After many years away from the Leadmill, a relatively quick return after the 2015 gig. So shine your shoes and head for (the home city of) the Crucible, enjoy the gig, and tell us what it was like…
After many years away from the Leadmill, a relatively quick return after the 2015 gig. So shine your shoes and head for (the home city of) the Crucible, enjoy the gig, and tell us what it was like…
Twistedkitemike
Despite a cold, and a fragile back, Mr. Blackwell looked in good shape and had been studying Christmas Cracker jokes beforehand. I might get round to a review, but will never do one before the excellent and well-organised Lord Roger of Green.
Ken was the first man in Wallesey to get a pogo-stick; I’ll have you know. I don’y know who Don and Ivy Brennan are, but it sounds like a soap opera and someone will pass it on with prior knowledge that will help with context.
Anyway, my function is to provide the set-list: –
Bob W
Squabble
Korfball
Fred T
Restless Legs
Little in the way of Sunshine
Surging
Tommy Walsh
Lark
Albert Hammond
Improv
Evening Sun
Turned Up
DPAK
Look Dad (rolling into Slippers)
Evening of Swing
NSD
27 Yards
Bane
Lilac HQ
JDOG
Bad Wools
Vatican
Problem Chimp
AOR
………………………
Encs.
Broadstairs
(cover) You can’t put arms around a memory
Light Tunnel
Trumpton
Another fine evening all round.
Mike………………………
4 August 2017
0902FRIENDs
Let’s see now… A bit short but I hope still enjoyable:
https://0902friends2017ontheroad.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/sheffield-gig/
4 August 2017
Dave Wiggins
@TwistedKiteMike: Don and Ivy Brennan were staples of Coronation Street many years ago. I was shocked beyond anything when Nigel name-checked my old Punk covers band, ‘Invisible Heroes’. I’d heard he’s been seen sporting one of our tee-shirts. It’s like when OMD said they could die happy because Kraftwerk knew who they were. What colour are your wheelie bins, by the way?
4 August 2017
BOBBY SVARC
Any bother?
4 August 2017
Mr ed
I was down at the front and didn’t see any. A 2 hour set with a 4 song encore, it was fantastic. Dougie even managed to find a pub which was open until 2 afterwards.
4 August 2017
Mr ed
I did start to wish I hadn’t asked about his favourite cheese, he ran with the subject. Crumbly cheshire BTW.
4 August 2017
The Bastard In The Hat
Very enjoyable gig, as far as I’m concerned. A fair bit of banter from Nigel, for example:
“The band ‘Invisible Heroes’ — have you heard of them? You won’t have seen them, obviously.”
Rambling answer to the heckle asking him his favourite cheese. “I keep coming back to Cheshire.” Later: “But after all that, I haven’t asked you what *your* favourite cheese is.”
In response to some song request or other: “We do a song about that — funny, that, isn’t it?”
In response to an inexplicable request to “turn it up!”: “What, all of it?” [Sound man pretended to move a slider.] Later, there was some more detailed advice on the sound balance, and later still a request to “turn it down!”.
Other trivia: Plectrum on the forehead during “I should have just got a job on the bins” in Lark Descending. There were no quartering crows in National Shite Day — instead there was something about homeless dogs. Rubber-faced irritant Phil Cool was asked about the sanderling more than once. King of Hi-Vis got a set list and a half, as usual torn from an A4-size desk diary circa 2001. A few instrument changes (though I didn’t notice any actual swapping, nor any caravan guitars).
4 August 2017
The Bastard In The Hat
Ignore what I said about quartering crows — it turns out that there have always been homeless dogs in NSD, so I was listening at the wrong time.
4 August 2017
TAYLO
Good to see you back Exxo. Hope you enjoyed the gig.
4 August 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Canadian Alice you have my permission.
Welcome back Exxo.
