A very rare trip to the south coast. Let’s head Winchester way and carry on as far as we can. How much more exotic can things get? Here’s what you thought.
A very rare trip to the south coast. Let’s head Winchester way and carry on as far as we can. How much more exotic can things get? Here’s what you thought.
Hayzer
Wow !
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You were so, so much more than I ever expected and I had high expectations of you.
Although the acoustics of the EngineRooms didn’t do the genius of your lyrics justice it gaveus fans an opportunity to hear how tight you were as a band. You were fucking brilliant and I loved ever minute of it
Please ,please visit us again down here, remember A34, M3, M27, M271 and Millbrook Rd. you know the way now, don’t be strangers
14 May 2016
Featureless tv producer steve (#2 – Ed)
Simply brilliant. From the opening refrain “She stayed with me until / she moved to Notting Hill” I was stood with a big grin on my face, singing along and generally having a fantastic time. Quite possibly the most enjoyable gig I’ve ever been too. Thanks guys for hauling your asses down South and I hope you didn’t get lost in IKEA.
14 May 2016
spencer thw
Set list from last night.
Light
Fred
Foam
Old age
Bob
Evening Sun
Hornbeam
Bad review
Turned up
Chatteris
Shit arm
Wrong grave
Bane
Paintball
Fix it
N SD.
Look dad no tunes
Jdog
Dpak
Vb
Trad arr
Time flies by
Aor
Cover? Can’t put ur arms around memory.
Outbreak vitus
Trumpton
14 May 2016
twistedkitemike
… and this could look very stupid.
I think that if a previous post does appear, I got to the point of noting that the stage intro music was the theme to “How The West Was Won.” Whether it was the beautiful version by The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is a secret only to be diddled out of Geoff Davies. Contact Probe Plus for more details.
And the lesson is to follow the instructions and type your post out in a word document first. Fortunately, I did not forge a career at GCHQ and yet another miscommunication between the brain and the fingers has not led to a nuclear warhead being launched in the direction of France.
Stroll on to Cardiff. It’s time to get a bit Welsh. I’ve got those Manic Street Preacher boys to see next week. We go back a long way.
Mike………………..
14 May 2016
twistedkitemike
Indeed, it does. One more reason why the internet and early onset dementia are a dangerous combination. I will therefore endeavour to recreate the original post that was lost, literally at the touch of a button. Take care when pressing the button, the wrong one can lead you into all sort of mucky puddles.
Let’s think…. Right, yeah, okay. Another fine evening in the City of Southampton, which appears to be undergoing a major facelift. (That bit is new). We convened to a rather large motor vehicle workshop in the midst of a light industrial park and although an unlikely place to find a venue, it was very pleasant. The sound was very good, the lads put on a top show and the staff at The Engine Rooms were all wonderfully friendly and enthused. House points to all.
Anyway, enough of the customary piffle. Here is the agenda: –
Light Tunnel
Fred
San Antonio
Old Age
Bob W
Evening Sun
Hornbeam
Bad Review
Clocked On
Chatteris
Shit Arm
Wrong Grave
Bane
Paintball
Fix It
NSD
Look Dad
JGOG
DPAK
Vatican
Trad Arr Tune
Time Flies By
AOR
………………………
Cover
Vitas G
Trumpton
The cover was “You can’t put your arms around a memory” by Johnny Thunders. It only transpires on double-checking the world wide plumbing thing this morning that the song was covered by the Guns ‘N Roses chaps. A gap in my musical knowledge and I can’t decide whether to be proud or ashamed?
Inevitably, much more banter and a reproduction of the evening’s entertainment will come from the pen of the Biscuit Bard, the Honourable (Not) Roger Green. A man that beautifully recreates the excitement of the experience of the evening and kudos to a man with the dedication, time and inclination to provide information for the Biscuit masses.
In conclusion, please revert to the previous post for the conclusion.
Wilco. Over and Out.
