Traditionally the band have turned up in Leeds every 3–4 years, but the recent catching up required means it’s been 5½ years since the last one. That gig featured the first outing (of only two ever) for Baguette Dilemma for the Booker Prize Guy, stats fans. What was this gig’s highlight? Over to you…
Gary Evans
The soundman needs sacking. Karl’s guitar has been on mute for most of the gig.
10 June 2022
Man of varying sorrow
Shoutout to the man who exclaimed “my life is complete” towards the end of AOR. I very much share the sentiment!
10 June 2022
D list paul ross
1812 Overture AFAIK.
10 June 2022
D list paul ross
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky rather than Bram.
10 June 2022
D list paul ross
Maybe we’ll get Forget About You next time.
10 June 2022
Moo369
I’m no drum technician, but I thought I spotted a few bum notes tonight, and general issues with keeping time, etc. Something going on with the monitors, I think. Didn’t affect my enjoyment in the slightest though. Great as ever.
A few BBC journos present, as observed by Nigel: Sophie Raworth, Clive Myrie and Damian Grammaticas. The last one being clearly not a real name.
10 June 2022
D list paul ross
Can’t believe Clive Myrie hasn’t returned Nigel’s trestle table. Unbelievable.
10 June 2022
TwistedKiteMike
Another fine evening of song. Here’s the setlist for those that want to know.
Broadstairs
Batwalk
Bob Wilson
Buried in the Morning
Fred T
Squabblefest
Awkward Sean
Light Tunnel
Terminus
Suffolk Ditch
When I look at my Baby
Mountain Bikes
Whiteness Meltonian
U Covert
Bad Wools
Hi-Vis
Vatican
Big Man Up Front
Chatteris
NSD
DPAK
Trad Arr Tune
Oblong
Trumpton
AOR
Midnight Mass
JDOG
……………………………
Time Flies By
No More Heroes
Bell Rings
I was very pleased to hear “Suffolk Ditch” get a run out, which I hope was well received by the congregation. No doubt Roger will complete the finer details, including the ending to Mountain Bikes, which I have forgotten. Long drive home.
Mike………………………
11 June 2022
John anderson
@Moo369 Damian Grammaticas is indeed a real person:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damian_Grammaticas
11 June 2022
Mark
Who were the support band?
11 June 2022
TwistedKiteMike
Bite Back.
Birkenhead punk band.
11 June 2022
dic aberdaron
boss biccies gig and support
11 June 2022
Hendrix-tattoo
Well what can I say apart from it was the best three hours of the month for me…
11 June 2022
Bad lOser
Gig 6 of the year and a fairly easy trip with the M62 starting 4 miles from home.
We saw Neil on his pre-gig search for food and he commented on what an easy run it was when leaving the Motorway by Elland Road which led to a brief chat about the perils of being an away fan there.
Not having any issue with Spoons, we had a Hedley Veritesque bite to eat because I’m nothing if not nerdy.
My wife bought a ‘Spray Can’ t-shirt and not finding it acceptable for her to have a new t-shirt of I haven’t, a Molon Lobe’ in black was bought post gig.
Really enjoyed BiteBack. Can download them via a link on their FB page. I haven’t found anywhere else to buy it yet.
Some good work from the security staff handing out cups of water to those of us feeling the heat at the front. They had to be on alert too for crowd-surfers in what was a lively and packed audience.
Agree the sound wasn’t the best without being aware how badly it was knobbling Karl.
Finally, a terrible night on the Fantasy Biscuitball predictions. I will try and pass it off as an attempt to avoid finishing in the Europa Conference League qualifying positions.
11 June 2022
Moo369
@John Anderson Apologies, I should have made it clear that it was Nigel who questioned whether Damian Grammaticas might actually be a stage name.
11 June 2022
EXXO
What a brilliant surprise to hear that Bite Back supported. In a way it softens being so gutted to miss this gig, because I generally miss support bands if I don’t know them, and would have been hugely gutted to enter the room as Bite Back left the stage!! Those who are not aware should be informed that Bite Back’s Hocky was the front man of Birkenhead’s Instant Agony, 1979-84 who of course have their own special place in early HMHB history. Meanwhile Mandy was in the fabulous Iconoclasts and is now, amongst other roles, bassist in Karl’s Band-Its.
