It’s been many, many years (over 18!) since the band last played in York, and the gig sold out promptly (as is becoming increasingly the norm these days). A place which has been even more starved of lyrics mentions as it has of gigs, so did the band make up for it? Over to you.
CARRIE ANNE
Well, that was fun.
1 February 2019
Houghmeister
I thought they were bound to play Alehouse Futsal but no. Must have been over.a thousand there appoximately 40% of which could see anything. Great gig wrong venue.
2 February 2019
Chris Palmer
I have a photo of the original set list given to my mate by the band – can I submit that anywhere?
(Stick it on Flickr or Facebook or Twitter or Dropbox or anything, then post a link here? Cheers – CtSO)
2 February 2019
stan
This was my 1st gig, and I loved every moment. Incredible to see a mosh pit, made up of balding men. 10/10 would go again. The venue was quite small but somehow made the atmosphere even better.
2 February 2019
hendrix-tattoo
Wo-oh ippee ay oh….
2 February 2019
dR desperate
“-ing”, @Stan?
2 February 2019
Cream cheeses and chives
Another good night and I too enjoyed the view of the middle aged moshing. We were a couple of rows back from the pit and I liked the occasional retreat of someone who looked close to exhaustion. Even greater was my admiration when they pushed their way back in ten minutes later.
The sound seemed very mixed at the start and the end but fantastic in the middle. I don’t see a future for them as The Bootleg Beatles but that sort of added to it all.
I enjoyed the York amendment to Bob Wilson and also the reminder of York City’s Y shirt. It is a long time since I have heard the hedgehog winning on points joke.
Forced to miss the next few gigs as we are temporarily relocating to the Lakes but will arrive at Edinburgh after three days of walking on the John Muir Way. Already excited.
2 February 2019
Excavated rita
As a York City season ticket holder in the 1970’s, I was chuffed to hear both Chris Topping and Barry Swallow being namechecked . As well as NB’s praise for the “underrated kit” – white Y on maroon shirt. Might wear my Toffs reproduction next time.
2 February 2019
Houghmeister
Unfortunately the ‘underrated kit’ resulted in the team being known as The Y Fronts. I think they only wore it for one season.
2 February 2019
dR desperate
White on maroon 1974-76, maroon on white 76-78.
http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/York_City/York_City.htm
2 February 2019
EXXO
I don’t know why I’m doing this before Roger nails it all down, but anyway …
As well as the York City alumni named above, other sportspeople mentioned during Mr. B’s many rambling reveries last night included Dick Krzywicki, who for many years has been an occasional winter visitor to ‘Vitas Gerulaitis,’ and jockey Walter Swinburn. Meanwhile lliterary figures name-checked included Robert Southey, W.M Thackeray and Algernon Swinburne. As you can guess, some of the links featured both sporting and literary giants. It was always difficult to find such a mixture of reference points at a Kris Kristofferson or John Stewart gig (though they were among the songwriters referenced), and even less so when Deep Purple were headlining – at one point Mr. B went through a short medley of their riffs “because I haven’t used my effects pedal much yet.”
2 February 2019
EXXO
I’m probably wrong about Deep Purple. The riffs were from some such outfit, anyway.
But I do remember that one song early in the gig was introduced by a particularly rambling reverie that started something like this:
“Tote Ebor. You’ve got to say Tote Ebor when you come to York. That’s what it means to me anyway. This next song [was written after?] a dream where I was talking to Swinburne and I kept calling him Walter, and every time I called him Walter he said “it’s Algernon actually” and we talked some more, but I just kept forgetting, and called him Walter again.”
By which time Karl was getting twitchy, and piled in with a more dynamic opening to ‘Surging Out of Convalescence’ [I think it was that one?] than we are used to, and most brilliant the rendition was too.
2 February 2019
EXXO
When someone in the audience threw up the inevitable “What about Jeremy Hardy, eh?”, Mr. B said something like “Yeah terrible that. He was only 57 wasn’t he, when they’re that young you want to know hear if they smoked or drank, don’t you? Diane Oxberry was the real shocker.” [audience member shouts someone else who did recently. Then Nigel remembers someone else, real or otherwise, who did likewise. Then another audience member with another dead celeb.]. “Yeah, they’re all dead. Robert Southey, he died. And Thackeray, he’s dead….” [slight thoughtful silence before Neil starts next intro]
2 February 2019
Alice van der meer
As an entirely pointless and irrelevant observation, Robert Southey is buried at Crosthwaite, just outside Keswick. Whether he fancied a roastery or not…
2 February 2019
EXXO
When they returned to the stage for the encores (after what seemed like 25 seconds at most) Mr. B told us that according to Neil, our frenzied applause and chants had sounded like the clapping bit from ‘Rasputin’. We were then told about Boney M’s Bobby Farrell and Rasputin both dying in Saint Petersburg on the same day of the year (though 96 years apart). This prompted Tony to return to a conversation with Mr. B about country classics and song-writers from earlier in the gig, and so came back in from audience left with the vital knowledge that “John Stewart died in the same hospital in San Diego he was born in.” Tony will be 70 on Monday, he later told everyone (after the band had given him a birthday card and a birthday name-check!)
Anyway Mr. B then began a more personal reverie, about how he wasn’t born in hospital, and he’d like to return to the house he was born in and see the front bedroom where he first saw light [but was he saying he would go back there to die? Mrs. Exxo thought so, but I didn’t – I mean he said he doesn’t even who lives there now] …[see also the comments in this thread or elsewhere about the rest of the story which our man then related – the midwife who delivered him was a widow of the Thetis submarine disaster]. It can’t be a coincidence though that this preamble eventually led to ‘Umberstone Covert.’
