Street parties in Stockton along with the usual ones in Redcar as HMHB turn up to play. Have the band ever played in the town before? I can’t find any record of it. Always pushing down the barriers. Was it a gig to match the occasion though?
Street parties in Stockton along with the usual ones in Redcar as HMHB turn up to play. Have the band ever played in the town before? I can’t find any record of it. Always pushing down the barriers. Was it a gig to match the occasion though?
Dr Desperate
Your weather forecast for Stockton: warm and dry, with a great deal in the way of sunshine. Outbreaks of shit arms, bad tattoos expected later.
8 June 2013
ds
Stockton is a place they’ve visited before. It was even (sort of) the same venue. The Arc is pretty much where the old Dovecot Arts Centre used to be, and they played there back in 1986, I think.
I didn’t (to my eternal regret) get to that gig but a load of my mates did and passed on tales at the time of the band singing “a song about Hattie Jacques”, and that it was a blinder.
There was a definite salute this time for the town with “the widest high street in England”, and a special version of Time Flies By for one end of the first passenger railway in the world!
Cracking gig and the repartee was pretty top notch, as it happens. A great night.
9 June 2013
Steve Harrison
A beautiful gig, played with an ease and purpose of the 1970s Brazil side – doffed a cap to Teesside’s footballing greats Stuart Boam, Alan Foggon and the mighty Frank Spraggon! I had a little weep at the end of Joy Division Oven gloves as The famous My Grandfather’s Clock song quoted at the end is still around – up the road in The George at Piercebridge, which is the home of the clock, song and the legend it describes – a beautiful moment – and Nigel got some crisps too, which was nice.
9 June 2013
mick ransom
Stockton 8th June – Highlights for me were Numanoid, Trumpton, Look Dad, Oven Gloves (bloke wearing one), Bob Wilson and Chatteris. Good Apache rendition too (“sing along if you know the words”). The lads and lasses at the front were rockin’ all night – oh, and a shout out from Nigel to the gadgey with the King Of Hi-Vis vest. Top venue is the ARC… ‘We’ll ne’er forget the happy hours we spent within her walls’.
9 June 2013
kingsbeef
After the slow and steady start this ended up a blinder. Bob Wilson, Apache & a raging Trumpton was a rollicking good close. And Vitas Gerulaitis has gone up in my estimations. But Time Flies By (my first time live) was my highlight. Respect to first timers Chris and Greg who drove up from Swansea for it and were only disappointed by the Parmos sold across the road after the gig (“chicken breast in a bitumen sauce”). And does anyone know a keyboard player?!
9 June 2013
Dr Desperate
Excellent gig; town better than expected.
Unusual hybrid set-up at the Arc, with rows of seating along one side of the dancefloor and a balcony above, but brilliant sound and excellent light-show, of which support band Roja (violins, trumpet) were taking full advantage when we arrived from the Storytellers (Black Sheep bitter, not in the best of condition if truth be told).
After the briefest of breaks the lads were on, all in shorts except Ken. Nigel had apparently warned him against wearing jeans in hot weather at Glasgow the night before, but he wasn’t due to have his tag removed until next week.
Fantastic set (from a tattered setlist but correct as far as I can recall):
The Light At The End Of the Tunnel
Venus In Flares
Numanoid Hang-glide
Mountain Bikes
Korfball
Bob Todd
Dean Friedman
Turned Up, Clocked on, Laid Off
Fred Titmus
Look Dad, No Tunes
Left Lyrics
Problem Chimp
Fix It So She Dreams of Me
Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite
Chatteris
National Shite Day
Evening Sun
Outbreak of Vitas Gerulaitis
Vatican Broadside
Bad Wools
Dukla Prague Away Kit
We Built This Village on a Trad Arr Tune
Time Flies By
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Bob Wilson Anchorman
Apache (The Shads)
Trumpton Riots
A few numbers had been crossed off the list (4AD3DCD, Sponsoring the Moshpits, Fear My Wraith) and Petty Sessions was on it but wasn’t played. Someone called for ‘Old Tige’ and was rewarded with a couple of lines (“I bet you cried when Jim sang it”).
‘Boro favourites Frank Spraggon, Alan Foggon and Stuart Boam spotted in the crowd.
Nigel reads the Radio Times, but only for the editorials by Alison Graham. I suggested she was a TV guru, he corrected this to ‘guress’. He’d only recently eaten squid for the first time, at Neil’s suggestion, then tried to cook it at home but it kept reaching out a tentacle to turn the gas off.
The usual enumeration of A-roads on the route from Glasgow to Stockton: Nigel stayed in the van and listened to Nirvana while the band sampled the delights of Moffatt. Like Tebay, it thinks it’s better than it is.
.
In ‘Vitas Gerulaitis’ it was Monica Lewinsky all along.
‘Time Flies By’ was introduced as “one about your town” and had the train speeding out of Stockton and the plane touching down in Thornaby.
‘Chatteris’ was originally going to be set in Yarm.
In ‘We Built This Village’ moshers and joggers were interchanged, and the best line in ‘Korfball’ (“Rotterdam is cock-a-hoop…”) was unforgivably replaced with a repeat of “Netherlands are strong again”.
“Transformer” in DPAK wasn’t altered to another Lou Reed album title.
Hope Jitsu-G made it back to the Travelodge.