Yes, managed to get through that without using the word “legend.” Oh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCyT2ANY3Ng
11 June 2022
FERENCVáROS FAN
First of all, thank you to the hotel, for upgrading me and giving me a studio suite, possibly because I booked the room months ago. Plan A had been to check in there after an early pint at Whitelocks (super pub) before taking in a couple of additional pubs, and then The Fenton. Confronted with the unasked-for luxury, I felt I should enjoy these surroundings for at least an hour, so I finished reading Pat Nevin’s excellent book, ‘The Accidental Footballer’ which I know has been previously mentioned here. Finding enjoyment in reading the (non-ghosted) autobiography of an introspective outsider, who loves music and the arts, and who always dared to be his authentic self? Surely not.
On to The Fenton in due course, then to the restaurant for a pre-gig pizza, with a group who I have come to see as friends. At some point in the proceedings I spotted another couple of familiar faces in the doorway and said hi, a nano second before realising it was NB and Denise. As others on here have attested, they are brilliantly approachable in what is for the likes of us a hugely significant event. Thanks again to the hotel then. The hour I spent reading kept me, I would argue, on the right side of tipsy, so I can remember the conversation they both had with our group very well, despite the fact that, between us all, we totally cleaned out the restaurant’s supply of red wine.
The ensuing gig was up there with the best for me. Great to be present for the first airing of Suffolk Ditch, and loving the fact that OOD, Awkward Sean and MMM have seemed to become staples. However the running order at the end of the main performance completely did it for me. Chatteris, NSD, DPAK, Trad Arr Tune, OOD, Trumpton, AOR, MMM, JDOG. Mindblowing stuff. Also agree with Bad Loser that the 3 stageside stewards deserve a shout-out for their exemplary work on the night.
Disappointed at having to bale out of the pub comparatively early afterwards but it had been a long day and I felt cooked (Parsfan told me at the train station this morning that the beer I was on was strong stuff, so I’ll concede that it may have been more than fatigue). Fortunately though, I did get to chat to one of the 6 Irish pilgrims before leaving. Another face to look out for at future gigs, even if, as I understand, it’s an annual pilgrimage for this group. Big thanks to everyone who I met then. You all helped me to have the time of my life, and I don’t use that expression lightly.
11 June 2022
Strummerman
Spotify playlist of last night in Leeds for those that do this sort of thing….
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/34BZ7WtUuIb1b9OeokKPjw?si=xzU_4lrKRPCD_W0ATfOK9g&utm_source=copy-link
(Penultimate track substituted by a poor cover…)
11 June 2022
John anderson
@Moo369. See also Matthew Amroliwala (he must despair). Glad Clive Myrie got a shout out. I used to work with him. Top lad and a decent footballer. Boy done good.
11 June 2022
Cornish Biscuit
Stoked to win the FBL this gig. Won’t happen again probably, so relishing the moment. And you’re correct, Exxo, i am a man, although in the words of Yootha Joyce to Brian Murphy, “Let’s not take a vote on that, George”. Was so excited when my pick for encore came true I forgot to mosh to The Stranglers. Just a fantastic gig. And yes, what an avalanche run-in of the last ten songs or so. Crouched precariously at knee-level at the front, trying to tie up my plimsolls for a third time, I was silently praying for the respite of a slow one, but in the final analysis I would have gladly been trampled underfoot if this were to be my destiny. What a way to go, and with a big smile on my tired, stupid face.
11 June 2022
gipton teenager
I had a lovely time last night. Thanks to everyone involved. Must have more of a chat next time Tony.
11 June 2022
John Smart
Nigel commented in an additional lyric, I think, about Wilfred Rhodes, of Kirkheaton, a great Yorkshire cricketer, did anyone else note when this was?
A great gig, my first for some time, over three years. Agree with previous comments about some sound issues.
Good in two special respects; I have been going to see them since the mid to late 1980s, and I enjoyed the fact that there were quite a lot more young fans, who knew the stuff, present too.