2 February 2019
dR desperate
No, you’re right about Deep Purple, Exxo, one of the riffs was from ‘Black Night’, and there was a snippet of The Killer’s ‘She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye’, which Nigel apparently played because it ends with the same chord as the song he was about to start. We also got ‘Please Please Me’, but not the requested ‘Bullfrog Blues’ (which would have suited Neil’s RG tee-shirt better) or KK’s ‘Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down’.
In BW-A it appeared that the incredulous protagonist was cold and hungry in the centre of York rather than Dundalk.
It was I who pointed out the humanity of Christ and the mortality of Jeremy Hardy, the former in an attempt to resolve one of the HTIUC queries and the latter to complement Nigel’s mention of the demise of Clive Swift, who had played Dr Black in two M R James ghost stories. Somebody else reminded us that Roy Castle is still dead.
2 February 2019
dic aberdaron
where’s a set list
where’s a fuckin’ set list
😉
3 February 2019
dR desperate
I suppose Nigel ought to be saying “Sky Bet Ebor”, since the Tote (under the Betfred banner since 2011) dropped out last year. The previous sponsor, of course, had been Terry’s All Gold.
I now recall the dream sequence ended with the hedgehog/rat fight joke:
“Who won?”
“The hedgehog,on points”.
In other zoological news, Postie Tony complimented Nigel on his Lacoste shirt, picked up the day before for a few quid in the chazzer. As any fule kno, the green crocodile logo represents René Lacoste, nicknamed “The Crocodile” for his on-court tenacity (though as with The Ebor Handicap, this has now been re-imagined to refer to “The New Crocodile”, Novak Djokovic).
3 February 2019
Twistedkitemike
My Fellow Biscuiteers,
With apologies for not confirming the order of service sooner, here it is. A flimsy defence, but all that I’ve got is that I was more concerned about the logistics of getting back from York to collect four Hornets to get to Brighton for a 3:00 p.m. kick-off yesterday. It was very cold, very dull and a poor 0-0, that was in stark contrast to the delights of the previous evening.
Anyway (or, “So”), as the youth of today might express, assuming my scribbles are comprehensive (it was very dark in Fibbers), this was it: –
Bob Wilson
Sealclubbing
Surging out of…
Renfield
Terminus
Quality Janitor
Shit Arm
Vitas G
Left Lyrics
Colombia
JDOG
Fear My Wraith (on a personal note, probably if pushed, my favourite tune, so welcome to see it back on the roster)
Hedley Verity
NSD
Problem Chimp
Trad. Arr. Tune
Reflections in a Flat
Dean F
Sunshine
Vatican
Joyce
DPAK
Light Tunnel
Every Time a Bell Rings (I hate Spurs some more)
Trumpton
……………………………
Umberstone Covert
Please, Please Me
AOR
A fine evening’s entertainment all round. Some nice pubs in York, too. I should go there more often. Superb train service from London, there must be a veritable gaggle of MPs with family ties or holiday homes there.
Mike……………….
3 February 2019
POP-TART MARK
As I’d already gone to the beware-worthy trouble of typing out the set-list while Mike posted that, here it is as revealed to Chris Palmer on FaceAche, 28 songs as is typical, written thusly by Mr B
Bob Wilson
Sealclubbing
Surging
Renfield
Terminus
Q Janitor
Shit Arm
Vitas
Left Lyrics
Colombia
JDOG
Fear my Wraith
Hedley V
Shite Day
P Chimp
Village
Reflections
D. Friedmann
Little Sunshine
Bad Wools
Joyce
D Prague
Light Tunnel
Bell Rings
T Riots
Geraldine [sic]
PPM
AOR
Umberstone helpfully listed as “Geraldine”, perhaps because the intro is so short before that word comes in. The Doll from the CD cover that one might assume to be the eponymous character of the song, was projected throughout about two thirds of the gig the gig behind Carl, peeping out from behind her net curtains, but the projection had disappeared well before the song was actually aired.
3 February 2019
POP-TART MARK
I don’t use FB meself and only went on there today for that set-list. Had heard on here a while back of the demise of the FB group so didn’t realise it was still active, and indeed it seems more so than ever.
It does seem a useful source of spares for gigs. On the day of the York gig, 6 spares were posted on FB and it seems that only one was taken. The 5 remaining ones consisted of: one available in the Nag’s Head pub, two by email, and two from a sick-bed about 2.5 miles from the gig.
3 February 2019
dR desperate
It’s now been re-imagined as The Half Man Half Biscuit(HMHB) Appreciation society (sic).
3 February 2019
dR desperate
Interesting to see that Bad Wools was replaced by Vatican Broadside. Time constraints, maybe?
3 February 2019
Pete Anstock
In reply to Chris, (comment 3): Link to setlist
3 February 2019
Quickben
Only second visit to see HMHB and unlike Ritz this was a much more intimate venue (as in how the heck do you get so many in that space?) – reminded me of the sadly missed Limelight in Crewe with the raised balcony on each side, which is where I squeezed in next to a nice bunch from Hull. Cracking view and sound levels spot on. Shatner were an excellent support. Plenty of highlights with the new material as well received as the classics – great renditions of Terminus, Dean Friedman and TradArr. Hull gents very pleased with JDOG and the appearance of said items on the end of the arms of a lady in front of us caused much hilarity. Thanks to the recommendation of Ackhorne for a good pint – the Nine Standards porter from Settle Brewery was superb – a couple before and one on journey back to hotel were much appreciated. Noticed at least one DPAK there too so clearly others of like mind.
3 February 2019
Carrie Anne
Roger Green’s epic, taken from Gez’s website https://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/guest/index.htm
Fibbers, York, Fri 1st Feb 2019
Roger Green:
You may already think that the Evostik League Eastern Division receives saturated coverage. In which case you will have to excuse my reference to December’s local derby between Frickley Athletic and Pontefract Collieries. The game was held up because there was a dog on the pitch. It generated a warmth around the ground that augurs well for mankind. And that’s what life’s about.