4 August 2017
EXXO
Yes it was a belter, cracking atmosphere immensely enjoyed by myself and Maud (Claire). Hope to see you soon Tony, Taylo & everyone.
4 August 2017
SPT
Some photos. Including levitation and plectrum on the head. Didn’t catch the fly.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144033530@N03/albums/72157684604321193
4 August 2017
Dave Wiggins
Stunning reference last night, in ‘Turned up…..’, to Donnie Most; aka Ralph Malph.
4 August 2017
Chris The Siteowner
Fabulous photos, SPT, one of the best sets I’ve ever seen. Do take a look, everyone.
4 August 2017
dr desperate
To Sheffield then, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. The receptionist at my hotel, on hearing that I was there to see HMHB, asked if I had any plans for the rest of the day, to which I replied “Drinking heavily”. This prediction turned out to be uncannily accurate, with seshes at both The Rutland and the Sheffield Tap. The former had Albert Hammond playing on the jukebox, the latter Exxo leaning on the bar. Great to see him again, ditto a strong contingent of Biscuiteers including Hamburger Linus on his fifteenth birthday.
Arrived at the Leadmill to find most of the band mooching around outside, Neil concerned that turnout might be affected by students being on one of their interminable breaks. This may have been the case, as there were a few gaps on the dancefloor and subsequent moshing took a while to develop. Sonnenberg had already started, but having greeted Roger and crew (thanks ever so for the Lisa Knapp CD, Tony!) we soon got into the groove. ‘Better Together’ was a highlight.
Walk-on music was that stirring brass-driven 50s crime movie theme, you know the one. A terrific set then continued as described above (with ‘Chatteris’ inserted I think after ‘NSD’). Connoisseurs enjoyed rare outings for ‘Albert Hammond Bootleg’ and ‘Problem Chimp’, though ‘Totnes’ was deleted from the handwritten running order to be replaced by ‘Trumpton’ at the end. The cover was once again ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory’, and we also got a verse each of ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘The Twelfth Of Never’. (Was it ‘The Twelfth Of Never’? Or ‘It Might As Well Rain Until September’? ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’? The seshes were starting to kick in by then.)
Nigel asked if we were still collecting the school vouchers, having himself moved on to Lego tokens. He was delighted to hear the familiar cry of The Rotherham Postie, wondering if it had been him they’d spotted on a trip to a local castle earlier in the afternoon. It hadn’t.
A large fly caused problems onstage for a while, until driven away by an increase in guitar volume. Tony: “They hear with their legs, you know.” Nigel: “I love you.”
There were cries for ‘Climie Fisher’ (rejected) and ‘Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite’ (“We’ll play it if you can get the title right.”)
A putative neighbour asked Nigel if he lived on Singleton Avenue, which he denied. Whether he does or not, he refuses to pay the Council extra for a brown wheelie bin as he has no back garden.
Clive (Richard Bucket) Swift was spotted in the crowd, causing the lights to go up momentarily.
Ken First Man In Wallasey To: own a pogo stick.
Best Magnum Rip-off: Iceland’s Peach Majestic, 4 for £1.
Best cheese for sandwiches: crumbly Cheshire (with salad cream, not mayo). My own shout for Lanky-shire, La-la-la-la was allowed for toasted cheese only (brown sauce, not Worcestershire).
Alterations to songs: “eponymous” for “rhetorical” in ‘Lark Descending’; “What’s got three legs and eats fish and chips?” for the badminton gag in ‘ALHQ’; “Donny” for “Mickie” Most in ‘Turned Up’. Rotterdam has now been “strong again” so many times in ‘JIL(WAR)’ that one wonders whether it’s become canonical.
‘Bob Wilson’ was on a similar theme to the walk-on music; another song was about putting Chepstow into your satnav and ending up in Ludlow. As previously noted, you have to watch what you’re saying in PC World.
As we were unable to find the pub that stays open after 11, after-match lagers were taken in the hotel bar.
On to Bath!