And it was a first gig for a fellow Wirralian who has lived abroad for decades and not seen HMHB live before.
Nice to see the Hi-Vis stayed on this time.
John
11 June 2022
JOhn SMart (JAS)
Just looked back at my few previous posts, first gig March 1986, Birmingham.
So good to see new fans as I said. Still not 60 here!
John
11 June 2022
dic aberdaron
for completists…..
hocky (bite back)
used to be in a band with neil (hmhb)
called venomous youth
12 June 2022
The bastard in the hat
I’ve put up some YouTube videos of the gig — see below. To be honest, I don’t think they’re great videos — if there’s a consensus that I should take some or all of them down, I will.
When I Look At My Baby: https://youtu.be/V5qsm21YzQk
King Of Hi-Vis: https://youtu.be/JF5WnI28tLc
For What Is Chatteris: https://youtu.be/6OuqSxyYjcg
Every Time A Bell Rings: https://youtu.be/_h6Ez4suAd4
Oblong Of Dreams: https://youtu.be/4UvryL3-1EM
12 June 2022
The bastard in the hat
@John Smart #22 — the tribute to Wilfred Rhodes was just after “Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes” (which was just after “When I Look At My Baby” — see the Youtube link). It was a pastiche of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — you know the rest.
12 June 2022
The bastard in the hat
One notable aspect of the gig was the strength of Neil’s backing vocals — including an a-capella intro to one song. Can anyone remember which song, and identify what the intro was? It sounded a bit like an Irish lament, in a good way.
12 June 2022
TRANSIT FULL OF keith
In Cardiff he sang the Skye Boat Song intro to Awkward Sean – was it that?
12 June 2022
CARRIE ANNE
Roger’s review, copied from Jez’s website https://www.hmhb.co.uk/guest/index.htm
Stylus, Leeds University SU, Fri 10th June 2022
Roger Green:
We went to the final of the Battle Of The Bands. A coveted slot at the Friarwood Festival in Pontefract was at stake. Creditable performances and decent cover versions on offer. But, as HMHB state in Fretwork Homework, “We’re gonna win ‘cos we’ve got the most fans.” Never was a truer word sung. Four bands were supposed to be appearing but one of them had already jacked it in. Musical similarities, I would have thought. To top it all, we won a box of artisan chocolate truffles in the raffle.
We went to a wedding. The ceremony as well as the night time. Dancing Queen was played, of course. We put in a request for Midnight Mass Murder. No such luck.
In the gap between the Cardiff gig and this one, Rogation Sunday came along. Plenty of prayer and fasting for everyone? No, me neither. I bought a copy of Mojo, which featured extracts from Nige Tassell’s book, Whatever Happened To The C86 Kids? When people ask me what kind of music HMHB play, I always mumble something like “Well, there’s two guitarists, one of whom sings. And there’s a bass guitarist and a drummer.” To which they reply, “You mean like The Beatles?” So I say, “Yes. Just like The Beatles.” Of course, in future, I will just say, “Half Man Half Biscuit? They’re a C86 band.” In which case I will expect the reply, “You mean like We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It?”
There’s another book coming out. Maybe it’s already in the shops. I Heard The Strokes Before You by Dorian Cox. Before the gods who made the gods were born? Buy it, and you’ll find out.
HMHB continue to advertise in Vive Le Rock. A nice lime green background made it stand out. It was a list of the forthcoming shows, beginning with Cardiff (which had already been and gone) and running through to London next January. It all reflected a true and fair view, although you never know what is going to be announced just round the corner.
On one of my many nights of insomnia, I listened to a bit of Colin Murray’s show on Five Live. He was putting together an imaginary mixtape of songs where the lyrics were gibberish. Joy Division Oven Gloves made its way in there. Gibberish? Other songs in the mix were Birdhouse In Your Soul, Champagne Supernova and MacArthur Park. It was a slow news night.