I need to be very clear about this. With reference to the line from Breaking News, under no circumstances whatsoever am I looking for a medal for being up and about at six in the morning. But when this happens I like to hear Tweet Of The Day, a short feature on Radio Four which appears immediately before Today starts. On one occasion it featured Sir David Attenborough talking about sanderlings. I suppose Phil Cool would have been a more apt presenter, but David proved to be a decent substitute.
I was a little surprised to notice the absence of No One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin’ Hedge Cut from the Louder Than War list of the Top 100 Albums of 2018. Indeed, Karen did some further investigation online and found that The Most Ignored Band didn’t even make their Top 200! There’s clearly a lot of good music out there, and I’m obviously well out of touch if that’s the case. Long may it stay that way. There was a similar miscarriage of justice involving The Guardian (not for the first time). I’m sure if dear old Peelie had still been around, then the open democracy of his 2018 Festive Fifty would have seen a healthy representation from HMHB.
Another glaring omission concerns the documentary series on BBC4 called Guitar, Drum And Bass. There was a programme devoted to each facet. The first part was presented by Stewart Copeland, covering drumming through the history of pop music. The bit covering the techniques used at Little Richard’s early sessions was quite interesting, but as time moved on it became clear that Carl Henry’s absence was detracting from the value of the show. Likewise when Tina Weymouth fronted the hour devoted to the bass. Surely she has Neil Crossley’s phone number? I had given up on the series by the time they moved onto the guitar.
I’m sure Shatner would have been happy to contribute to that series. But they too have not quite been able to make it into the right address books. I first saw them around 2005 when they appeared at The Tea Time Shuffle at Adam Eve’s in Leeds, a straight-from-work-on-Friday slot featuring local bands. All of this was before the gods who made the gods were born, of course. Since then I’ve followed them here and there. Often Karen and I are among, ooh let’s think, a dozen people at their shows. On their behalf I’ve been knocking on HMHB Management’s door for a while and was glad that they got a chance.
Paul the guitarist is no stranger to the idea of providing support at one of these shows. He was one half of The Disclaimers, who supported at HMHB’s last show at The Duchess in Leeds, before the venue was closed and turned into a Hugo Boss shop. On the subject of The Duchess, my mate Mark told me a tale from when he and I saw HMHB there decades ago. He told me that there was just one t-shirt available at the HMHB shop at the gig, in a size far too big for Mark. Nevertheless he snaffled it up. And Geoff, generous as ever, even let him have the hanger, which still has pride of place in Mark’s wardrobe. Mark has promised to bring the hanger out with him the next time we have a beer.
From what Andrew told me, HMHB get regular mentions on the Stacey West blog, which covers all things Lincoln City. Most recently they had a feature on their old boy Bobby Svarc. It referred to his mention in Fear My Wraith and showed the cover of Some Call It Godcore.
It was good to hear Humdrum Express, a regular HMHB support act, get some national exposure. He featured on a 6 Music tour of independent venues. On this particular day Steve Lamacq visited Marr’s Bar in Worcester. Karen and I had seen Ian/Humdrum there a couple of weeks previously, supporting TV Smith. It’s near enough his home turf, hence his appearance I suppose. He did a couple of songs, including the excellent Leopard Print Onesie. I agree with Ian’s assertion in the song, that a Bag For Life should become cheaper the older you get. I also agree with the comment that was made about Humdrum Express providing the link between Billy Bragg and Half Man Half Biscuit. Looking forward to seeing him again, at the Bilston gig later in the year.
On arriving in York we met a plethora of Biscuiteers, most of whom were stopping at the same place as us, the Premier Inn not far from the venue. First off were Ian and Mariana, then it was Tony and Karen. Tony was a few days short of his 70th birthday. We managed to get the band to sign a card for him and they kindly agreed to have photos taken with him while we were waiting in sub-zero temperatures before the doors opened at the start of the evening. We saw Jay and Ems when we dropped into the Windmilll for lunch. (Jolly nice it was too. Karen opted for tuna salad in a brown bloomer with chips, while I tucked into gammon and eggs.) Outside again we saw Postman Tony who was assessing the merits of drinking beer before a gig, as opposed to saving yourself for the show itself. Across the road we saw Andrew, who was at his first gig of the year. We walked round to check that the venue was still where we remembered it. This is not the same Fibbers that HMHB had played in years gone by. The venue moved across town around four years previously.
During the photo shoot, I asked Nigel about the band’s picking up running order since Karl joined the band. Things don’t seem to have changed that much. Neil calls at his Mum’s to collect his gear and for a cup of tea, before calling for Nigel, then Carl and finally Karl. Not a lot of change from how it worked previously, so the logistics have not required much re-appraisal. We also saw Graham who was looking for a pub ahead of the gig – not a difficult job in York.
Nothing in York’s The Press about HMHB playing. Nor was there anything in Metro. So that’s the papers reviewed.
An early finish was scheduled so there was a lot of military precision to the timings. Doors were open at 19.00 hours. While waiting outside, we got talking to Zinney who was on Probe Plus ambassadorial duties, running the shop. It transpires that he is one of the victims of Brexit, looking at a move back to his native Germany. Not sure what the implications are for Sonnenberg.
As advertised, Shatner were on stage at 19.20. Perhaps surprised to be playing in front of a crowd, they whizzed through their set with a minimum of chatter (later on, HMHB adopted the same tactic in the second half of their set). Although Jim the vocalist did note how Nigel had told him about Speed Of Dark being his favourite Shatner song. Jim also said that Shatner did not normally do cover versions but would make an exception tonight, referring to the late Pete Shelley before playing Buzzcocks’ Love You More. Thanks to guitarist Paul for handing over the set list, which differed a bit from their actual running order.