Mike………………………
14 May 2016
Martin
Great gig. Seeing the Biscuits live what you might lose out by not being able to catch all the lyrics but that’s more than made up for by the opportunity to witness a tight, dynamic outfit refined by years of playing together. Having said that many of the large number that filled the Engine Rooms last night were clearly die-hard fans who knew all the words anyway. It really was fantastic to see such a huge crowd turn out for a band that have given us so much pleasure over the years. May they continue to do so, and may they hurry back to see us ‘darn sarf’ soon. Oooh, what’s to do? Never a bad review.
14 May 2016
Lee gillingham
It took a while but I got the mosh going in the end
14 May 2016
Martin Smith
I know I said that I would cycle in
But you can park for free behind the Holiday Inn
And anyway I better not be late
My mate reckons they start at half-past eight…
JD Meatyard shouted northern songs
Excitement building in the merry throng
Lights go down and on stage walks this guy
On seeing who it was I gave a cry:
“Fuckin’ ‘ell, it’s Nige Blackwell!”
He sings of trains, of shopping, maps and birds
With cartographic references absurd
I have loved his nonsense for some thrity years
And seeing him is music to my ears
“Fuckin’ ‘ell, it’s Nige Blackwell!”
All the people here know all the words
One of the finest lyricists I’ve ever heard
It’s hilarious the things that he can rhyme
Ornithology, cake shops and petty crime
Half biscuit!
Half biscuit!
14 May 2016
featureless tv producer steve
What an amazing evening I’ve had.
First – I met someone, IN PERSON, who has actually heard of HMHB. At a pub here in Portland, Oregon, a friend of mine introduced me to a 50ish friend of hers who had a serious British accent, and so I figured, “Hey, a Englishman, proper age group, so maybe…” And so I asked him, “Have you heard of a band called Half Man Half Biscuit?” He looked at me oddly, tilted his head, gazed at the ceiling, and said, “Yes, I remember them.” He ignored my celebratory gestures while he wracked his brain and finally admitted that the only songs he knew were “Trumpton Riots” and “Fuckin’ Ell, It’s Fred Titmus”, but I didn’t care. For me, just meeting someone in real life who had heard of HMHB was enough. I was ecstatic. He then listened politely for the next 45 minutes or so while I loudly and drunkenly lectured him on HMHB, and why he should be listening to them NOW, and why he should be educating himself about everything what they’ve done since he moved to the states in 1998.
Then, I got home and logged on to my favorite website, only to discover that some lucky bastard whom I envy to the ends of the earth co-opted my user-name. Stringy Bob, I feel your pain.
CtSO – Many thanks for clarifying things, but how did you you know that the #2 Featureless TV Producer Steve was an imposter?
(Just had a hunch that a regular here living so remotely that they’d get excited just by bumping into someone else who’d heard of HMHB, might not casually rock up at a gig without any advance posting. See Gregg Z. By the way, with three appearances here in three years, it’s now about time for Gregg Z’s annual contribution – CtSO)
15 May 2016
John Anderson
FTVPS I was in Portland for a few days a couple of months ago. If I’d have known the US branch of the HMHB fan club was based there I’d have been happy to buy you a beer and discuss all things Blackwellian. Next time maybe. Strange town, mind. I’ve never seen so many hobos and strip clubs.
15 May 2016
featureless tv producer steve
@John Anderson – I would love to buy you a beer or three. Definitely contact me if you’re ever here again. That goes for anyone else here whoever finds themselves in Portland, Oregon.
And yes, we do have our share of strip clubs (Oregon’s Supreme Court has always vigorously defended the “free expression” clause in our state’s constitution), but we don’t call them hobos anymore. They’re “residentially-challenged.”
16 May 2016
G100
Marvellous evening. The Dancing Man turned out to be an excellent choice beforehand, the sun was shining, people were sat on the grass bank and the beer was tasty and refreshing.