At HMHB gigs, Nigel often points out Carol Klein in the crowd. We saw her presenting on BBC2 from The Chelsea Flower Show. No mention of her being on the lookout for quicklime though. And Monty Don was on the same show. HMHB reference point after reference point after reference point…
On his show on 6 Music, Gideon Coe often has themes to his evenings. One such theme was that all the songs had to relate to “hair”. HMHB songs seem to appear less and less on the airwaves these days, so imagine our joy when Hair Like Brian May Blues got a spin. The same show also featured Nina Simone’s Black Is The Colour Of My True Love’s Hair. Does that sound familiar? Adapted into the lyric of We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune. (By the way, is there a graph anywhere showing the relationship between HMHB airplay, record/CD sales, and attendance at gigs? Maybe I’ll make some figures up.)
I’ve been reading Robin Ince’s The Importance Of Being Interested. He mentions his mate Chris, who spent a lot of his childhood in and around Castleton, and is now a professor of geology. When HMHB play there later in the summer, if you see someone examining the rocks in the cave, rather than watching the band, that’ll be Chris. On the subject of Castleton, I was talking with a colleague at work. He had visited the town and had spotted a poster advertising August’s HMHB show. One whole poster! That is some marketing campaign.
Checking up on the publicity for the Leeds gig, I think the University could do with updating their info. This looks familiar. Perhaps a Cut And Paste job from a few years back? “If Half Man Half Biscuit did not exist, it would be imperative to invent them. Since their formation nearly thirty years ago, their presence has been a necessity. In essence the vehicle for the observations, ramblings and creations of front-man Nigel Blackwell, they are counterblasts to the processes of modern life. Throughout changing times, they have spanned the decades, released thirteen full-length albums and dropped a thousand-and-one pop culture references from BBC Radio’s Charles Nove to former cricketer Fred Titmus.” I think they’ll find that the band has done a bit more than thirteen albums now. And of course we can say that the formation of the band was nearly forty years ago, not thirty.
The papers review started the night before the gig. I thought there might have been a mention in the Yorkshire Evening Post’s supplement The Guide. No chance. It was the same with Friday’s Yorkshire Post. I’m sure they used to carry gig listings. Not anymore.
Our journey to the gig was far shorter than usual on these occasions. Bus into Wakefield. Walk to Westgate station and we got the train from there. In Leeds, we ambled across town to Pie Minister, where I was tucking into my Kate And Sidney Mothership when we had our first Biscuiteer sighting of the day. Andy was heading purposefully towards Kirkgate Market.
Afterwards, we had the customary afternoon in front of the TV, picking off the HMHB references. Jenny Eclair guesting on Steph’s Packed Lunch and then almost inevitably Claire Rayner’s son appeared in Dictionary Corner on Countdown.
There was an early start to the evening (mainly because of the early finish). Karen, Andrew, Tony and I bundled ourselves into a taxi, headed for the university. We saw Graham and Sarah there and formed the beginnings of the queue for the gig. Funny how on a warm, sunny evening like this, you queue indoors. Whereas when it is sub-zero in February, you end up queuing out on the street. Andrew had recently been to Norway. He had been unable to pick up a Strømsgodset shirt, and had to settle for a Vålerenga number, which he was wearing tonight. (Stunning work here from Karen on the computer keyboard, sorting out that circle, and the crossed out “o” thing.)
The main topic of discussion was the price of beer. No one could match Tony, whose first pint was Hook Norton Mild, costing the grand sum of 10d. In the days when it was “d”, before it became “p”. Eee, them were the days. Karl dropped by, on his way to report for duty with the band. And just ahead of doors opening, Karen handed me my ticket from an envelope where she had written the dates when this show had been arranged and re-arranged. First of all, it was set for 6 November 2020, then it was 28 May 2021. And now here we were on 10 June 2022. That’s pandemics for you.
Slight delay actually getting through the door. Everyone who had bought tickets online were simply being zapped and allowed through. But we, who had supported local industry by buying over the counter at Jumbo Records, had to queue again (like you do when you go to vote) at the desk and wait for the lady to tick our names off. Good ol’ bureaucracy. There’s a lesson in there for us somewhere.