We Go Woo
Heterosapien
Space Cathedral
Love You More
Anti Clockwise
Speed Of Dark
Spaceships And Stuff
Three Erotic Dreams
Switched On
Matt was impressed enough to buy a Shatner t-shirt. I don’t think he’ll find too many other people with one of them, when he gets back to Sussex.
In the interval a few more folk turned up. Gomez was there, for his first show for a while. He and Daz and Howie were not to be caught out by HMHB’s early stage time (8.15). Great to see Nigel and Jo and their daughter. This was an easy drive home for them, back to Goole. I also caught up with Katharine and Karl from my locality, although in fact I had only seen Katharine a couple of days earlier at the chip shop. And Sarah from Shatner popped in to say Hello. Andrew introduced me to Lucy and Ron, who said they are getting hitched in a HMHB-themed wedding in Sheffield in a few weeks. Sounds intriguing. Our invite must still be in the post. I also had a chat with Bradford Pete. Pete shared a Health And Safety concern. An apocalyptic warning to us all. “In the 60s and 70s, they found out that asbestos was killing us. Then they got worried about diesel engines. The next thing will be smoke machines.”
It was a tightly packed room, particularly right at the front. I know from previous experience at this place (when The Fall played the first gig after the place had opened) that vantage points at the back of the room do not provide great viewing. I understand that was the case tonight. I also learnt the lesson that standing too near the front is not great for listening. Some of Nigel’s comments were a bit blurred, so apologies for possibly getting things wrong, or missing them completely. I’m typing these notes the morning after the show, and my hearing is still a bit fuzzy.
For much of HMHB’s set, I was next to Jordan, who had re-located from his usual central perch. He has a very unique style, a combination of head-banging and expressive dancing. I can confirm that his Head And Shoulders is doing its job.
On arriving on stage, Nigel talked about his blue and white hooped jumper. “Four quid from the Roy Castle charity shop. You’d pay eighty pounds for this in John Lewis.” Later on, when Nigel took the jumper off, there was a shout of “Get ’em off, you sexy bastard.” The opening song, Bob Wilson Anchorman featured a new line: “I’m cold and I’m hungry in the centre of York.” Later on there was a similar variation in a line from Fear My Wraith – “When your horse leads the field inside the first furlong of The Ebor, you think that it is going to win.” And it wasn’t long before Nigel was calling for “more vocal in the monitor, please.” In the same vein, he asked “Can we not have the flashlights? There’s epilepsy in my family and I’ve been told not to have them.”
And early on, Nigel raised a glass to Clive Swift, who had died earlier in the day. Star of Keeping Up Appearances, aged eighty-two. But he was better known to Nigel on television as Dr Black from the MR James mysteries. While he was at it, Nigel told us all that Geoffrey Hughes as Onslow was the worst ever actor in a sitcom, whereas Patricia Routledge, from Birkenhead, was OK. Nigel also paid respect to others who were no longer with us. William Thackeray and Robert Southey, for example. Both of whom died in the nineteenth century. Nigel also referred to Jeremy Hardy who had died aged fifty-seven. “Diane Oxberry was the worst one though.” There was also a little point about York. “You can’t come here without saying Tote Ebor.”
Thanks to Tony for relating Nigel’s dream, far better than I had interpreted it. He had had a dream in which the poet Swinburne appeared. Nigel had called him Walter Swinburn, whereas his name was actually Algernon Swinburne. At another point, Nigel said that Pirates Of Stone County Road by John Stewart was the best ever song about childhood. And he asked whether Rhinestone Cowboy was written by Jimmy Webb or Glenn Campbell. It turns out that it was actually Larry Webb.
On their way to York, the band had stopped near Bingley. Nigel said that they saw an ice sculpture of Digby, the biggest dog in the world. He said they had seen a hedgehog having a fight with a rat. Fortunately someone shouted out “Who won?”, which gave Nigel the opportunity to hit us with the punchline “The hedgehog won on points.” Dick Krzywicki was the villain with the ski lodge in Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis. Nigel noticed a plug socket on the ceiling and wondered what that was doing there. Maybe that gives a clue as to how his mind wanders during these shows. During Joy Division Oven Gloves he pointed vaguely in the direction of the Quantocks.
Earlier in the day, Nigel had sat at the bottom of Clifford’s Tower with a tuna wrap, listening to The Residents, John Stewart and John Shuttleworth. He acknowledged that twenty years previously this would have been a tuna sandwich, but “you change, man.”
In answer to a shout about Carl’s drum kit, Nigel related the story about Carl buying the kit on the internet from a guy in Doncaster. The seller had brought the kit to The Leadmill in Sheffield, where Carl had used it for the first time. Staying on the subject of kits, Nigel mentioned York City’s from the 1970s. They had a maroon shirt with a white “Y” down the front. According to Nigel this was far better than the Coventry City and Wales kits from the same period, both of which are seen more. He also mentioned some of the York City greats from those days – Jimmy Hinch, Chris Topping and Barry Swallow.
A shout of “God Gave Us Life” was replied by Nigel. “Close,” he said, before the band played Reflections In A Flat. Bette Midler had a puma in The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman. Nigel talked about times when the band played at Fibbers’ previous home in Whipmawhotmagate, and then mused on the possibility of doing a song for Strathspey Thistle, who are vying with Fort William to be the worst team in the Highland League. Ode To Joyce was introduced as “a song about the neglected.”
Karl gave us a snippet of Black Night and his high backing vocal in Harsh Times In Umberstone Covert was very impressive. I applauded him. When the band came back on for the encore, Nigel spoke about Bobby Farrell from Boney M dying in the same place (St Petersburg) as Rasputin, whom he had sung about in one of their biggest hits. This took Nigel on to a thought about the house where he (Nigel) was born. If ever he feels that his final moment is impending, he will knock on the door and ask if it is OK for him to die in the bedroom, so that he might breathe his last in the same room where he breathed his first. At the end of the show there was some fine feedback after guitars were left up against amps.