Comments from stage about the size of the Ikea across the road – NB10 previously thought that Warrington had the biggest; someone called out something about ‘Click and Collect’. Apparently NB10 is ‘aware of the phrase’.
We were treated to some Welsh in an thinly-veiled attempt to show up the non-Welsh speaking Welshman in the audience.
We learned that Edinburgh is the more westerly city when compared to Bristol and Liverpool.
Couple of comments about a place in between Winchester and New Alresford that I can’t remember the name of. Apparently best to take a flask…
The venue was great, I had been concerned that I may have over-egged the quality of the sound in relation to the couple of times I’d seen Therapy? there, but I needn’t have worried really.
I was particularly pleased to hear Time Flies By and Old Age. I sincerely hope the lads can tolerate the Premier Inn at Cowley again and make another trip down here someday.
16 May 2016
Peter Mcornithologist
@ Mr.Steve.When singing Hobo Chang Ba by Captain Beefheart, is one obliged to change the lyrics when visiting Portland? Residentially Challenged Chang Ba just doesn’t cut it,
16 May 2016
cARRIE ANNE
The lovely Roger Green’s notes on the evening, as copied from Gez’s website:
Engine Rooms, Southampton, Fri 13th May 2016 (15/05/16)
Roger Green:
I can’t claim to know much about Southampton. Edric Thornton Bates, Matt Le Tissier, Jona Lewie, Bobby Stokes’ winner in 1976, Titanic set sail from there, Terry Paine (tremendous loyalty and great sidies). That’s about it. There’s also Craig David, of course (thanks, Karen,) And Tony was at University there. Oh, and one of my Mum’s friends moved there to get married. Well, actually, on checking, that was to Lymington. Miles away really.
Any gap between HMHB shows is too long. Not even The Lovely Eggs and/or Shatner and/or Stanley Brinks and/or a fine theatrical adaptation of The Damned United and/or Attila The Stockbroker can quite properly satisfy the appetite, although all these events provided a high quality of entertainment. It’s a fair old trip, and it was useful to have a direct train from Sheffield. If ever you do that run, make sure you have more than a copy of Metro to occupy your mind. That just about lasts you to Chesterfield. And there are still a fair few miles to cover after that.
One thing that I need to share. A couple of nights before this gig I was out for a curry with my sister and brother. We ended up back at my brother’s pub, where I was drawn to his fancy new digital juke box type machine. He has a fine selection of HMHB songs available. I chose Albert Hammond Bootleg to delight everyone. And the response. “It sounds like the Macc Lads”!! I really didn’t have an answer to that. I stayed silent and went back to my Leeds Pale.
Karen received a mixed up email about the gig. “Doors Open 19.00. Curfew 11pm.” Such blatant confusion over use of the twenty-four hour clock. Standards are falling. But we got by.
We were evidently not alone in Southampton. Howie followed us off the train, and Daz was also waiting at the station. Their agenda was more beer-based, ours was centred more around venue location and relaxation therapy. The Engine Rooms (note the plural) was based in the midst of a load of motor dealerships – Hyundai, Honda and Ford were all nearby, as well as various other engineering operations etc. For most of the rest of the day I had The Fall’s Industrial Estate buzzing around my head. That would have been an ideal cover version for the gig. While we were out and about, we met Neil. I was wearing my Urge For Offal t-shirt, making this the first occasion in my life where I have had a conversation with someone while wearing a t-shirt with their face on it. There’s a first time for everything.
We were on track for seeing the entire band at large when later on we saw Nigel and Denise. Thanks to them for the directions to the Marks And Spencer food hall. We all remarked on the set-up round there. With John Lewis and all the others dominating the skyline, these are not shops, they are mountains. West Quay is a veritable concrete jungle. Nice sandwiches and biscuits at M And S though.