When inside Stylus, we got talking to a pleasant security guy, telling us about how Titan are now employed there. Good work from them later on when handing out water (“Nice touch,” commented Nigel when that happened). They also had to deal with not one, but two, crowd surfers.
First time for a while that I’ve heard Big Decision by That Petrol Emotion, as featured on the pre-gig PA. Lou was one of the early arrivals. She was taken by the idea that the bar was selling still water in cans. Not every venue does this, but you wouldn’t say it’s a rarity these days.
Tonight’s support band were Bite Back from Birkenhead. A fine set of chaps playing punk rock. Nothing wrong with that in my book. There is a link to HMHB from the Instant Agony days. A punk song called Growing Old will always grab my attention. The guitarist/vocalist is Hocky, whose style had a bit of Diggle and a bit of Jones (Steve and/or Mick). One of their songs borrows the film title Whisky Galore! This earned a shout of “Gordon Jackson” from the crowd. “What a great audience,” said Hocky, “we normally only play in pubs in front of five people.” With his flat cap, Hocky is the complete geezer. Memo to HMHB management… please can we have these again. As with Crapsons, surely everyone can squeeze into the same van. I’m thinking of the petrol that can be saved. I’m just sorry that we were ushered out at the end of the evening. I was after picking up one of Bite Back’s CDs. Maybe next time, eh. Thanks to Hocky for the set list, complete with plastic wallet. Here’s what it said.
Truth
Stand
Bad Blood
Warrior
Growing Old
Whiskey
Open Your Eyes
One Foot In The Grave
End Of The Line
Addicted
More sightings in the interval. Postman Tony, who had had a pizza with Nigel earlier, and Hellos exchanged with John and Andy. Katharine and Karl also tipped up, as did Michael, Sally and their son out of Indignation Meeting. Future support act? George edged in at the front, and Daz and Howie were there promptly. Howie gets the award for a particularly circuitous route to the gig. Dumfries-Carlisle-Newcastle-York-Scarborough-Whitby-Goathland-Robin Hood’s Bay-Scarborough-York-Leeds, taking in a couple of nights at Scarborough. And he even had time to become an Internet sensation when he dared to have tinned tomatoes with a full English breakfast. That’s not for everyone.
HMHB’s walk-on music was Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. “The cannons strike up in a bit,” said Tony, but the band had started playing by then. Nigel, with a carrier bag, looked like had just got back from Tesco Express. Maybe that was the case. “Mr Udagawa!” was his first spot of the evening. Unusually, Nigel started the gig with his caravan guitar, but soon noted “It’s too heavy!” and picked up his other one.
There was a strong emphasis on “Booking Essential” in Renfield’s Afoot, which Nigel also pointed out was a true story. He tried to pull the microphone away from the stand, like pop stars do, but it was clamped in too tightly. A shout of “What did God give us?” was met with the customary “Yeah, that’s one of ours.”
At one point Nigel was having problems trying to untangle a guitar lead. He started singing “We are leads! We are leads! We are leads!” and added “That was the whole point of booking this gig.” We were treated to a variation of That’s Amore. “When you swim in the creek, and an eel bites your cheek, that’s a moray”.
Neil again did a mighty vocal opening to Awkward Sean. Nigel pointed straight at me on the “That’s him there” line. “Anyone here from the Marshall Islands?” asked Nigel. No reply. He followed up with “What about Rothwell?”, which raised a few cheers and then said “Told you…” to Neil. Nigel asked the Rothwellites if they knew Mad Macca. “Every estate has a Mad Macca”.
“Which actor won an Oscar, and then the next year his son also won an Oscar for best song in a film?” asked Nigel. The answer was Rex Harrison who won an Oscar for his performance in 1964’s My Fair Lady, and his son Noel won one for the song Windmills Of Your Mind in 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair. Not quite “the next year”, but let’s not quibble. It’s a good question.
Sophie Raworth was the next celeb spotted by Nigel. At the end of Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes, the line was adapted from John Denver’s work “That’s when you were singing, that’s when you were singing… Wilfred Rhodes take me home, to the place I was born, West Yorkshire, where I belong.” Etc. etc..