The songs went as follows.
Bob Wilson Anchorman
Sealclubbing
Surging Out Of Convalescence
Renfield’s Afoot
Terminus
Quality Janitor
Shit Arm Bad Tattoo
Outbreak Of Vitas Gerulaitis
Left Lyrics In The Practice Room
What Made Colombia Famous
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Fear My Wraith
Hedley Verityesque
National Shite Day
Took Problem Chimp To The Ideal Home Show
We Built This Village On A Trad Arr Tune
Reflections In A Flat
The Bastard Son Of Dean Friedman
Little In The Way Of Sunshine
Vatican Broadside
Ode To Joyce
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train
Every Time A Bell Rings
The Trumpton Riots
And there were three songs in the encore:
Harsh Times In Umberstone Covert
Please Please Me
Everything’s AOR
Thanks to Karl for the set list. Vatican Broadside was not included on there. However Bad Wools was shown on there. My hearing was not that bad. Unless I simply forgot to write it down, that one was not played.
Afterwards I caught up with various folk. Mrs Exford was taking a very circuitous route to the Ladies. I said that I tend to cut down on pre-gig beer because otherwise I would constantly be distracted by visits to the Gents. No good at all. I’m sure she was delighted to be told that. (On the subject of which, there was no wonder there was such a queue, when considering the capacity of the place with the facilities available. Shouldn’t there be some kind of “per capita” ruling?).
Had a brief conversation with Paul who had made the journey south from Leith. Mike, John and Elizabeth were all hanging around. Karen chatted about forthcoming gigs with Graham and Sarah.
Afterwards I headed back to the Windmill with Karen, Tony and Andrew to discuss this, that and the other, in particular how we would all be getting to Exeter for the next show about seven weeks henceforward. I’m afraid we lost some of the others who said they were heading for a beer. But if you struggle to find a pub in York, then you are not looking hard enough. Maybe hot soup would have been more appropriate on a freezing night like this.
3 February 2019
dR desperate
Excellent review, @Roger. I’m also taken with Karen’s at post 1.
In Nigel’s musings on Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate he was surprised that we didn’t know it meant “neither one thing nor the other” (though I understand the literal meaning is “neither whit nor what street”). Pre-Bob Wilson, he also reassured Keith that he had those pallets for him in the van.
Drive-by shirtings: in addition to Nigel’s previously-mentioned Lacoste, Neil’s tee-shirt commemorated Rory Gallagher/Taste; Carl’s Sheffield post-punkers The Comsat Angels; Karl’s Krautrockers Ash Ra Tempel. My own home-made arshall Amplification one airshipped most of those present, apart from Neil.
3 February 2019
EXXO
Carl came back out later in his green Palestine top. Respect. My Tranmere 90-91 shirt, not worn at a HMHB gig since the Duchess at the end of the 90’s, received some admiration, as did my “Standards Corrupted” (anti-Hicks and Gillet protest shirt) on the train home (a very light, fake football shirt is all that will fit into the pocket of a Harrington for a change into a dry shirt after a winter gig). Mrs. Exford’s squad-issue 1980’s DPAK somewhat incredibly didn’t.
3 February 2019
Cream cheese and chives
Another good night.
Reading the review makes it seem as if it were only the day before yesterday.
I was a row or two back from the mosh pit and admired the gusto with which people went at it. Most of all ,I loved the occasional exits of those who had creover exerted themselves. Spat out like dish cloths mid cycle, it was inspiring to see so many return a few minutes later and fight their way back for a second rinse.
Thanks for the T-shirt info. I thought it was a Comsat Angels one peeping from behind the cymbals. What a great song Independence Day is.
Will have to miss the next few shows as we are temporarily relocating further north but have already received two pairs of drunkenly double booked Edinburgh tickets so have two spares if anyone is interested? We hope to arrive there after three days walking the John Muir Way. Giddy times, these.
3 February 2019
Cream cheese and chives
Not sure if this is early onset dementia or what ! I apologise for saying virtually the same thing twice in the space of twenty four hours. I have no recollection of the previous posting.
I’ll probably say it all again tomorrow dinner.
3 February 2019
dr desperate
You know yesterday was Groundhog Day, right, @SC&C? And today. And tomorrow…
3 February 2019
dR desperate
CC&C, that is.
4 February 2019
Phyllis Triggs
York
Lots of dogs. They like their dogs in York. French Bulldogs, Pugs, and all their snuffly mutant brethren. Dogs with expensive tastes. Dogs in jackets. Dogs in handbags. Dogs wearing nail polish.
Must be getting on for 30 years since I was last in York. That was with a group of uni friends ball-gown shopping (ball-gown shopping! No, it didn’t sit well with me at the time either…) It was a very hot day. York always was either very hot or very cold. This weekend it was very very cold. Didn’t fancy risking my neck on an icy trek around the city walls so stayed hunkered down at street level among the swaddled selfie-taking hordes.
Interesting how real antiquity is commandeered into marketing the faux past – The Shambles, now, is all Hogwarts and wizardry, and Game of Thrones arcanery; there are shops for all your viking and armoury needs; a plethora of craft beer houses and sellers of artisan coffee; and of course Betty’s is still pulling them in – do the waitresses still wear pinnies, I wonder? Didn’t try too hard to see past the queue at the door. Chocolate still figures large, as does fudge (although to me, Roly’s Fudge Pantry has always sounded like a euphemism, Audrey)
Visited The Yorkshire Museum (the Jurassic Exhibition houses a fine collection of ammonites) and donned a virtual reality headset in order to feed a lifesize brontosaurus named Alan… Wondrous!