9 June 2013
Steve Harrison
Great link added to my post much appreciated – some one will have learned about my grandfather’s clock & Frank Spraggon & I learned about the thrills of Korfball – I’ve seen Bowie in the 70s and I didnt learn half as much as from the HMHB gig in Stockton
9 June 2013
NoT ROGER GREEN EITHER
Another confession extracted from Roger Green, before he was released from the Water-Boarding Van (he loves it really):
Roger:
Clearly Tony and I are fussy eaters. On the Saturday morning it felt like we spent hours walking round Glasgow, searching for somewhere serving a decent breakfast, only to settle on a place about 100 yards from where we had started out. Fully refreshed, we then had another long walk as we couldn’t remember the location of the car park we had found the day before. Seasoned travellers, don’t you know. You always find things in the last place where you look. Tony’s car was still there where we had left it. So it was foot down to Stockton. Back south on the M6, over to Scotch Corner and the remaining few miles from there. Highlight of the journey was seeing Darlington football ground, or arena as it prefers to be known. A white elephant’s white elephant. Later on at the gig, we were told that the band had called at Housesteads. Nigel had stopped in the van again. And it was £2 for a Solero. No wonder he stayed where he was.
On arrival in Stockton, we had a wander round town, venue reconnaissance and all that. Does Stockton hold some kind of record for per capita fast food outlets? It has that distinct aura of a post-industrial northern landscape, with which I am familiar. We noted the contrast of the art centre with the rest of the town, before heading for apple pie and ice cream at the cafe across the road. This gave Tony the opportunity to ponder over Margaret Thatcher’s (disputed) role as a chemistry graduate in the development of the methodology of producing whipped ice cream. Needs Googling, I reckon.
The room for the gig was slightly smaller than you might be used to, with a low stage. Nothing wrong with that. A bit of intimacy, far better than the “moat” at the Glasgow venue. I don’t know if they operate a membership scheme or something, but there were a few folk there who perhaps didn’t appreciate what they were in for. I suspected that they might not be joining in with the Slipknot chorus. Then again, I hope they loved it all.
Roja were supporting again. In a sort of “try before you buy” transaction, Tony asked if he could play Rachel’s violin before they started. All well and good. Having bought their CD the night before, I was able to pick out The Evil Stands High and Heart Attack from their set. Another time and I’ll have a go at a full list. I also noticed the on stage anti-asthma inhaler. Rock and roll! And what spendid people they are. I look forward to them appearing around Leeds / Wakefield in their own right.
No sooner had HMHB walked on stage, than there was a request for Blitzkrieg Bop. Unlikely, but worth a shout. Nigel gave a nod to “the widest high street in Britain”. True, according to Tony’s subsequent research. I would guess it had a tram running down it at some time in the past. After that I’m afraid my notes become a bit sporadic. I was only standing about five feet from Nigel, but could hardly tell a word he was saying. I’m sure there is a bootleg somewhere that you can pick up if you need any details. Failing that, apologies if any of the following is wrong. It was good to hear that the rinsing of shorts had been sorted out by Nigel after the Glasgow gig. These little household chores need to be done. Much discussion afterwards about the ending of Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes. It may have been “That’s when I was saying, Harvester has run its course.” For some reason, Nigel pointed out to Ken that there were some Smoky Bacon crisps backstage. Of late, there has been a lack of celebrity spotting by Nigel. But tonight he picked out Stuart Boam somewhere in the seated area. Fairly regularly at these shows, there are shouts for Old Tige. Tonight Nigel gave us a verse. He also talked about having a ticket to see The Seekers but that had been cancelled due to Judith Durham’s illness. The Carnival Is Over, as Tony helpfully pointed out. It seems that Ken’s mate Sid was the first man in Wallasey to fall victim to ID Theft. I lost the thread of the discussion over Descent Of The Stiperstones. But it seems like they will play the song subject to volunteers coming forward to play keyboards. The keyboards themselves might also be useful. There was a story from a while back about the band having a pre-gig meal. Neil was having squid, and offered Nigel some. Nigel ate it, at which point Neil asked “You’re not allergic to it, are you?” Yeah, it would have been nice to have been asked that beforehand. Apparently, For What Is Chatteris was “nearly” written about Yarm. We Built This Village was written by Rufus Wainwright. Time Flies By was introduced to the locals as “a song to celebrate your town.” Bob Wilson Anchorman is “a song about a wrong decision”. Before Apache, Nigel said we could join in with the words if we knew them.
The set went as follows:
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Venus In Flares
Numanoid Hang Glide
Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes
Petty Sessions
Joy In Leeuwarden
99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd
The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus
Look Dad No Tunes
Left Lyrics In The Practice Room
Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show
Fix It So She Thinks Of Me
Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite
For What Is Chatteris
National Shite Day
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis
Vatican Broadside
Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
We Built This Village
Time Flies By When You’re The Driver Of A Train
Joy Division Oven Gloves
And the encore:
Bob Wilson Anchorman
Apache
Trumpton Riots
Straight afterwards, Howie tapped me on the shoulder and said “How much better was that than last night?” He followed up with a text on the Sunday morning, as follows. “Last night’s gig was simply THE best or at the very least, one of the best. The venue was top, the sound was great, the audience were straight into it from the very first chord – you could see the anticipation on their faces as if they’d been waiting a lifetime for a Biscuits gig and weren’t going to waste their opportunity to enjoy it – such a difference to Glasgow!”
A lot of people would agree with that. I maintain my theory that the town gigs are better than the city ones. The Stowmarket / Cambridge double-header will put that to the test.
Standing ovation to Tony for driving duties. Brum to Glasgow via Yorkshire, and back again is no light task. He also provided a late addendum. Will Hay was born in Stockton. Surprised Nigel missed that one.
Roger and out.
10 June 2013
Dr Desperate
The reference at the end of LUYMB was, I think, to ‘Autumnwatch’ running its course. Nigel went on to describe how it used to be broadcast every night but last autumn it was on for only four days. In his opinion Chris Packham was starting to believe his own publicity.
The bad news about Judith Durham led to the claim that The Seekers had written ‘Left Lyrics In The Practice Room’.
10 June 2013