5 August 2017
CARRIE ANNE
Another mighty review by the ever lovely Roger Green, stolen from Gez’s website. https://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/guest/index.htm.
Nobody does it better…
HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT
AT THE LEADMILL, SHEFFIELD – 3 AUGUST 2017
No messing about with the advance publicity for this one. As early as five months beforehand we spotted a full-page advert for The Leadmill in Now Then magazine (issue 110) mentioning this show. I maintain that this venue is not what it was back in the days of real ale handpumps the length of the bar, but putting on stuff like this, as well as other shows by Tom Robinson and Billy Bragg may get it back on my list for consideration.
On arriving in Sheffield, it was impossible to avoid the Great Lucozade Giveaway at the railway station. Both Karen and I were handed two cans – one Original flavour, and one Orange. We both reminisced about how this drink used to be something that you could only get from Boots or Timothy Whites. Certainly it was something that, when I was very young, I used to associate with being poorly (sold in glass bottles covered in orange cellophane). Nowadays it is all energy, energy, energy. Not much wrong with the taste, but it hardly turns me into John Barnes. We didn’t bother with all the promo blurb that came with the free cans (“visit the website and enter your email address”), so if they are reading this, they will have to pester Gez on his site.
Full of fizz, we were off to The Street Food Chef on Arundel Street for our usual feed when we are in Sheffield. I went for the breakfast burrito, while Karen had the chicken mole burrito. Grand as always. I would like anybody with local knowledge to let me/us know if there is anywhere better to eat in the city.
A paper review on the day followed on from Now Then’s lead. Metro let the side down a little, preferring to concentrate on The Duke Of Edinburgh’s retirement from royal duties, as well as Chris Evans’ loss of half a million listeners. No mention at all of happenings down Leadmill Road. The Sheffield Telegraph, on the other hand, squeezed a couple of sentences into their music listings. “One of the late John Peel’s favourite UK bands, and Sheffield promoter Chris Wilson, who has been working with them for 25 years or so, is also among their fervent admirers. Witty, sardonic songs – much more than a comedy band, he points out.” I remember Chris from the time when he used to put HMHB on at The Boardwalk. One of the last purveyors of hand-written tickets. Therefore a legend of music promotion. (When the band came back on stage for the encore, Nigel quashed a rumour that this would be Chris’s last gig. Glad to hear that.) The Telegraph also had a photo of the Wednesday shirt for the new season. They are going back to a blue shirt with white sleeves. That takes me back to the days of Lucozade-as-medicinal-drink.
There was also a good effort from The Star (“Trusted news read by 350,000 every week.”). No publicity is bad publicity, but it was a slightly contentious piece, claiming that HMHB’s “most famous song” is All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit. I may have to go away and do some scientific research, to see if the numbers back that up. The conclusion of the article looked slightly familiar. “More than 30 years later, and the band, known for satirical, sardonic and sometimes surreal songs, are still going strong.” All good stuff, of course, but it sat on the Music Scene page next to a far larger write-up on Ocean Colour Scene and their forthcoming show at Doncaster Racecourse, complete with full band photo (whereas the HMHB bit was accompanied by a tiny photo of Nigel.)
Brian Cant’s passing can not go by without mention. Normally when celebrity season tickets come up for grabs, it doesn’t make too much impact on me. John Peel was a notable exception. And now Brian. Another bit of your childhood gets chipped away. I am of an age where I remember his presence being a standard on Play School. And his contribution to the Trumptonshire trilogy was peerless. We all know the Fire Brigade roll call. That was Brian at his best. And of course he did the original of Time Flies By, except with slightly different words to the HMHB cover version. Rest In Peace.
