
GORDON BURNS
Excellent news JK. Can’t wait to start the planning. Always love a good excuse to visit Scotland.
25 August 2026
Sloppy
Ooh brill news, thanks JK.
Getting a nice bunch of gigs next year.
25 August 2026
ALEX
Edinburgh tickets purchased. Seems to only be Tickets Scotland that has them right now: even The Gig Cartel aren’t listing them and they are named on the tickets. So far, it seems to be a Secret Gig to all but the users of this site.
28 August 2026
GORDON BURNS
Got mine too. Happy to settle with an instantaneous E-ticket after all that Glasgow nonsense earlier this year.
28 August 2026
johnny kwango
Have purchased mine from TS as I can collect a physical ticket from the store, but I see the gig has now appeared on the Gigantic site too:
https://www.gigantic.com/half-man-half-biscuit-tickets/edinburgh-the-liquid-room/2027-04-09-19-00
28 August 2026
Sloppy
Just got mine too via the venue site/Tickets Scotland.
Now to plan a little mooch round Scotland
28 August 2026
EXXO
For birders of course it’s the time of year for a Bass Rock boat trip from North Berwick. Gannets galore, guillemots, etc, everything nesting and active, except maybe a week or two early to be sure of loads of puffins.
28 August 2026
Vince Mewett
Annoyingly I’m also having to make a choice between my two favourite things in life the other being Brighton and Hove Albion and as we are in the Czech Republic on the 22/10 I won’t be able to make the Oxford gig, so if anyone needs two I can transfer them from my ticketmaster account.
31 August 2026
dr DEsperate
Foolishly, I booked my tickets for Edinburgh through ENTS24 last week, and received email confirmation of payment via Paypal to The Way Ahead Group, which is now known as See Tickets, which is part of Eventim Group.
Infuriatingly, none of these organisations has since contacted me with any further information about the tickets I have paid for, nor have they appeared on any of the apps they insist I use, including two different See Tickets ones.
(“That Glasgow nonsense” last year involved me repeatedly trying to reset my password on the pavement outside the gig so that I could get in.)
1 September 2026
dr DEsperate
OK, they were in my spam filter (horrid phrase).
2 September 2026
GORDON BURNS
I’m just embarrassed that I thought Glasgow was earlier this year. That’s what a gig drought does to your memory.
2 September 2026
Johnny Kwango
@DrD #173
Having only today bought tickets from See Tickets for the (last ever) Audioweb gig later this year and successfully receiving an email from them (See Tickets) a few minutes later, I was just about to post a “have you checked your junk and spam folders?” message when I caught sight of your follow-up message. Glad that’s all sorted. I did however notice that my phone wallet tickets for the Nottingham gig have greyed out due to the event being in the past despite it actually having been moved to 2027. As tickets are still valid without being reissued, I don’t think there’s any way round that, but I do have printed copies (which are much less worrying).
4 September 2026
Hendrix-tattoo
@JK
Audioweb, Later on in the year. I’ll have a bit of that.
I knew Martin the lead singer he used to work on the post with me many years ago. The last time I saw him was Stone Roses Spike Island…
4 September 2026
Chris Cotterill
Steve Hill
An really enjoying the book especially as I was at one or two of the gigs you wrote about
Great effort 👍👏
8 September 2026
BROADSHEET acceptable
Many thanks, Chris. Much appreciated. It was a labour of love…
9 September 2026
Johnny seca
If anyone has Oxford tickets, can I buy them please?
10 September 2026
Chris The Siteowner
As a bit of between-giggery, I notice that Mark Whitworth has posted on the socials: “Paging any #HMHB lovers who fancy a night (24 Oct) in a brilliant Loughborough pub listening to yours truly covering a couple of hours worth of their classics. If you are interested, please let me know – entry is free but there is limited space upstairs. Please spread the word!”
Poster here • X • Bluesky
15 September 2026
EXXO
Another post on his socials reminds me to ask whether the ‘East Lothian Question’ has been resolved yet – i.e. has the jarg merch that he promotes got any sort of official permission to use the IP?
15 September 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Mark, and other people, have reposted on their socials merch being offered by fans and other artists. My own attitude here is that the band have a deal with Seeds to create and sell limited official merchandise – namely t-shirts and tote bags. Maybe other things – I don’t know – but they’re not offering anything else. So I’m not going to promote anything (e.g. t-shirts) on this site that competes with those.
But other products – in particular, fan-art produced posters – I’m more than happy to mention, if they’re made by fans with love. They’re not ‘jarg’ if they’re not copying and ripping off something official. The band or their approved outlet aren’t participating in that market, so nobody loses, and the fans who make the stuff and those who buy it are happy. I’ve had a brief conversation with NB10 on this, and while the band presumably wish that such issues didn’t exist, life is too short and they don’t see the point of getting uppity about things. I hope that’s all that needs to be said.
• Our ‘merch’ page is here.
15 September 2026
Exxo
My impression after such conversations recently, is slightly different, in that NB certainly doesn’t wish to make any fuss, especially as the scales are rather small, but does fundamentally and morally object to anyone making money out of his/their name and songs. Make the items for mates if you will, at cost price, DIY ethos, if it truly is “a labour of love” and a “tribute.” Ask for permission from Seeds (the licence holder) if you are doing anything that looks like it might money, or is using a substantial amount of NB’s references in one go. This applied to something I helped design recently, as you know Chris, so conversations were detailed and I got the full low-down.
And we should all call out any scumbags we notice flogging shit stuff on a larger scale on Redbubble or the like.
15 September 2026
The Tutor With The Beard and The Polio
@CTSO. The poster’s actually free if you subscribe to 16 lbs of turmeric every five weeks.