Enough of the sideshows. When it comes to the the main event, can someone please answer me this – is every gig really better than the last? For I find it impossible to be objective when I’ve been so fully engaged in the experience. I could talk about the venue (cosy, I would say – great for moshing but not so good if you’re standing at the back of a sold out event) or the price of the beer (£5 feckin’ 30 for a bottle of Black Sheep!) But when it comes to the performance – I was lost in it. And doesn’t that speak volumes? Bollox to objectivity! HMHB Live: totally immersive experience; no VR headset necessary!
What stands out about the gig?
Superb moshing (“..all balding blokes” someone has already noted, tho I think Mrs Exford could rightly take issue with that!)
No walk on music. Perhaps the band didn’t want to overdo the dramatics given the amount of dry ice being pumped onto the stage… Great backdrop of Geraldine, tho.
Not as many of the new songs were played this time. The more recent material has quickly established itself and no longer needs any special treatment – new songs get thrown in with the old. Looking again at the setlist, each one of those tracks is a classic – we’ve heard the old ones played live many times over, they have history with the audience, they have form – yet on Friday the new ones were right up there with them standing shoulder to shoulder.
Great to have Please Please Me as the cover. This song is so familiar its just become part of the background hubub of everyday life. To hear it played live was to hear it come alive, the small/intimate venue hinting of The Cavern and what it must have been like to hear it played for the first time – still raw and gritty before it was polished to pop perfection tumbling endlessly through the airwaves.
As others have said, plenty of decent pubs in York. Exxo recommended the Brewery Tap Room just a few doors up from Fibbers so repaired there with Tony for post gig beers and got talking to a fellow fan from Lincoln. That Centurion’s Ghost was bloody gorgeous! Should have left it at that when they called time but went to join the others at Brewdog. This was against my better judgement. Brewdog is nought but a marketing man’s fizzy wet dream; their beers are best avoided at the best of times and definitely to be avoided at the end of an evening when you’ve already had quite sufficient! Glad I was staying an extra day – I needed that recovery time!
Exxo and Hendrix Tattoo, hope your January blues have been blasted away.
4 February 2019
Cream cheese and chives
Another good night…
…John Muir Way.
4 February 2019
Chris Palmer
Setlist (warning may not be entirely accurate as they deffo played Vatican Broadside):
https://twitter.com/herberttreefrog/status/1092345329511477253?s=21
4 February 2019
Chris pAlmer
Serves me right for not reading all comments – that’s Pete (see above) with said setlist)
4 February 2019
hendrix-tattoo
They have been truly blasted away Lou, Like you have said before HMHB should be a treatment given out by the NHS.
Wish I could see them at least once a month.
My ribcage is a little sore after a battering by the baldies in the mosh, Excellent comments by everybody above.
God bless to everyone I had the pleasure of meeting on friday.
See you all again in Cardiff….
4 February 2019
Ribchester Times
Great Gig. We stayed over and on the Sunday we went to the York Museum. Half way round my other half pointed out a German Spork in the first world war section. Its caption read: 1. SPORK Every German Soldier had a water bottle, mug, and ‘spork’ (combination spoon and fork). This made it a truly great weekend.
4 February 2019
hendrix-tattoo
it’s time
For your Eno – Eno collaboration tee-shirt
All across the nation
As sure as night follows day….
Check out @CharlieJalapeno’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/CharlieJalapeno/status/1092129893209567232?s=09
4 February 2019
John holmes
Really great gig in york. Would have liked to hear even more of the new album which is the best they have made in ages. As a stalwart of the old fibbers in york, this was my first visit to the new fibbers and wasn’t greatly impressed. View from the back on tip toes wasn’t great but it sounded great.
Could have done without the cover of please, please me but then I can quite easily do without anything recorded by the Beatles.
4 February 2019
FEATURELESS TV PRODUCER STEVE
Can someone shed a little light on the references to the John Muir Way?
As I mentioned in the MDVDHS thread, I am quite familiar with Yosemite National Park, and also with its patron saint, John Muir. I’ve read many of his books, and have even memorized the brilliant one-man play “Conversation with a Tramp” by a man called Lee Stetson. I have also hiked portions of the John Muir Trail, which begins in Yosemite Valley, numerous times (though I never did the whole trail).
And indeed, despite his being born in Scotland, raised in Wisconsin, and travelling far and wide, it is Yosemite with which Muir is most often associated. So when I read the above comments and saw references to the John Muir Way, I thought maybe even though MDVDHS wasn’t on the setlist, the Yosemite reference in it elicited a mention of the Muir trail by the Bard of Birkenhead during the show.
But lo and behold, a little googling informs me there is a new hiking trail in Scotland called the John Muir Way. While I’m very pleased to see the great man honoured by his homeland in this manner, I’m still a bit puzzled by your references. The trail looks to be a long way from York.
5 February 2019
EXXO
Can’t help you with that one Steve. Don’t recall any such reference, but maybe Tony can enlighten you.
Anyway, by way of responding appreciatively to some stuff posted above (you’d probably be spared if this site had a ‘like’ button), here’s a few more rambling thoughts about a glorious night amidst the glories of York, where even the magnificent medieval city gates are named after bars. Mrs. Exford’s granny reckoned there used to be a pub actually in the city wall itself, where she drank when she was in the WRAF. I bet there have been many such over the centuries. There is a current one called ‘The Hole in the Wall’, but it doesn’t actually seem to be in the wall at all.