Karen and I met with Tony and the three of us were the first to form a queue outside the venue. Soon enough Andrew joined us, relating tales of his time as a student in Sheffield, clubbing at The Limit, and being on nodding terms with Phil Oakey. My tale of my first HMHB gig being at The Leadmill was defeated. The place hadn’t even opened by the time Andrew left the city. The entrance was slightly ajar, so we were able to hear the band doing their sound check – A Lilac Harry Quinn and The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train. Security were having none of it though. The door was locked and bolted, and we were left to our own devices.
Jordan and Emily also joined the queue. As did Matt. His journey (Lancing to Sheffield via Market Harborough) is not one that many people take for whatever reason. At 7.30 prompt, the bolts were drawn back, the key was placed in the lock, and we were allowed in. Great to see that the turnstile is still in place (hopefully the same one that was there in 1986). Gives an accurate picture of how many folk are there. Later assessment was that the place was clearly very busy, but not packed out.
Karen went to the bar, and came back with bottles of water priced at a (comparatively) reasonable £1.50 each. A lot of places see fit to charge double that. And The Leadmill also allow you to keep the top on your bottle. Most civilised! There was more catching up to be done. Sally was doing the Air B’N’B thing. John, as usual, was doing the King Of Hi Vis thing. And it was tremendous as always to see HMHB’s international fan Thorsten, who had brought his family over from Germany for a gig. The conversation with Pete (from Bradford) and his mate Andy reminded me of a HMHB gig at Queens Hall in Bradford around 1992. This was pre-internet, and I drove through only to find a note on the door saying “gig cancelled”. To my knowledge it never got re-arranged, so there is another place for the band to play. Pete seemed to think that their only gig there was at the 1 in 12 Club.
Howie joined us at the front. He had had a good afternoon and early evening. His route to the gig was The Devonshire Cat, The Bath Hotel, Red Deer, Three Tuns, The Rutland Arms, Lord Nelson and Sentinel Brewhouse. Some good choices in there. He even managed to get to The Shakespeare afterwards.
Others who turned up were Ian and Mariana, Nigel and Jo, Graham from Liverpool (sorry we didn’t get to talk), Pete from Worksop and Mr and Mrs Exford. Apologies to those around me but I was engrossed in conversation with Katherine and Karl for much of Sonnenberg’s set. Most annoying and hypocritical of me. I won’t complain any more when I experience that distraction myself.
I’m not quite there with the names of all of Sonnenberg’s songs. But I know that Believe, Into The Light, War No More and Better Together were all played. Karen would have liked to have heard Beautiful Morning, and I remain sorry that they appear to have dropped Sweet Life from their set. There were just the three of them playing tonight. We had a good chat with Zinny outside at the start of the evening. The band might get a bit busier towards the end of the year. We hope to be able to see them play in their own right.
I always thought that HMHB chose the walk-on music. But Nigel didn’t seem to know what it was tonight. Nor did most of the crowd. John had guessed at The Naked City. But Katherine has one of those app things on her phone which identifies tunes in a sort of you-hum-it-I’ll-play-it way. The device gave the title of The Man With The Golden Arm. Someone else shouted out the same thing, so we’ll go with that. It was also commented that The Sweet used to walk on stage to that music. Nigel’s reply was “Are you still collecting the school vouchers? I’ve moved on to the Lego Create The World vouchers now.” At this point I also noted that Carl was again wearing his 3743 BMTS t-shirt.
At the Rotherham Postie’s first shout of “What did God give us, Neil?”, Nigel replied that he would take a pound for that, having bet with Neil that he would show up and shout that. Nigel also said that he thought he had seen The Postie at Wentworth House earlier.
Someone (we think it might have been Charles) shouted that Ken Hancock is a genius. “Yeah, but he puts his bin out on the wrong day,” countered Nigel. After which there was an extended conversation about wheelie bins. Apparently Nigel just has two, and in Liverpool they have purple bins, while Tony said they have four in Birmingham including the newspaper box. Nigel was surprised by this, saying that they put the newspapers in with their recycling.