15 September 2026
CrownGREENbowler(29)
Letters sent re. ‘jarg merch.’
16 September 2026
Crowngreenbowler(29)
I received a response from Miles at Seeds Records about the ‘jarg merch’:
“I have now spoken to the band about it and the bottom line is really that, if you are only doing a handful of them then you are not making a massive profit from the band’s name so they don’t really have any objections.”
I would add that I am still to break even from the enterprise (cue Simon Bates’ Our Tune music), as I have paid up front for printing and packaging plus I absorb the cost of postage, but it was never about the money. I made something primarily for myself and, after showing it to friends, decided to make it available to others who i thought would like it. And if I ended up being able to afford some post-apocalyptic Allen keys on the back of it, then happy days.
21 September 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Thanks David, that’s exactly as I understood it.
David’s “Underground Map” poster, as well as Ed’s “Elements” and “Mileage Chart” ones, can be found here, alongside all the official Seeds stuff and Steve’s book.
21 September 2026
EXXO
Excellent – the importance of getting permission first is exactly as I understood it too, and until then things are dodgy, which is why I urged getting permission from the official licence holder [the band don’t necessarily express their full feelings on the matter when they don’t want to make a fuss, but then I’ll try to avoid sounding like Mr. Spokesman].
21 September 2026
EXXO
Hope Ed can get some sort of green light for the other thing I mentioned too then.
21 September 2026
Transit full of Keith
I ring up dial-a-poster
I ring up dial-a-poster
I ring up dial-a-poster
And say ‘that’s not where I would put Llanberis’
21 September 2026
parsfan
I noticed someone on Reddit selling a couple of Oxford tickets for £20 each (2 * 20 = 47.20) if anyone’s not got round to it yet. Ticketbastard resale.
“Limited availability” on the main site.
22 September 2026
CrownGREENbowler(29)
plan, plot, print, roll, parcel and dispatch
22 September 2026
Chris The Siteowner
Two tickets available for Oxford. Contact me at chris@chrisrand.com for details.
25 September 2026
Ian spriggs
Hi
I tried to get tickets for Edinburgh, when I press buy tickets, I get a page not found message. Does that mean they are not on sale yet.
25 September 2026
Johnny kwango
Assuming this is a genuine query and I’m not falling for some wind-up I am failing to see, I would advise that tickets are definitely on sale as I already have mine. You haven’t said which website you are using but I just checked Tickets Scotland and everything was fine:
https://tickets-scotland.com/whats-on/half-man-half-biscuit-2/book/3376
26 September 2026
Alan
Chris paid you for one of the Oxford tickets mate
(Thanks – CtSO)
28 September 2026
Isaac know it all
Unfortunately, I now have 2 tickets available for Oxford.
29 September 2026
dr DEsperate
Crapsons supporting at Oxford, promoting their new (first full studio) album ‘Sunshine on Keith’ (not to be confused with Leith, or TFoK).
2 October 2026
ThE MASTER OF THE STRAT
Now then. Half Mandolin Half Biscuit will be up to some malarkey in Edale on Saturday October 17 at The Rambler Inn (a few minutes walk from the station). There are two local bands on before us, Bella Hardy and Beyond Hope, then we’re doing one set at 7:30. There will very likely be a session after that, and I guess anything could happen at that point depending on who wants to sing/play what. It would be lovely to see you if you can make it.
4 October 2026
Johnny seca
@isaac know it all
Are the 2 tickets for Oxford still available?
6 October 2026
Irish Niall
I’m-a-comin’ to Oxford!!
The prospect of being involved in industrial action on my end threw plans for a longer stay into disarray and I left it so late to commit I’ll be staying in The Gilded Wheelie Bin on Flatbackers Lane by the looks of things.
But shur I’ll be in out of the rain -and travelling alone this jaunt anyway so how bad?
Yes!!!
7 October 2026
EXXO
You there on the Thursday night with guitar, Niall? As I mentioned many, errm moons ago, the Half Moon hosts an open mic with a great reputation on Thursdays, but it’s 10-min slots only. I had a half-arsed idea a couple of months back to actually do proper research into getting a pub room booked for you for an apres-show on the Friday, but life got in the way. Not sure if I’m even coming down meself in the end. Have a great one if I don’t see you.
7 October 2026
Irish Niall
Thanks Exxo, might see you yet.
Though originally planned as a two or even three-nighter, this’ll be one of my smash and grab raids on Britain.
Should make it into Oxford a little after 3pm on the Friday, pizza, gig, a few hours sleep and on an early train back to Birmingham airport for the flight home on Saturday.
Thanks for your consideration and efforts. We’ll make that post gig thing happen some time, somewhere.
7 October 2026
EXXO
Love it. Epic all-night return journeys after gigs are a speciality for me too, as you may remember from after your Cork gig (when I was the only punter in the airport at one point), and the 2 am Limerick to Dublin Airport bus is still high on my ‘to do’ list.
7 October 2026
Irish Niall
@Exxo: “the 2 am Limerick to Dublin Airport bus is still high on my ‘to do’ list”
As undisputed world heavyweight champion Drederick Tatum once said to a flirtatious, nay amorous Edna Crabapple
“Truss’ me, you don’t want that…”
7 October 2026
Boris the walrus
Comment about travelling by coach in Ireland reminds me of one of the lads seeing a sign saying 40km to Dublin, and asking how far that was in miles.
Being told it was about 25 miles, he said that it wasn’t as far then.
Bless.
7 October 2026
Mark
I have 2 tickets to sell for Oxford. Ticketmaster job so we’d need to do the transfer thing
8 October 2026
Andrew b
I also have two spare tickets for oxford, Friday 23rd.
11 October 2026