I’ve lived in Leeds 24 years now but haven’t spent nearly enough time in York. I was lucky enough to see a few bands at the original proper Fibbers, including HMHB in summer 1999, but one real regret that I’m determined to put right soon is that I’ve never been to a match at Bootham Crescent. Been meaning to for as long as I’ve lived round here! In all that time, Tranmere have only played York City there once, and I was away at the time, so what a shame that I’ll never get to see John ‘the beast’ Parkin tussling with Steve ‘the beast’ McNulty (probably to get in the queue for the pies). There are now only eight league matches left in the history of the ground, before YCFC move to the new stadium this summer, where hopefully they will enjoy a massive up-turn in the club’s fortunes.
Thanks for everyone who has filled in the gaps about the gig. I am always especially grateful to see the TV references and look them up as they usually airship me – so thanks Roger and Dr. D. I bet other people feel the same or even more so for sports references, so we need it all to be recorded. And who knows, maybe without Dr. D, we’d all have forgotten the ‘Thetis-widow-midwife’ story by now, ‘cos somehow that one escaped Roger’s notebook. But @Roger – someone has used the word ‘epic’ and it is entirely justified yet again. Even Homer only managed two epics in his career, and let us hope that your prodigious output will never be taken for granted. Tales that shall be told among the biscuiteers forever hereafter, as they journey homewards over the wine-dark sea. Which makes me realise I never even said ‘hello’to you, Roger and Karen – so rude. We arrived just as the band took to the stage and dashed off for a train at the end.
Great evocations of the York tourist ambience from Lou there. Talking of quaint notepads for weekend Vikings from all those shops that sell fantasy-masquerading-as-history, whatever happened to the ‘Past Times’ chain? I see the name (but not the chain) was bought by WH Smiths. Have they done anything with it? But you’ll see me talking about this at some point soon in the ‘Saxon hoard’ thread on the A-Z, I’m sure.
Shame we had to dash off after the gig or we’d have joined you for more of that Centurion’s Ghost at the York Brewery Tap, just fifty yards from the gig towards the station. Beforehand, as we headed in there, a couple were coming out and we asked them if it lived up to the sign we’d just spotted, which promised “Merriment, gifts and tours. ” They said they didn’t know ‘cos they’d been unable to find the actual entrance. Blimey. But spurred on by the sign, they followed us back in and we found it all quite easily: down the passage (not too far into the darkness), turn left, up the stairs, all the other doors to bits of the brewery are padlocked. Enter by the one at the end that isn’t. They offer four thirds of their different ales for £4.10. So knowing from experience elsewhere that the Centurions Ghost is the best (and strongest), I asked for four thirds of that … surely worth a punt? But no, they all had to be different, as it was a “taster” concept, the senior employee insisted. But the fractionally-challenged junior employee was only on his second ever shift, and in the end gave Mrs Exford four halves of their different ales by mistake, in addition to my pint of Centurions Ghost. All for about £7.20. We tipped him.
That particular ale was so fine (and the game of bar billiards that Cath Aubergine’s party were enjoying seemed so engrossing), that at five past eight the Brewery Tap was still packed with HMHB fans … so with an 8.15 kick-off, we thought it best to make a dash for it, in case there was only one man checking everyone’s tickets (yep) and experiencing some technical difficulties (yep). But not before I rewind a little, and insert a sentence celebrating York as a centre of excellence in the bar billiards world. It would in fact, had we had better dog-sitting arrangements, have been possible to do a bar billiards bar crawl on the way to the venue https://www.yorkmix.com/sport/world-champion-celebrates-astonishing-revival-of-pub-game-in-york/ .
Oh and another tangent to say glad that some of you enjoyed my recommendation of the Ackhorne – great to see you again, Matt. And yes, next time we’ll pop in at the highly recommended Golden Ball in the same area too, with the bonus of it being in the bar billiards league. I’d forgotten that one.
Would have liked to enjoy the Shatner supoport set, but that would have meant neglecting York’s other joys and venue beer and prices are just daft …it’s not a great venue all-round, with poor sight-lines, horrible security attitudes, a business model from owner Tokyo Industries that does not appeal to me one bit (have I mentioned that?), and most importantly poor sound at times (especially Karl’s guitar in first half of the gig, sometimes Nigel’s too). At least we could hear everything Mr. B said and that’s what matters most. Although on this occasion there was just so much of it that we’re even gladder than usual you were there with your notepad, Roger.
Great to see Paul too on arriving at the venue, but band on immediately, so regrettably little of his fine conversation was enjoyed. I’m determined to stay over at a gig soon, and spend more time in the alehouses with the Biscuiteers, because as Mrs Exford noted it’s a proper little community support group there in the mosh, and this one, together with Manchester, was as up-for-it a crowd as we have seen in ages. Cambridge, I hope.
So it was venue 5/10, audience 10/10, band 1,000,000/10. Some cracking versions of rarities and personal favourites like ‘Hedley Verityesque’. The new album seems to have been with us so long that it’s easy to forget this is only the 4th gig since ‘Hedge’. So we still get 5 songs off the still-new album, which is surely the minimum you’d expect … except that this means that at the last 4 gigs there’s been an average of just 0.5 songs from the at-least-as-wonderful ‘Urge for Offal’. So ‘Gwatkin’ and the ‘Midge Ure’ chant have already faded into the long list of just-maybes. I have to say that about UFO, because there have been a number of comments like John Holmes, just above, that the lastest is “the best album in ages”. It’s all about opinions but meself, I just think the new one is the most accessible for a while, cos it’s the chantiest and sweariest, has very few songs where you’re not sure immediately what to visualise, and doesn’t venture into too many unaccustomed musical styles. But it’s best not to think about what may or may not be in the set-lists too much, I suppose, with a band that rotates over 150 great songs out of its total recorded output of 206. The ideal scenario for me personally, would perhaps be about 1.75 songs off every album, and 1 off each EP, for the typical 27-song set-list. But hey, just get to as many gigs as you can and sooner or later you’ll get most of your favourites. What is beyond question is that the classic ‘talkies’ like 24-H GP and ACP are becoming collectors’ items and that after the gigs that I miss, I’ll be cursing those lucky enough to have heard the cast-list of the queue at the garage or the latest egregious phraseology deployed by Adrian-stroke-Sophie.