Nigel observed “There’s a bluebottle on stage. Keeps you on your toes.” It had landed on his head and had generally buzzed around while they played Fred Titmus. This was an ongoing distraction throughout the evening. Tony shouted out that flies hear through their legs. Nigel adopted a martial arts pose when facing up to the fly. “I’ll practice origami on it.” This got a laugh. “You won’t laugh if I turn you into a fucking yacht,” he continued.
Nigel mentioned ice creams and said that whereas Magnums could be a bit expensive, you could get Majestics from Iceland (the shop not the country). He particularly likes the peach flavour. “Four for a pound. I would have written that line into Little In The Way Of Sunshine if I’d known about it at the time.” In answer to a shout of “Nerys Hughes!” he replied that the band did a song about her.
There was a request to “turn the lead up”. Nigel wondered what was meant by “lead”. “I play the lead guitar myself sometimes.” This was borne out later following a shout of “You’re a dead man, Fisher!” He played the opening riff of Climie Fisher. “Just so that you know that it’s me playing on the record, not Ken.”
There was talk about The Invisible Heroes. “You might have heard them, but you won’t have seen them.” They had had a gig at The Rhythm Method Club, but had had to pull out at the last minute. “We were going to play this…” he said, ahead of Tommy Walsh’s Eco House. There was a shout for Reflections in A Flat. “That’s one of ours,” said Nigel. “Funnily enough, it’s in the same chord as this one (Lark Descending).” During Lark Descending there was the traditional application of plectrum to forehead. The line from that song tonight was “And I wouldn’t have to pretend that I know what Eponymous means.”
“Clive Swift, everyone,” pointed out Nigel, gesturing vaguely into the crowd. The spotlights went up in the corner. “It could be him after all,” he said. Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off was all about going to a Behind Closed Doors friendly, and ending up with a restricted view (points towards Neil). The three men admired most were “The father, son and Donny Most.”
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit was about setting the satnav for Chepstow and ending up in Ludlow (points towards Neil again). Nigel reminded us yet again that “you’ve got to watch what you say in PC World.” I may have misheard but in Look Dad No Tunes I’m sure that the foot was stamped down on the amp switch in Northwich rather than the more traditional Nantwich.
Nigel couldn’t remember if he needed the capo on his guitar for Evening Of Swing. Someone shouted “Capo Dilemma!” to which he replied “That should be the name of your band. Minor chords only. And sign to a subsidiary of Sub Pop.” For What Is Chatteris was preceded by a verse of The Twelfth Of Never. Neil and Ken swapped places for Twenty-Seven Yards Of Dental Floss and The Bane Of Constance. While they were doing this, Nigel gave us a bit of I Saw Her Standing There, interspersed with what sounded like the backing vocal from Where Is My Mind.
During A Lilac Harry Quinn, Nigel told the joke that sails over your head. “What has three legs and eats fish and chips? Don and Ivy Brennan.” Ken was the first man in Wallasey to have a pogo stick. Martin at the front asked Nigel what is his favourite cheese. “I’ve been all round the houses with cheese,” he replied. “But I always come back to crumbly Cheshire. With salad cream in a sandwich. With some crisps.” Nigel asked Martin what was his favourite. That was Stilton. Nigel also added that Lancashire makes the best cheese on toast.
The set list for this fine evening was
Bob Wilson Anchorman
Running Order Squabble Fest
Joy In Leeuwarden (We Are Ready)
Fuckin’’Ell It’s Fred Titmus
Restless Legs
Little In The Way Of Sunshine
Surging Out Of Convalescence
Tommy Walsh’s Eco House
Lark Descending
Albert Hammond Bootleg
Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshite
When The Evening Sun Goes Down
Turned Up Clocked On Laid Off
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
Look Dad No Tunes (straight into the end bit of The Best Things In Life)
Evening Of Swing (Has Been Cancelled)
National Shite Day
For What Is Chatteris?