Another request from the crowd. You know how it goes. “Tess Of The Dormobiles!” “Yeah. That’s one of ours. These don’t know it, but I’ll play it for you in the corridor later”. Nigel spotted Damian Grammaticus in the crowd. “That’s not your real name, is it?” Tony suggested that it could be an anagram. Yet again, Karl earned his wage just by doing the “Geraldine” backing vocal. Maybe that was something to do with his microphone not working for most of the second half of the gig. Karen noted some particularly great drumming by Carl on In A Suffolk Ditch.
I didn’t have a barometer on me, but I’m sure it would have shown the atmospheric pressure to be “stuffy”. Good job then, that I could see one of the stage doors being opened, to let some air in.
Nigel gave us a tremendous variation to the regular lyric of Song To The Siren. “Long afloat on shipless oceans / I did all my best to smile / Until your singing eyes and fingers / Drew me loving to your isle / And you sang… Marching on together / We’re gonna see you win / We are so proud, we shout it loud…”. That met with the approval of all the Leeds United fans there tonight. And presumably all the Tim Buckley fans. And all the folk who fall into both camps. An interesting mash-up.
There was a shout of “Albert Hammond!” from the floor. “Where?” replied Nigel. Later he pointed out “Clive Myrie, ladies and gentlemen… That trestle table’s mine.” With Myrie, Raworth and Grammaticus, there was surely a BBC News outing going on tonight.
Ahead of We Built This Village, Nigel sang a snippet of a song that could have been called I’ll Never Be Man Enough For You. Neither Tony nor Andrew knew anything about this, so there was no point whatsoever in me doing any research there.
The mosh pit was building up considerable steam, particularly from National Shite Day onwards, with security keeping an eye out. The moat between stage and crowd at Stylus is larger than usual at these places, so they were able to patrol to good effect. Things got a little tetchy with one git in particular. At the end of the main set, Nigel gave us his usual farewell, “Have a great weekend. Weatherwise or otherwise.”
Here is how the evening went:
She’s In Broadstairs
Renfield’s Afoot
Bob Wilson Anchorman
I’m Getting Buried In The Morning
Fuckin’ ‘Ell It’s Fred Titmus
Running Order Squabble Fest
Awkward Sean
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train)
Terminus
In A Suffolk Ditch
When I Look At My Baby
Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes
Whiteness Thy Name Is Meltonian
Harsh Times In Umberstone Covert
Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools
King Of Hi-Vis
Vatican Broadside
Big Man Up Front
For What Is Chatteris
National Shite Day
All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune
Oblong Of Dreams
The Trumpton Riots
Everything’s AOR
Midnight Mass Murder
Joy Division Oven Gloves
And three songs in the encore:
Time Flies By When You’re A Driver Of A Train
No More Heroes
Every Time A Bell Rings
Very generous of Karl to once again hand over his set list. This time round, there was a discrepancy. The band played When I Look At My Baby, which was not included on the written list.
It was a 10pm clear out, so there wasn’t too much chat in the second half of the show. Maybe the band had one eye on the clock. Understandable. It was one of the few times when you come out of a gig and it’s still daylight. We discussed heading to The Fenton, along with Graham Le Taxi, Brian and Daz. Howie had met his cousin and went to Foleys. Maybe Daz made it into the pub, but there was a queue to get in by the time we arrived. Instead we headed into The Dry Dock across the road, with Tony and Andrew also at our table. Steve, Glyn and Alison were at the next table. Sarah, Graham, Andy and Celia had also dipped out of the queue at The Fenton. A few Dukla shirts were in the bar as well my own. I exchanged waves as folk came and went.
We read up on Tranmere’s possible ground move. I thought Nigel might have mentioned this. Or maybe it needs to wait until things become clearer. He was also silent on the subject of prospects for Le Tour. And maybe I didn’t catch up with folk as much as I could have done, only exchanging brief Hellos with Mike and many others. There’s a two-month lay-off now, until we meet up again, deep in the cave at Castleton.
12 June 2022
Flintlock
I wasn’t there, but I’ll guess that the “I’ll never be man enough for you” song was Consolation Prize by Orange Juice.