I didn’t exactly scour the media for HMHB mentions. But I noticed an appearance in the Southern Daily Echo’s listings. They were up against Paul Young (that Paul Young?) at The Brook. And local TV were live at the Cranbourne Chase cider festival. One for the HMHB calendar in 2017?
Despite the confusing advice from Karen’s email, we found that the Engine Rooms did not open its doors until 19.30 (7.30pm). Once inside, we were faced with possibly the largest moat ever, between band and audience. A tape measure would have been useful, to establish the exact gap. Maybe they were expecting bother.
Several familiar faces were there. Tony had already taken his place in the queue ahead of us. Daz, Howie, John and Graham were also there. And it was great to see Paul, having made his way from Leith. Although even he had to take second place in terms of travelling distance, to John’s friends from Germany. Jay appeared to be doing some roadying, a chief task of which seemed to involve dropping a large bag of crisps on stage near to where Nigel was going to stand. Somebody’s got to do it, I suppose. (The crisps were later handed out to the crowd. I got a packet. Glad to help out with spending the rider.)
JD Meatyard were first on, augmented by two of the Flux Capacitors who had supported HMHB earlier in the year at Bristol. Singer John was sporting his usual Celtic beanie hat and played a collection of favourites like Standing On The Shoulders (he said that the Hip Priest In Salford was great when he went to see The Fall the night before in Bristol). There was also Sad Song Of A Singer Songwriter and Pablo Picasso. And he had a jibe at the Southampton fans in the crowd. “Are you going to steal any more of our players?” John made an observation. “I’ve had twenty-five years of supporting Half Man Half Biscuit. I’ve progressed a lot.” Karen and I were interested to hear John say “This is where everybody at the Sheffield gig walked out” during one of his songs. Maybe so, but we certainly didn’t, and we agreed that we ought to look out for JDM playing more gigs in their own right. Even Tony was puzzled by HMHB’s walk-on music. I had to check afterwards with Geoff, who confirmed that it was the theme from How The West Was Won. Francis Benali was spotted in the audience, and later made a guest appearance in Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis (“Why, it’s Francis Benali! It was you all along!”). Nigel was in agreement with my view of some of the shops in the locality. “I thought the Warrington Ikea was the biggest one, but this is even bigger.” He said “Inspired by Ikea, this one” ahead of San Antonio Foam Party.
In reply to a heckle, Nigel replied, “You’re the Welshman who can’t speak Welsh, aren’t you? You’re from the south.” In retrospect this would have been more apt at the Cardiff show the following night.
Nigel said that the band had been worried about being delayed on the M6 on the Friday. As a result, they had travelled south the day before, with an overnight stay in Oxford. “It’s the city of dreaming spires, but we stopped at the Cowley Road Industrial Park.” He rattled off the route to Southampton from there. “A34, M3, M27, M271. Dead easy,” he said, “but try telling that to Geoff. He has satnav, I just have maps.” He said they had been to Flowerdown Barrows, and had dropped in at New Alresford “where John Arlott was from.” He went on to reminisce about Gordon Greenidge and Andy Roberts. “I was scared of Andy Roberts,” he added.
I noticed the security people dancing to When The Evening Sun Goes Down. That certainly isn’t something that you would normally expect. Or maybe you would. Perhaps that’s what we should expect all the time.
David Peach played for Southampton in days gone by. Nigel talked about him. “The best penalty taker ever. Left foot, always placed it in the corner. Never seemed to miss.”
Someone shouted out for Chatteris. “We have a seer in the audience,” said Nigel as the band proceeded to play the aforementioned. Nigel encouraged the crowd to “keep shouting out, you’ll never get it” during a particularly noisy period of requests, before announcing Tending The Wrong Grave. There was even a shout for All For One, the new Stone Roses single.
During the sound effect bit in Tending The Wrong Grave, Nigel asked Ken “is that a nightingale?” Also he said it sounded like a Van Der Graaf Generator concert. Ken was also announced as the first man in Wallasey to own a Dyson.