Twenty-Seven Yards Of Dental Floss
The Bane Of Constance
A Lilac Harry Quinn
Joy Division Oven Gloves
Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
Vatican Broadside
Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show
Everything’s AOR
And four songs in the encore.
She’s In Broadstairs
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train
The Trumpton Riots
One or two in there that have not appeared for a while. Albert Hammond Bootleg? A great gig attended by great people. It would have been nice to round it off with a beer but all the pubs we called at had closed for the night. Sheffield is some way short of being a twenty-four hour city. Although it was a Thursday, I suppose. Great burritos, though.
…And finally, a happy retirement to Philip.
5 August 2017
SPT
Intro music was definitely The Man With The Golden Arm theme. Barry Adamson’s version is one of my favourites..
5 August 2017
EXXO
Nobody does write better lyrics than Nigel Backwell, and nobody writes better reviews of HMHB gigs than Roger Green, and no times do I wish that someone would.
But what? No bother you say? As Mrs. Exford set off for ‘Rebellion’ in Blackpool this morning, I noted the emergence of one of those incidental moshpit shiners that can only be imparted by the bouncing of somebody shorter than yourself …
5 August 2017
Toerag
Superb gig and great to see Exxo back in the fold. Anyone else spot Carl’s new kit?
5 August 2017
EXXO
So great by the way way that everyone seems to enjoy these daft mediocre cheeses.
Leaves more of the good stuff at cheaper prices from those of us who know the better ones (and no, I’m certainly not going to tell you what they are).
5 August 2017
Phyllis Triggs
Excellent! Sounds like a great time was had by all. Couldn’t make it myself as I was at Cambridge Rock Festival – music a bit too limited and proggy for my taste really but as a weekend spent drinking beer in the sunshine with friends it ticks all the right boxes.
Exxo – good to see you back. It feels like some sort of equilibrium has been restored.
7 August 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Just watched the You Tube clip of the encore of the gig. (Thanks Andy blue fox)
I know this may of been mentioned before, but doesn’t Nigel look uncannilly like Yip yap (Jaap) Stam he’s a big Dutchman, Get past him if you f***ing can, Try a little trick he’ll make you look a dick, Yip yap Jaap Stam.
Also liked the two girls at the front kissing one another during ‘You can’t put your arms around a memory’.
8 August 2017
dr desperate
Cheeky.
Excellent sound quality, especially for the bubblewrap popping at the beginning.
8 August 2017
d List PAUL ROSS
At the Duchess of York in Leeds somewhere between 1998 and 2002 I made the Stam observation to a woman who was at the gig with Nigel (Wife? Girlfriend?). She rolled her eyes like I was a Gok Wan acolyte so I’m guessing I wasn’t the first then.
10 August 2017
EXXO
I remember Denise being at a gig at the Duchess in the late 90’s (when there were 4 Duchess gigs within 26 months). Stam came to England in 1998, coinciding with Nigel sporting much less hair. 1997 Duchess video has him looking positively hirsute compared to 1998. So Stam comparisons would probably only have started seriously in 1998.
Must admit I never realised Stam’s stay was so brief (but then I never realised how much he shared our loathing of his boss, nor that it was mutual).
10 August 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Nigel, I would just like to say and I think other pedants will agree.
We’ve missed you man….
This site is not the same without your imput.
Sir Matt. Sir Alex.
Bob and Bill….
10 August 2017
d List PAUL ROSS
Thanks Exxo, glad my memory is holding up! Not sure Denise (as I now know her to be called) was that impressed – I was probably pissed almost certainly boring but at least I don’t recall mentioning Johnny Cash.
11 August 2017
EXXO
I just sent my first text message since my SIM card and the phone I’d had since 2001 got f*cked at this Sheffield gig 18+ months ago. I like texting, but I can’t be doing with call centres.
The real collateral damage is that I’ve had to give in and reluctantly start using a smart phone. Never thought I’d give in before Mr. Blackwell and am utterly gutted.
26 April 2019