13 June 2022
dr Desperate
Customarily brilliant stuff, @Roger (and everyone else)!
Hi to all those I met in Whitelocks, the Fenton and at the gig who expressed concern over the fate of the Hi-Vis tabard – suffice to say that the Leeds Showsecs are far more relaxed than their Cardiff cousins, allowing me to wear it for the first playing of the eponymous song in over 4 years.
The decision to patronise the Rustica pizza joint proved an excellent one, the slowness of their service allowing us a good hour to chat with Nigel and Denise on topics ranging from Abba to Zatopek. They’d also noticed the Rand Coffee Roastery next door (a new venture for CtSO?) It took me until the following morning to realise that the photo Postie Tony had taken of us grinning outside it featured John, Paul, George… and Steve: Four Lads Who Shook West Yorkshire.
The gig was tremendous, with more moshing than the last three combined. I can always tell it’s been a good’un by the filthiness of the laces on my right Converse, and by the bruises on my elbows. Props to Poppy, the young punk I’d met the previous week at The Lovely Eggs gig at The Ritz, and whose imitation of the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil during the speedier numbers was a sight to see. She was the proud recipient of the night’s bogus triple-A award.
Matters arising:
The delay in Clive Myrie’s return of Nigel’s trestle table was beginning to rankle: “Any time this year’ll do, Clive”.
Wizard Tony suggested that Damian Grammaticas’s obviously fake name was an anagram, as indeed it is: I ADMIT ANAGRAM SCAM (not to be confused with Riley’s Anagram Sam).
Nigel may have misspoken in setting his Scouser-won Oscar question: Huyton-born Rex Harrison did indeed win Best Actor for his rôle in ‘My Fair Lady’ in 1965, but he also sang ‘If I Could Talk to the Animals’ in ‘Doctor Dolittle’, which won Best Song in 1968, the year before his son Noel’s ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ from ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ received the same award. (In point of fact, neither of them sang.)
There will now be a brief intermission of two months.
On to Devil’s Arse!
13 June 2022
D list paul ross
Tiny extra unimportant thing which hasn’t been mentioned AFAIK, Sophie Raworth appeared to be trying to tap Nigel for cash when he spotted her and he had to turn his pockets out and mouth “I’m skint” to put her off. Hopefully I didn’t imagine this.
13 June 2022
dic aberdaron
nice bit of wicker man from neil
14 June 2022
Dave Wiggins
Delighted to hear that Bite Back opened.
In 2018, I was asked if I could assist in pulling together a band, at short notice, to open for Hocky and the lads at their gig in Mold.
So I did. Me on vocals; Hodgson on lead guitar; Hodgson’s son on rhythm guitar; our Mike on bass; and a great young drummer from Hawarden.
Calling ourselves ‘Psycho Passenger’, for no apparent reason, we stumbled through 40 minutes of Punk / New Wave covers, before being able to enjoy the headliners.
A magical evening.
26 June 2022
dr Desperate
I suppose it’s unlikely, @Dave, that your band’s name was a callback to this news item from 2016, involving the American songwriter Richard Marx restraining a psycho passenger on a Korean Air flight in 2016.
Marx, who co-wrote the song ‘Crazy’ (not the Patsy Cline one), put the blame on the Korean flight crew, who “hadn’t been through required Kung Fu training like they do in China”.
https://viewfromthewing.com/singer-richard-marx-restrains-psycho-passenger-attacking-crew/
26 June 2022
Cycledelic Fuzz
Iggy used to come on to the 1812 Overture, just when the cannons started…..
2 July 2022
CYCLEDELIC Fuzz
Your diagnosis is correct Doctor. Jake, Wire and the Manc boot boys would be a good night out, reminds me of 1979 bill at the Ballroom (Electric) B52’s, The Fall, the Cramps, which I missed due to a Geography field trip to Eyam.
3 July 2022
EXXO
As a point of record, before I forget Hocky from Instant Agony mentioned in Castleton that this was his favourite ever I.A. gig from forty-odd years of gigging cos of the way the HMHB crowd got into them!
14 September 2022