“I grew up in the same road as Nigel Adkins,” said Nigel. “I’m not even the most famous Nigel in our road.” Then came a tale about a guy that Nigel (Blackwell not Adkins) knew, who went on an Antarctic Survey. There was a craze for putting football shirts on penguins and having your picture taken with them. The penguin in question had worn this guy’s Everton shirt and waddled off with it. “A walrus has probably got it now.”
Nigel said to Tony. “Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool. Edinburgh is the most westerly. Put a ruler on a map and you’ll see.” Try it at home. There’s hours of fun to be had. And there was the joke about the manager of the local Imax cinema dying recently. “The funeral is next Thursday, at 1.30, 4.30 and 7.30.”
I could have misheard (I almost certainly did) but I think he put his foot down in Northwich rather than Nantwich, during Look Dad No Tunes. And a cover of a Johnny Thunders song was slipped into the encore.
The songs came out in this order:
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train
Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus
San Antonio Foam Party
Old Age Killed My Teenage Bride
Bob Wilson Anchorman
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Stuck Up A Hornbeam
Bad Review
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
For What Is Chatteris
Shit Arm Bad Tattoo
Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years
The Bane Of Constance
Paintball’s Coming Home
Fix It So She Thinks Of Me
National Shite Day
Look Dad No Tunes
Joy Division Oven Gloves
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Vatican Broadside
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
Time Flies By When You’re The Driver Of A Train
Everything’s AOR
And in the encore:
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory
Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis
Trumpton Riots
I followed the not inconsiderable crowd back to The Dancing Man where I quaffed quality ale with Howie, Daz, Graham, Tony, Paul, John and Thorsten. Graham even persuaded the chap at the next table to take a picture of us. So no doubt that is now floating around somewhere on the internet. All of us were looking to re-convene in Cardiff. And try as hard as I could, I really couldn’t convince myself that this band sounds like The Macc Lads
16 May 2016
dr desperate
Corking stuff, Roger. I have little to add, except to say that the setlist as played was for once unchanged from the handwritten version. ‘Joyce’ was originally included on the latter, but was unceremoniously crossed out. The cover was originally going to be the 1978 b-side ‘Cyclotron’ by Cleveland protopunks electric eels (sic), which would have probably have been the most obscure cover ever.
I had a word with JD (Meatyard) after his set and suggested he might mention Dylan Thomas at Cardiff the following night, it being International Dylan Day. I also passed on the valuable information that Loudon Wainwright III will be touring later this year.
The penguin’s Everton shirt – not a phrase I often type – bore the logo of their mid-80s ham-manufacturing sponsors Hafnia. Nigel wasn’t sure how long penguins live for, but accepted my suggestion of 17 years. (I Googled ‘penguin lifespan’ when I got home and found it to be 15-20 years.)
After ‘Look Dad No Tunes’ Front Row Tony told Nigel he’d decided to sell his Theremin because he hadn’t touched it for months, making me wish I’d told him the Dyson joke (it’s only gathering dust).
The dismal TVM in NSD was described as “Not ‘A Man Called Ironside’, not ‘McMillan and Wife’.” As in previous outings, ‘Bane Of Constance’ included a couple of “Ohhh Vienna”s after the Midge Ure chorus, the experimental side-project in ‘Evening Sun’ was Ken’s, and there were complicated gear-change manoeuvres during the “Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo”s in ‘A Lilac Harry Quinn’.
Not the best sound quality I’ve ever heard, particularly towards the end, but not the worst, and nice to see a member of security staff returning a fan’s confiscated pint after the show.
On to Cardiff!
18 May 2016
CARRIE ANNE
Re: penguin life expectancy Dr D., maybe they should all move to warmer climes like Pierre.
18 May 2016
Charlie pINDER
I have waited so long to see HMHB. I was all I hoped for and much, much more.
Please come down south again soon, Bilston is too far to travel!
5 June 2016