So yes, some quality reviewing from Roger and Lou especially, but the award for metaphor-of-the-thread surely goes to Chives for the washing machine mosh-pit simile? It’s always good to hear about that there’s still room for eccentricity in our laundry cycles, even in these times of starting one’s web-enabled Indesit remotely while one is at the gig, and tweeting it a video of Vatican Broadside as well, just because one can. But don’t get me into the whole dish cloths/tea towels thing.
Finally, it’s good to see you starring in Karl’s social media output there Tony. Fab t-shirt. Mrs Exford nearly wore the ‘Stony Ground’ one I tried to get for her recent birthday, but it came two weeks late ‘cos Miles didn’t see what I said about the size in the Paypal message. Thanks for drawing my attention to Karl’s twitter, which I shall ‘follow’, because it means I can get all of his gig listings in the same place for both his pub bands (Band-Its and Jalapenos), rather than having to go on two different Face-Aches. The Band-Its (punk covers) play in Newton-le-Willows this Friday, I note. You would love them, Tony. That’s about £7 return from Manchester Victoria. Last train back 00.02 (arrives Victoria 00.25). Can’t make that one but maybe we can catch them together some time.
Hopefully my next trip to York will take me down through Bootham Bar to a match, via some quality ales of course, but meanwhile, see you all in Cambridge!
5 February 2019
EXXO
Meant to say ‘maybe Chives can enlighten you,’ what he meant about John Muir, not Tony of course/.
5 February 2019
hendrix-tattoo
Nigel, Whenever it suits to see Karl’s other bands, We,ll catch them together some time….
5 February 2019
excavated rita
@Exxo By my reckoning 43 meetings at Bootham Crescent up to 1991 and only one since (2015). Final match at the old place 27 April. I’ll be there in my ‘Y’s Guys” shirt. If the directors had any sense, they’d have commissioned Bobby Svarc to produce a model. But the last two decades are a testament to their insensibility.
6 February 2019
Cream cheese and chives
We are walking three days of the John Muir Way prior to the Edinburgh show. I had inadvertently previously shared this information twice.The third -final- truncated reference was in response to the good Doctor’s Groundhog day reference. Sorry it is not more exciting.
A walk to or from a gig is a good thing. The day after Bilston we got a train to Kidsgrove and walked the canal to Macclesfield. After Liverpool we walked to Spoons at Lime Street and after Manchester to the Peak(Peveril of).
6 February 2019
Charles Wright
With reference to post #27….I heard parrots rather than pallets. Makes less sense though I admit.
6 February 2019
Transit full of keith
A projected backdrop? Dry ice?? One sniff at the album charts and they go all Pink Floyd…
6 February 2019
Phyllis TRiggs
We definitely need note-takers and memory-men at gigs. If it wasn’t for Dr D I’d still be wondering why NB had said the midwife was a “foetus widow” – disconcerting to say the least!
6 February 2019
dr desperate
@CW It would have been much better as “parrots”. As it was, it reminded me of the story of Chris Evans driving Frank Sidebottom to a gig in London.
He pulled up on the Edgware Road and asked a passer-by, “Is this London?”
On receiving an answer in the affirmative he said “Well, where do you want this wood?”
7 February 2019
FEATURELESS TV PRODUCER STEVE
Cheers, Chives. Never thought I’d see my old fanaticism for John Muir somehow collide with my (relatively) new fanaticism for Half Man Half Biscuit, but this is the world we live in now, I guess.
7 February 2019
Cream cheese and chives
@Featureless TV Producer Steve- but what a collision it is! I enjoyed Muir’s Wilderness writing but first came across him via the John Muir Trust years ago on the walk to Sandwood Bay in NW Scotland. There’s a location! Perhaps HMHB could be persuaded to branch out. The own bed,own bog and own both tour.
7 February 2019
Eric t’viking
Coincidentally, whilst hanging around in a “collectables” place near Chorley the other day, I was idly scanning the bookshelves when the name Thetis caught my eye, following the mention of it above.
“Thetis: Disaster in Liverpool Bay: the Admiralty regrets”, the book has a foreword by the son of Leading Stoker Arnold, one of the few survivors of the disaster. Apparently, during the period afterwards when Arnold was receiving medical care and recovering, his family had to rely upon benefactors to survive, as the RN refused to pay his wages – on the grounds that he was unable to provide his paybook, so carelessly left behind in the stricken submarine…
On a further tangent, re: Phyllis Triggs (above) – the mishearing of “Thetis widow” brought back memories of John Peel playing a band sometime in the ’80s with the WTF name of “You’ve Got Foetus On Your Breath”… no idea what they sounded like, though.
12 February 2019
parsfan
I think Foetus changed their name every year, or album or something. Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel was another, any more? I’m sure there at least one other.
13 February 2019
GOK WAN ACOLYTE
Not sure about Foetus but Spizz also changed their name each year (Spizzenergi, Spizz Oil, Athletico Spizz 80) etc.
13 February 2019
ERIC OLTHWAITE
@Parsfan – there were about a dozen variations of the Foetus band names. A fella called Jim Thirwell was behind them all. He’s worked with loads of other acts too, including Orange Juice, Nick Cave, The The, Coil, Swans, Pigface, Nurse with Wound, and Susan Boyle. OK, one in that list is a lie.
13 February 2019
ERIC OLTHWAITE
Ooh, I’ve just looked him up to see who else he’s worked with. He was in prag VEC. Now there’s a thing. Wonder if he played the Melkweg?
13 February 2019